All Forum Posts by: Vicki K.

I would let them get out as soon as possible. I agree with you - their story smells and the stories will only get more ridiculous. Nothing good will come out of trying to keep tenants who don't want to be there. Get rid of them quickly and find your own tenants. Also, if you ever inherit tenants again, give them 30 days to sign your own lease or get out. I would never let anyone live in one of my properties unless they agree to MY terms. 

I thing straight is more modern, so I cast my vote for straight.

Oops, sorry, I just saw your latest update. Was still reading some of the previous posts. This should go into "the stupid things things tenants and their "guesses" do" thread. ;o)

I find it very strange that there was a fatal shooting but 1) the unit hasn't been locked down as a crime scene and 2) you didn't find out about it until now. 

Law enforcement would be all over this and I have to imagine someone would've contacted you as the owner on record for the property if it were indeed a crime scene. 

Are you sure the person who reported this wasn't smoking something or trying to get your tenant in trouble? This just doesn't make an ounce of sense to me.

@Douglass Belt - I don't think you will ever have a lease that will capture every possible sticky situation. I have been in real estate for 5 years and my lease has evolved many many times. It gets better with each revision, but I don't think it will ever be perfect. You will learn from situations you deal with and will adjust it over time to meet the needs of your business. 

I haven't seen your lease, but 4 pages seems really light. I don't know how it is in Wisconsin, but the state of Michigan has a really helpful handbook with lots of great guidance on Tenant/Landlord issues and even provides a sample lease. I highly recommend you look into what resources the state has to offer. Per Michigan law, there is certain legal language that must be present in every lease. It's important to be aware of Such requirements if they exist in WI. Regardless of what you use as a starting point though, get your lease reviewed by an attorney - that can save you a lot of headache down the road.

To Hai Loc's point... I am not familiar with the eviction process, because knock on wood, haven't had to do that yet; however, yes, the inspections can be a pain in the butt. Livonia requires an annual inspection and re-certification which currently costs $105 per property. Westland does them every 3 years and Westland is generally more landlord friendly when it comes to their inspections. Taxes in Livonia also seem to be higher, but you have to watch that on individual basis - not always the case. I have seen properties in Westland with ridiculous taxes too and attempts at disputing taxes in Livonia have gotten me nowhere.

Livonia and Westland is where I look predominantly because properties in these areas still tend to cashflow and still have a healthy potential for appreciation. I would recommend working with a realtor when it comes to Westland though. There are some really rough areas  in the South part. I know a lot of people invest in Redford, but it is a bit too close to the Detroit city limit for my liking. That's not to say there aren't some really nice pockets there as well. Garden City, just like with what I said about Westland - get a realtor you can trust that can check out the particular subdivisions for you if you won't be around to see them yourself. Some are nice and some are dumps. I like to keep my properties close so I haven't ventured out to other markets. The areas I described, I know very well and that's where I like to look.

$1,450 in rent is pretty nice but you do have a big job ahead of you! Just like J Scott was saying, the inspection report is bare minimum. Even if you fix those items, you will have a heck of a time renting this place in its current condition. It really needs a major upgrade. Your rehab costs should take into considerations the area you are in (potential tenants' expectations) and how you want to market your property (high-end, mid-range, low-end). For example, in the past, we used the same color on walls, ceilings and trim because it's quick and much cheaper for repainting. Although more economical, the homes looked nice and clean but kind of bland and cheap. We now paint all ceilings and trim in pure white and use a modern, neutral color on the walls. We get more showings and our homes rent much quicker.

We tend to over-rehab our homes because I strongly believe that's how you find and retain good quality tenants. Kitchens and baths are where I would spend more too as you get the biggest bang for your buck.

My biggest advice though is "do it right the first time". Spend a little more if needed, but take comfort in the fact that you won't get the call at 9:00 PM on Saturday that something isn't working right. Also don't focus only on the cosmetics. Those things that won't directly impress your tenant are equally important. It's your asset - protect it... inside and out.

Ok, this really bugs me, so I need to ask. Here is the situation... I finance my acquisitions with conventional financing at the moment so the loans are in my name. After closing as you can imagine, all kinds of spam starts going to the house addressed to me. I have the properties in LLC, and I have a separate property management company (another LLC) which I use when interacting with potential and current. My issue is - it's hard to maintain this "we are a company front" when there is mail in my name coming to the house. I never get anything important but the junk mail I can't control.

How do you handle this? Any ideas? Am I looking too much into something which doesn't matter? Does this reveal my identity as the owner of the property. I know that info can be obtained through public records if one really needed to know, but I don't think any of my tenants will care enough to check. Just curious. I hate it when I go and I get a pile of junk and they tell me "some mail for you came here".

When I first started, I had no goals. Back in 2009, I sort of approached real estate investing from an angle of "I doubt the real estate market will ever go into the crapper this deep again, so throwing some cash in it at its lowest point made sense." I have always tried to invest according to the principle:

"When everyone is greedy, be cautions; when everyone is cautious, be greedy!" 

I follow the same principle when investing in the stock market as well. I am in the Detroit Metro area. At that time, things were very rough here. The loss in property values was tremendous and the market was over-saturated with cheap houses, REOs and desperate sellers. Seemed like the perfect time to throw some money at it as all calculations I made, pointed to the fact that short of some catastrophic chain of events like Detroit Metro becoming a ghost town, it was going to be hard to lose money. Not knowing squat about real estate investing, I bought my first SFR within walking distance of my home and figured I'd give landlording a try.

The rest is history - I kind of got hooked and have been searching for deals ever since. As for my goals... well I have a great a career which provides a nice lifestyle so I am having a hard time imagining walking away from that at this point in my life. However, if I was to articulate my objective related to my real estate investing, it would go something along the lines of "generate enough income to have the option to quit one day (if so I chose) and not have to change my lifestyle". I am not there yet nor am I actively pursuing this at the moment so I haven't even calculated what that means in terms of actual dollars. 

My point is... having goals is great! I admire the fact that you are thinking about that, but sometimes great things happen by just taking a chance at something new. 

Good luck to you!