All Forum Posts by: Patti Robertson

If you don't have 2 years of income history, and your parents are willing, you can buy it with them until you are in a position to refinance them off.

My hubbie and I built our entire portfolio doing BRRRR. We were lucky to have purchased most of ours before prices went sky high. It's a lot tougher now. I always suggest to new investors to not rule out buying properties that are already rent ready. There is nothing wrong with going right from buy to finance and then rent. Keep your options open!

@Kevin Sobilo - I am not "forgetting" anything.  I want to ban cheaters just like everyone else, but think a landlord is just a schmuck if they tell a tenant they can't have a handicap accommodation like a wheel chair ramp, grab rails, or legitimate ESA.  If you want to be "that" landlord, you do you.  I on the other hand prefer to be a good human.

 As long as they are YOUR contracts and not another wholesalers.  In Virginia you or a company you have ownership in has to be the actual buyer named in the contract and your contingencies in the contract have to be lifted in order for you to have "equitable interest" in the property, which is what allows you to market the contract without a real estate license.

If you plan to paint, use washable paint. Flat paint can't be washed, so you will only get one tenant out of it, pretty much no matter how long they stay.  Fix anything that is broken, but don't go overboard.  You don't have to do "upgrades" to make it a rental.  If you are moving that far away, I would recommend hiring a PM.

@Richard F. - They actually can. In 50%ish of the states there is state or local laws that require all or some landlords to accept vouchers. In Virginia. any landlord who owns at least 10% of more than 4 units, regardless if they are in different LLCs, may not use "source of income" as a determining factor for tenant selection. VA, and many states has make "source of income" a protected class under Fair Housing. This doesn't mean that you can't use all your other criteria for tenant selection.

Personally I never want to pay tenant utilities.  Some states have restrictions and rules about diving utilities up, and some even require you submeter in order to hold tenants accountable.  In my state, Virginia, we can set a formula, so we base that on occupancy for water and square footage for electricity.  For example, in a building with washer/dryer hookups, we charge $50 plus $20/person.  I a building without w/d hookups, we would $50 plus $10/person.  Check your state laws first though, to see what your options are.

Where in Virginia are you moving to?

We charge pet rent based on the risk of the pet.  We use www.petscreening.com to screen the animals, the same way we screen people. This is free to the landlord. The pet owner pays $20.  The vendor gives a paw rating of 1-5. Our pet rent ranges from $30-50, depending on the paw rating. This keeps it objective.

 Thank you!