All Forum Posts by: Patti Robertson

As long as your self directed account is all set up, the IRA can buy it directly from auction though. Just be sure to ask your custodian how they want the name of the buyer formatted.

I would personally never accept 4 dogs - unless the tenant gave me a huge non-refundable pet fee. No way I would accept a 6 month lease either, without a huge premium in rent.  The move-in/move-out process is really hard on a house house.  For a lease now, I would only be considering a 16th month lease or longer.  This will reset your new tenant's move date to springtime, which will be better for both you and them.  Don't let the time of year scare you into taking a subpar tenant. You didn't mention anything about the house, but if you are open to SEC 8, that's a safe tenant to attract this time of year.  Outside of SEC 8 and someone relocating into your market for a job, tenants who apply this time of year tend to be deadbeats who were just evicted from someone else's house, regardless of what they tell you.  Be sure to check your Court Websites to see what applicant's history is, and screen very carefully.  Don't accept a subpar tenant without add'l deposit money.

Congrats on your new retirement vehicle!!!

Why would you make a blanket statement about not accepting SEC 8? I have 100+ SEC 8 tenants, and in a low income neighborhood, it's my preferred tenant. They stay longer and make more reliable payments.

There is not a direct relationship of rent price to purchase price in our 7 cities.  Sales price varies much greater than rent.  Because of that, the high sales prices in Virginia Beach make it the worst city to invest in if your goal is high rental cash flow.  If your goal is to grow equity, Virginia Beach would be a good match for your goal.  Most neighborhoods in Chesapeake are similar to Va Beach.  

How are you planning to finance your purchase?  The length of amortization will greatly affect your monthly cashflow.  Whatever your financing plan, the 5 other cities in Hampton Roads will give you a better monthly cashflow than VB & Ches, all things being equal.

We charge our SEC 8 tenants for any damage they create when it happens.  We give them a reasonible amount of time to pay and take payments over time.  If they make no attempt to pay we take them to court and get a judgment, just like we would any other tenant.  We notify their SEC 8 case worker that we obtained the judgment. With an outstanding judgment in place, the tenant cannot get their voucher reissued, so I can, if I choose to, essentially hold them hostage in my house until they pay. In most cases, with a judgment in place, they can get help from charities.  I have 100+ SEC 8 tenants, and I'm telling you, this works like a charm!

OK @Seth Sherman. Same as us then.  Absolute fastest is 20 days from the RFTA turnin.

Welcome! We have some great investor clubs in the market. Check out the Tidewater Real Estate Investors Club, Peninsula Real Estate Investors Club, and the Hampton Roads Landlord Assoc! See you at a meeting!

Not only was it "idiotic", it was a violation of the HUD contract. Sounds like you are on the right track for righting it.

Dang, that's fast!  I wish my market worked that fast. The fastest we can get a SEC 8 tenant in is 20 days from the day we accept their application/turn in the RFTA.  Lucky Baltimore investors!!!

Welcome to BP & the real estate investing world! You have a huge advantage over us civilians with your ability to use your VA eligibility to purchase a 4 plex with no money down. You have to live in one of the units, so it won't work for everyone. It's an amazing benefit if you can make it work though. I ditto the above suggestion to join TRIG (Tidewater Real Estate Investors Group) and PREIA (Peninsula Real. Estate Investors Group). I am a past president and lifetime board member of TRIG and am also active in PREIA. Looking forward to meeting you there!