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All Forum Posts by: Karen Johnson

Karen Johnson has started 27 posts and replied 155 times.

Post: What does "pending" mean?

Karen JohnsonPosted
  • Investor
  • AMBLER, PA
  • Posts 158
  • Votes 98
Pending usually indicates they are in contract negotiations with someone already. Your best bet at this point is to keep searching for other properties and to keep an eye on this one in case it goes back to "active". If that happens, then it means negotiations likely fell through and they will entertain new offers.

Post: Settled on First Duplex yesterday!!!

Karen JohnsonPosted
  • Investor
  • AMBLER, PA
  • Posts 158
  • Votes 98
Congratulations, Alex Smith ! Wishing you the very best on your RE journey!

Post: Participate in employer match 401k or not?

Karen JohnsonPosted
  • Investor
  • AMBLER, PA
  • Posts 158
  • Votes 98
Jay Helms , you should absolutely contribute at least enough to get the match. Otherwise, you are leaving free money on the table. As someone mentioned earlier, your 401-K can also be a good funding source for RE if need be. I would definitely contribute. You don't have to put in any extra, but definitely enough to get the match.
Hi Dana R. I think the previous response was spot on in this case. Someone with little to no credit was attempting to establish some and so has several inquiries. In general, you should take a holistic look at the credit report and not focus on these factors alone. People may have applied for multiple lines of credit for things like travel hacking, balance transfers, establishing credit, etc. If they show otherwise responsible usage (no 30/60/90 day late payments, reasonably low balances relative to income and overall credit availability), I would not consider this a red flag. It CAN be a red flag if, for example, they opened multiple new trade lines which are all close to the limit and with high monthly payments which mean they may have a harder time paying the rent. In the case you have mentioned, if the applicant is otherwise qualified, I would not worry about it.

Post: Putting Together a Lease

Karen JohnsonPosted
  • Investor
  • AMBLER, PA
  • Posts 158
  • Votes 98
Hi Art Maydan - I would recommend you try ezlandlordforms.com or something similar. Their leases are highly customizable and also help keep you in compliance with state specific laws. I second the suggestion to have a lawyer review your lease, but this service (or something similar) should help get you what you need.

Hi @Karen Musselman. First, I'm sorry to hear that you are having such difficulty.I don't have an answer to the original question posted, but I do have a suggestion for you. In your particular case, I think you should consider a partnership with someone. If you can research areas that you are interested in, and come up with your general investing goals, you could use the forums to find someone with similar goals and reach out to them to see if partnering is a possibility. That person can help by being your "boots on the ground". For your part, you could try to figure out what you can bring to the table since you are not as mobile - can you be the one who makes the phone calls, manages the finances, finds potential deals online? I think you can make this work, but you will have to find creative ways to do it, given the circumstances.

Post: Boro Inspector & Child Services

Karen JohnsonPosted
  • Investor
  • AMBLER, PA
  • Posts 158
  • Votes 98

Hi @Steve Francis. I'm not sure if you have liability here or not, but I would advise that if your communication with the tenant was informal (verbal or via text), you follow up with written notice of the violation and ask them to address it within 24 hours. You may want to include something to the effect that you will not be responsible for any action taken by the county if tenant does not comply. It may not change anything, but at least you can show documentation of your communication with them if you ever have to defend your position to the county courts or other entity.

That looks much better, @Shannon Trivett. Clear and easy to follow. Be sure to keep your itemized bills and receipts. Hopefully the ex-tenant just pays up, but if they don't and you decide to go to court, you'll be able to show documentation proving the expenses.

I hope you'll be able to recoup your costs, but I'm not sure the odds are in your favor here. I would suggest that instead detailing all the costs in a letter (which can be confusing or unclear to the tenant) you send a security deposit accounting statement. If you send a letter as well, keep that succinct, just stating how much is owed and that you are requesting payment. I'm not sure if BP will remove this link (I don't think so), but you can see samples on ezlandlordforms.com (look under Forms-->Move Out). There is a "Security Deposit Accounting Statement" and a "Balance Owed After Moveout - Demand for Payment" letter. I used the former when I had my last tenant move out. BP probably has similar forms on the site, but you'd have to look for those as I'm not sure where they are. Hope this helps!

Post: Do I Need Any Other Licenses?

Karen JohnsonPosted
  • Investor
  • AMBLER, PA
  • Posts 158
  • Votes 98

Thank you, @Ryan Cameron. In that case, I think I'm pretty well covered with my Boro's rental license and inspection.