All Forum Posts by: Patti Robertson

Wish this were in my town!

Hi Thomas.  I own and manage in all Hampton Roads cities and I prefer to avoid Portsmouth for rentals these days, for lots of reasons.  1) The real estate tax rate is by far higher than any other city. 2) Politically, financially, and administratively the city is a mess. Google Portsmouth city council, Portsmouth chief of police, PRHA Hud investigation just to get a peek at some of the recent drama. 3) If you plan to SEC 8, Portsmouth is the worst of our cities to deal with.  They require not one, but two inspections.  They only pay 90% of market rents, vs. 100% in all our other cities. 

I could go on and on.  If you want to join a local landlord club, check out the Hampton Roads Landlord Assoc.  It's free to join and a great group of landlords who share tips and tools.

In low income neighborhoods I FAR prefer SEC 8 to non-SEC 8.  It's too hard to find a non-SEC 8 tenant who has three times the rent with a reliable job.  SEC 8 tenants tend to want to live there b/c they want to live near their grandparent and extended family. They tend to stay longer than non-SEC 8 tenants.  Call your local SEC 8 office to see if they have a new landlord orientation class.  Our market has one monthly.  It will be worth your time to attend.

In VA if she owes you money you give her a 5 Day Pay or Quit letter and on the 6th day you can file an unlawful detainer. If she doesn't owe you money, but has another lease violation, you give her a 21 Day Notice to Cure Lease Violation letter and if she hasn't cured on the 22nd day you can file an unlawful detainer. If she has no lease violations but is in a month to month lease, you have to follow the notice term in your lease. That is usually 30 days. If you give notice to terminate in 30 days, you can file a UD on the 31st day. When you file you will be assigned a court date 3 weeks later. If she shows to the hearing, she will get to stay an add'l 10 days. If she doesn't you can file the WRIT of Possession the day of court and then it will take about 2 weeks for the sherriff to evict. It may be better to offer cash for keys so she can move out quicker.

NOTE - It is REALLY important that your address matches exactly on all your paperwork.  This can be tricky in a room rent situation,  In order to evict from a room, the room has to be labeled.  You will have to make sure the Sheriff has access to the door to post notice. 

Why wouldn't you want to rent to SEC 8? It's my favorite tenant in the lower end properties. They tend to stay for 3-4 years and I almost never have delinquency because SEC 8 offers built in insurance for rent payments in the event the tenant loses their job.

Sure. You have to submit the tax record for th property to show the name of the owner. If the name of the payee is not the same as the owner, you have to submit whatever paperwork that give you the legal right to collect the rents. This could be a property management agreement, land sale contract, etc.

We can do that easily in Hampton Roads, VA.

Is your 401K with your current employer? If so, you probably can't self direct it. If you don't work there anymore you can move it to an IRA custodian and convert it to a self directed IRA. I also converted mine to a ROTH. My husband and I both did this, and or IRAs partner to purchase rental property. We use Midatlantic IRA. You don't have to be in the Mid-Atlantic. That's just where they are. I prefer them to the internet custodians because they are a small company. You get to know all their staff and they get to know you and your investments. It's an amazing way to get tax free income in your IRA!

I wouldn't worry about it.  You don't have to not renew their lease.  I find most smokers are perfectly OK agreeing to smoke outside. Assuming they are good tenants otherwise, I would offer to paint the inside of their unit in exchange for a 2-3 year renewal, but make a condition that they will smoke outside from this point forward.

$44K for a $1200 rent sounds like a home run to me.  I'd do it all day long. Personally I would put permanent loans in place and not cash out, but you obviously have your goals and strategy in place that I'm sure work for you.  Don't be afraid of an area because most other investors won't go there. That's why you are getting such great returns.  You won't get the same appreciation as you would in the cushier neighborhoods, but if you are in for the long run, your cash returns outweigh appreciation, in my opinion. 

Congrats!  You did great!