All Forum Posts by: Brad Clarizio

Absolutely- even with the house I bought for $6,500 I've been collecting rent from the same tenant (650 a month) for the last 4 years. They literally just moved out this week. Any area can have good and bad- have a good screening process and you will save yourself lots of headache.

I have been mentoring 2 others here in Columbus- if you ever want to meet up, I'm more than happy to. I'm 26 years old and have grown my portfolio from 1 house to 8 in the last 3 years while working a full time career. It's tough but rewarding. 

Connor- I'm also in Hilliard. Remember, a lot of times with low cost properties comes low quality tenants. I have houses in Columbus that I purchased anywhere from $6500 to 105k. There's a huge difference in tenant quality. The first question I think you need to ask yourself is how much time and money you have to invest in a property. Your first one may not the time for a low end property. 

@Melvin McMillan- they are not licensed. 

Melvin- I work with a crew of three that does awesome work. Unfortunately, they're about to start a job for me on Friday that will tie them up for 2-3 weeks. Message if you still want their info. They don't do electrical or HVAC but everything else is fair game. 

 I can't seem to find this anywhere- I'd love to attend. Can you message me more detail? 

Hey Michael- no I haven't. I'm open to talking. 

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the lack of response, it's been a busy couple weeks. 

I had a number of people reach out to me here about purchasing the property. I've since partnered with a real estate attorney who is reviewing the mortgage lien and helping me with my options. As a heads up, it was indeed a Chapter 13 filing. 

Wish me luck and thank you all for the help! 

Hi folks,

I had a very unique situation happen to me and truthfully, I'm unsure where to take it next.

3 years ago, in October of 2012, I bought a duplex in South Linden (bad area) of Columbus, Ohio for $16,000 cash. It was my 3rd property and the idea of owning a duplex was so exciting to my 22 year old self, I simply couldn't refuse. Unfortunately, like many young investors, I let me excitement blind me and I bought the property site unseen...you can see where I'm going. 

Long story short, my insurance wouldn't cover the property because it had a slate roof (State Farm), and they required me to replace it all. I could not afford that at the time, so I made the decision to sign the property over to my property manager who was looking to obtain a rental, and I had a mortgage note put on it where he agreed to pay me $400/month for 54 months, including interest (I believe we agreed on 3.25%). 

Fast forward to this past December (2014), he filed bankruptcy and did not put the house in his filings, but he had to surrender it. Currently, there are people living there, he is not collecting rent (or so he says), and I have not received a payment in nearly a year. He indicated that any time I want the house back, he'll sign the deed back to me and it's mine, free and clear. My dilemma? I want don't want the house. Bad area, bad situation. The house is in decent shape, but will need 10-15k worth of work for it to be up to my standards. In another year, the house becomes mine anyway when the bankruptcy is finalized, so I'm stuck. 

To me, my options are:

Donate the property to the city and take the tax write off

Sell the property to a wholesaler for 4-6k

Take the property back, invest 10-15k in a house that's only worth 20-25k to begin with and hold it for awhile

Fight this in court to get him to pay me back for it as part of the bankruptcy or garnishment

Looking for advice- what I want is out- if there's an option for me to recoup some cash without a huge investment, I'm interested in that as well.

Thoughts? 

Hi folks,

I had a very unique situation happen to me and truthfully, I'm unsure where to take it next.

3 years ago, in October of 2012, I bought a duplex in South Linden (bad area) of Columbus, Ohio for $16,000 cash. It was my 3rd property and the idea of owning a duplex was so exciting to my 22 year old self, I simply couldn't refuse. Unfortunately, like many young investors, I let me excitement blind me and I bought the property site unseen...you can see where I'm going. 

Long story short, my insurance wouldn't cover the property because it had a slate roof (State Farm), and they required me to replace it all. I could not afford that at the time, so I made the decision to sign the property over to my property manager who was looking to obtain a rental, and I had a mortgage note put on it where he agreed to pay me $400/month for 54 months, including interest (I believe we agreed on 3.25%). 

Fast forward to this past December (2014), he filed bankruptcy and did not put the house in his filings, but he had to surrender it. Currently, there are people living there, he is not collecting rent (or so he says), and I have not received a payment in nearly a year. He indicated that any time I want the house back, he'll sign the deed back to me and it's mine, free and clear. My dilemma? I want don't want the house. Bad area, bad situation. The house is in decent shape, but will need 10-15k worth of work for it to be up to my standards. In another year, the house becomes mine anyway when the bankruptcy is finalized, so I'm stuck. 

To me, my options are:

Donate the property to the city and take the tax write off

Sell the property to a wholesaler for 4-6k

Take the property back, invest 10-15k in a house that's only worth 20-25k to begin with and hold it for awhile

Fight this in court to get him to pay me back for it as part of the bankruptcy or garnishment

Looking for advice- what I want is out- if there's an option for me to recoup some cash without a huge investment, I'm interested in that as well.

Thoughts? 

Thanks everyone, all awesome feedback. To clarify, I do have a $1MM umbrella policy that I pay about $25 a month for ($2MM was around $45). I think I am going to pursue the single LLC and move them all under that. I do not worry about litigation, but I don't think anyone ever expects to be sued.

As I mentioned, 2 are through a mortgage, and I have confirmed with both banks that they mortgages are transferable to an LLC.

Keep the suggestions coming!