All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Miller

Zillow tells me exactly how much my homes are worth...  Networth shot up 800% overnight!  Can't seem to sell anything but Im sure its right

 Would I assume any financial liability with this letter?  Tort?  

@Handie Kunen Just to give you a basis for the kind of landlord I am please see the form I just posted "I like my tenants" I really like most of my tenants HOWEVER two years ago I had a tenant who flooded her apartment with a overflowing toilet, the problem literally took 10 minutes to fix (clog+constant water supply from tank=flood) by the time the neighboring unit called the water was all over her bedroom, the hallway of the 4-plex and a small section of the neighboring unit (the neighbor who called) so cleanup took 4 hours (not a big deal right?).

 The tenant had just caught up on 2 months of late rent and it happened 5 days before Thanksgiving, she was receiving disability and had her daughter and her infant granddaughter were living with her.  Clearly a "good landlord" would let this one slide right?  I filed an emergency eviction which resulted in the sherrif escorting her off of the property the day after thanksgiving (6 day from file to eviction since I proved in court that she was a hazard to the property) I have little doubt she was homeless for the holiday and I have no regrets.

I am not a monster, again please see my post "I like my tenants" if this post would lead you to believe I am a scumbag.

The truth of the matter is I believe with 99.9% certainty that my tenant and her daughter and the gentlemen who were staying the night were using drugs/alcohol to the point that they could not identify a small problem for at least 12 hours.  If I let it slide I would have been putting the three other families in the building in danger as well as the infant child.  I dont play "God" however if I see a lifestyle problem it is my job to protect all of my tenants and if that means making someone homeless for the holidays I am fine with that.

Many years ago I had a family of 5 evicted from an apartment on Christmas Eve due to failure to pay rent.  

If a tenant came to my home and put a gun to my head, demanding $1,000 I would report it to the police...  Regardless of the holidays.  As a landlord you are a very easy target and horrible people will use the holidays as a way of stealing thousands without the fear of repercussion.  If you do not correct the issue you are helping this person learn that it is okay to steal from landlords.  Does this make sense?  

Experience will teach you the difference between someone is trying and someone stealing.  If this guy has no credit and a history chances are good that he is just a thief...  Since you cannot send him to jail for the holidays at least make him homeless.  

I have been a landlord for 13 years and I have always had the rule "I will only rent to people that I like and I will only manage units with people that I like" if a unit attracts people that I do not like I either sell the building or put it under property management and if I decide I do not like a tenant they are either evicted or they go to a property management company.

This strategy has worked well for me...  1st I love what I do!  2nd If I get a call at 11pm on Christmas Eve that the toilet is overflowing in an upstairs unit I am much more likely to smile on my way to the property if I like the person Im about to help.  3rd good relationships with tenants PAY!  This is a photo of my groomsmen a little over 4 years ago (Im the bald guy in the middle)

3 of the 10 groomsmen were at one time tenants.  My co-beatman rented from me from 2004-2005...  After a water heater situation that he helped me fix we went out for wings (he paid) a month later we took a roadtrip, then he invited me to his wedding now our families vacation together about once every other year,  he and his wife are shopping for an upper end home and they are using me as their realtor, his sister is also looking at upper end homes and is also using me as her realtor...  I am currently helping one of my tenants move from a $450 a month unit into a $170,000 house which means a good commission check after 4 years of on-time rent checks..

Anyway, I could go on and on about past tenants that I liked (I could tell you some awesome eviction stories as well but that can wait).  Let me get to the point.  I have a former tenant who is looking for a place to rent and I have no vacancies.  She asked to use me as a landlord reference and she had two units she really wanted but I never got a reference call so I wrote up this letter of recommendation.

"Anita Egner lived in one of my duplexes for 2 years. She always paid rent on time, I do not recall any unnecessary maintenance issues during her stay, I never received any complaints from her upstairs neighbor about Anita nor did Anita complain about the upstairs neighbor. When the end of her lease came she informed me 30 days before vacating the property (exactly as outlined in the lease) and left the unit in good condition. I was sorry to see her leave the unit however it was a very small two bedroom apartment and I understood her reason for leaving.

