All Forum Posts by: Vince Rosario

You should look into lease to own agreements in the meantime.

Can someone please tell me how I can research developable land stock available for a given area or city? Is there a specific city department I need to contact, and do they provide some kind of map? I'm trying to gauge future supply forces affecting residential and/or commercial housing. Thanks in advance!

The assessed value accounts for the land, the exterior condition of the building, and the floor plan. It doesn't account for the specific features and materials contained inside the home. Neither does it account for the future potential value of the home, the community, interest rate environment and so on; all of which are factored into the fair market value (comparable sales). That's why you can always bet the FMV will come in significantly higher than the assessed value.

Thanks for the response Joel A. I also used Rocket Lease for my most recent vacancy and I had no problems at all. I did have a few people a bit reluctant to fill out the online application in fear of releasing private information on a website they never heard of. However, I did end up filling my vacancy. The process was very smooth and the reports were easy to read. I logged back in recently and it looks like users have to reapply to gain access to view credit reports. I guess this whole process is to prevent the misuse of credit information. Rocket Lease claims it takes only 10-15 minutes to apply. I think I'll complete the process later this evening. If anyone can add their experiences with this site, that would be great for both new and existing users.

Robert Wenger and Bryan Scott thank you for your responses; I'll keep what you said in mind. I think I'm going to have a discussion with a local real estate attorney so I don't slip up anywhere.

Thanks Samson Kay I didn't know you could do that. It may be a little too late for me to do that though. I should be signing the paperwork tonight or tomorrow. Do you any other suggestions after-the-fact?

What is the procedure in this scenario?: I'm closing soon on a duplex with one existing tenant. The rent for this particular unit, according to my research, is severely below market. I want to raise it by $250. What is the procedure for this? By law, do I need to give the tenant at least 30 days notice? Do I terminate their existing month-to-month rental agreement on the day I get the keys and put into effect my new rental agreement with the rent increase? I'm not too concerned with vacancy because this particular rental market is pretty hot right now. I filled the other unit pretty quickly. Any thoughts you can share will be greatly appreciated!

Joel A. have you used Rocketlease's services yet? I'm thinking about using the same company, but I'd like to know how you felt about it before pulling the trigger.

Background: So I'm about to close on a duplex utilizing a loan from the Veterans Affairs for a primary residence. I'm going to identify a homeowners insurance company to my lender in the next day or two. When I begin making payments, as most of you know, it will include principal & interest, taxes and insurance. Question: If I plan to move out of my duplex, would I notify my insurance company to convert my coverage from homeowners to rental property insurance? If I convert, will my lender know? Am I in violation of the original lending terms (originally a loan for primary residence)? Thanks in advance!

J Martin it looks like you understand the SF market fairly well. One piece of advice I could give you is that you have to take what the market gives you. Accordingly, you have to ask yourself whether you have the time or resources to pursue a certain path. With that said, you should never pay (down payment) in order to receive cash flow, especially when the market is only giving you appreciation - your return will be less than satisfactory and it's just a highly inefficient use if cash. However, paying monthly in order to control an appreciating asset is something to be considered - as long as the expected rate of appreciation is greater than the sum of your cash outlay (the future value of an annuity) then it could be a good deal. Take a look at inventory levels and track the changes in listings. You could also consult with realtors that farm your market and ask them for their assessment of future appreciation. Foreclosures are huge if you're trying to take advantage of appreciation. You need to research this somehow and figure out what is currently out there and what properties are at high risk of foreclosure. It also helps to chat with local developers and get their assessment of demand. Since you will be in a negative cash flow position, you need to seek sources that can provide you with short-term forecasts. Obtaining information and forecasts from people that only deal with long-term buy and hold strategies should be avoided, especially when there are other sources who have better information in this area.