All Forum Posts by: Lisa Ryan

Unfortunately there's no magic or right answer. Guessing how someone is going to react to a counter (especially without knowing the market or what the property is truly worth) is a fruitless game. Just know your bottom line of what works financially and don't waiver from that.

Yikes! Good luck!  I've learned it's very important for someone to pass both the hard paper test (credit score, background check, references, etc.) and the gut instinct.

Good point. The appraisal will limit what the mortgage can be, so unless I get it for under market and then lump some of the money from the cheaper house into the more expensive house to get it up to the appraised value it sounds like I'm stuck.

A seller is selling two houses that are on the same street separately, but they must be bought by the same buyer. One is listed for 50k and one is listed for 100k. Theoretically, if I only want 1 mortgage and have a limited amount of cash, would I be able to offer 20k for one (pay in cash) and 130k for the other (get a loan)?

If I were a tenant and my landlord had that policy, I would run. It screams slumlord. So my vote would be not to do it.

@Nick L.

Unless you want a few years in the big house, I don't suggest not declaring cash income on your taxes. On a small scale, if you rent out a room in your house and have a few hundred a month coming in, will they find out? Maybe, maybe not. If you have a rooming house, you'd better be declaring all that cash as income. None of us like paying Uncle Sam, but blatant fraud is not worth the penalty.

@Grant Berthold

Yes, you have to include any money you get from renting out rooms as income on taxes.

Does your bank have an app where you can take a picture & deposit instantly? No more running to the bank, you get the money faster, and no more (irresponsible) renters fretting about their inability to spend the rent money :)

@Nicole Pannell Not sure that makes sense...

Thanks for everyone's answers! I reached out to my tenant and asked if there are any issues they would like to discuss, anything going on, but no reply.

I finally received the rent that was due on the 1st today (now the 9th). I back-bill water & send an email out around the 15th with a copy of the bill & stating how much they owe. This month the water bill was $74.15. So on the 1st they owed $1,574.15. The late fee, if not received by the EOD on the 4th, is $75. I emailed them on the 4th saying that the $75 late fee would be enforced. So today I got a check for $1,575. Really?? Either they didn't include water or didn't include the late fee, but either way it's not okay. Ugh.