I hold deposits for 45 days to make sure as I transition from one tenant to the next that the unit is truly in good condition and to ensure there are no outstanding water bills with Columbia City Utilities. Anita did not leave any outstanding utility bills however right at the 45th day after her departure from the unit the next tenant had a plumbing issue. I informed Anita that I was going to hold the deposit until I could have a plumber diagnose the problem. At the time I know this news was difficult for Anita as it was several hundred dollars that she expected to receive back but she was gracious and understanding. It took a few days to get a plumber to the property and it was discovered that there was an issue with the design of the main sewer line and the backup was in no way the fault of Anita.

I was happy to return the entire deposit and the fact that Anita did not argue with the inconvenience says a lot about her character. I have been a landlord for 13 years and have had hundreds of tenants during this time. I can honestly say that Anita is in my top 10 best tenant list. I would recommend Anita to any prospective landlord and if I ever have a unit available that meets her needs I would be happy to rent to her again.

If you have any further questions about Anita feel free to contact me on my cell phone (XXX)XXX-XXXX

Nicholas Miller"

Every Word of this letter is true BUT will it help my former tenant?  Would this help a prospect in your eyes or would this draw red flags for you as a landlord/property manager?  Thoughts, critique?

POF normally means "Proof of Funds" and is what you submit when you make a cash offer.

If you are broke but have a hard money lender who will will give you a proof of funds letter you can buy HUD's ( www.hudhomestore.com )

You can always try to buy an Option for a property then sell the home before you own it (In Indiana legally an option must cost $10 or more so hypothetically you could control a home for $10 without any other funds in the bank)

You could pick up a house at public auction but then you would probably risk 10% of the bid price.  Or even www.auction.com I think they require $2,500 in escrow before they accept a bid but I think they give you 30 - 45 days before closing 

I have a fair number of rentals and I can always find the cash to put together a deal if the numbers are right HOWEVER Im not always buying.  Right now I have 3 vacancies so they get 99% of my attention however last week someone called me and said they had a deal (see below video) they wanted to sell.  I looked at the house, shot this video, then contacted two other investors and invited them to view the video with the hopes of getting a finders fee or a partial partnership (one that would require no money or time commitment) so basically I became a wholesaler for the day..  I am still working the deal and if it goes through I could easily see getting $1,500-$2,000 (possibly more) for picking up my phone, looking at a house for 20 minutes and contacting a competitor with the opportunity...  If it works out thats one heck of an hourly fee.

Why wholesale?  Why wouldn't you?  Regardless of your financial position it only makes you money and makes you friends.

I own a building that 8,600 sq ft it has two commercial storefronts, a two bay garage area and 6 residential apartments.  Comps for the building are... seemingly impossible to find as the only buildings like it are sold without occupants whereas this building is 80% full and should be 100% full by the end of the year.  

Since comps would be difficult I believe an appraiser would appraise the building based on income.  Is there a standard cap rate in multi-use buildings would fall under for an appraiser?

Am I wrong in making the assumption that an appraiser would not use comps based on occupancy?

What is your exit strategy? Are you in this until death do you part or do you want something liquidable? A SFH or 100 SFH's will be much easier to sell than a 100 unit apartment building however the CCR will be far better for the 100 unit apartment building. It all depends on how liquidable you want to be.

That should be in a contract or agreed on before the transaction starts.  If you are a frequent buyer you should be able to develop a relationship with a realtor and do it for free or a flat fee as long as you give them profitable business...  If its not in writing you dont owe them anything.

how much would the claim be worth if you took them to court?  How collectable are they?  Chances are good you will need to write this one off and move on.  I would highly recommend getting a property manager if you want to keep the home...  My rule is if I live more than 15 minutes from a property I normally have it managed by someone else so issues like this can be avoided.

 Best bang for the buck is Facebook Pwer Editor!  With this tool you can target people who are home owners in specific zip codes with messages like "thinking about selling?  List with me" or market to home owners who are also expecting parents with a message like "Outgrowing your current home?" or market only to renters with a message like "tired of renting?  Now is a great time to buy a home"

Personally I dont do mailers because of the high cost and low returns, I dont do paper ads because they are not trackable and I dont do open houses because I just dont like them however since I continually send my message to the areas I want to work in I have gotten a lot of business.

Power Editor is free you just need to know how to find it and use it so dont have her pay a "professional firm" and feel free to connect her with me if she has any questions.