All Forum Posts by: Adilah Curry

@Sean S. Welcome to the BP community. Glad to have you! I'm also a new member here & everyone has been very helpful :) Best of luck!

@David Borden TRUE! & the chart is very interesting, thanks for sharing! :)

@Kimberly H. That's a great question! I've never denied anyone because of the difficulty of using the Work Number. As a matter of fact the  tenants that have had employers that do use the Work Number, I've made an extra effort to work around that hurdle & I've always been able to approve 100% of them & they turn out to be great tenants :). Personally, I wouldn't want to let a tenant walk because of a hurdle such as that and many times prospective tenants have their heart set on a property.

I think the problem is a combination of both the cost & the fact that it's very "user unfriendly". Many landlords have an established expense budget that they want to stay within. The client that I worked with at the time (a property management firm in Indianapolis) would not cover the cost and most  of the property owners/ landlords didn't want to cover the cost either. 

To me, it seemed, in theory, like a simple thing to pay in order to streamline the process & get good tenants into the property in the shortest amount of time to avoid holding costs (if any) or negative cash flow....or just plain losing a tenant.  If it were my personal decision, I would have paid the fee and passed the cost along to the tenant. If it meant moving a tenant into the property, I would've bitten the bullet & dealt with the The Work Number regardless of my feelings towards it. Thankfully, I always found a way around it :)

Just my 2 cents...I strongly dislike (just short of hate) TheWorkNumber...lol & from the posts here, I see many have the same sentiments....lol.

Fortunately you're in a market where you have an abundance of renters, which is a good thing. As a landlord, you do have the right & ability to pick & choose who you want to rent to within the confines of Fair Housing guidelines and your goal is to get the best tenant into the property. I'm not an attorney, so I don't know the legal ramifications of denying applications on those grounds, but the work number is fairly new to the industry.

In the past as a property manager, I've accepted bank statements, check stubs, Paypal statements, etc. to verify income & in some instances rather than using the work number to verify employment, the pay-stubs or direct deposits from bank statements have doubled as employment verification, but this was a rare case where we needed to get units filled to avoid holding costs.

What the landlords did to "offset the concession" is require more money upfront. Like 2 months of rent in advance in addition to the deposit because employment was unable to be verified.

@Raphael Thomas sure, contact me anytime :)

I like @Adam Kroll's thoughts on this as well. Holding onto an asset can be a great strategy depending on your investment & financial goals.  I would also agree with @Matt M. regarding checking with your accountant on the tax implications. A 1031 exchange could also be an option as a tax benefit if you're open to it. At the end of the day, it really depends on your goals for the future.

Just a quick clarification regarding my above post - the average days on the market is around 25 days give or take a few....last month, the average was 31 - so about a month :)

@Heather Harelik Very good question! We all know how HOT the Denver market is right now. I would do a simple pros vs. cons list to help solidify a decision.  So here it goes:

PROS:

1. Inventory continues to be an issue right now in Denver (i.e. there are more buyers that there are homes on the market) SFH prices jumped almost 9% last month as a result . So, it's a good market for selling the property.
2. Even though it's old & starting to get run down, that may be appealing to buyers looking to renovate to their specifications. Qualifying for a 203k loan which provides funds for renovation is easy with the right lender and attractive to buyers looking for a home, but can't find one they like because of the shortage in inventory.
3. A Fast Turn Around - Average days on the market right now is 25, this is important because it can minimize your holding costs. If it's sitting vacant, you're paying $2,000 with no cash flow & the potential for additional expenses once the current tenant moves out & to get a new tenant into the property (new paint, carpet, marketing, etc.)
4. Pay down the loan on your primary residence!!! Saving money in interest, lowering your current monthly payments. Freeing up monthly cash to do other things - what's not to love about that???? :) 
5. It's A Sellers Market - You have leverage & buyers are willing to pay more for the right property.

CONS:

1. You'll most likely need to spend time & money getting the property ready for a new tenant.
2. With interest rates as low as they are now, more & more people are looking to buy as their monthly payments are lower in many cases than rent. So you'll have a smaller pool of renters to choose from vs. a larger pool of buyers.
3. Potential for more expenses due to the age of the home. You never really know when you'll have to have something repaired or replaced.
4. Updates/ Renovations are costly 
5. Dealing with tenants & rental property. Being a property manager can be hectic & stressful at times. Ask yourself: Is the added stress worth the $750/mo.? How will things improve/ be better if you kept the property & rented it out?

The robust appreciation in the Denver market will not be sustainable indefinitely AND interest rates are still pretty low, but they've started going up recently so, you never know when higher interest rates will slow down home buying. Selling while interest rates are still low is better than waiting to sell after interest rates have increased. There will be fewer buyers looking at homes in your price range once interest rates increase.  

You could certainly hold on to the property for appreciation & monthly cash flow once its rented assuming you don't have to spend a lot for repairs & replacements. Another option is refinancing for a lower monthly payment.

Sorry for the long winded reply, but it's a big decision & i just wanted you to be able to see the Pros & Cons clearly :) I hope this helps. Best of luck to you!

@Grant Ed welcome to the Bigger Pockets community! I'm a new member here as well & I've found tremendous value in such a short period of time. I'm addicted :) ...lol. Everyone is so helpful & engaging. Best of luck to you!

@Raphael Thomas Glad I could help :) Best of luck to you!

@Brandon DonahueThank you for your service & welcome to Bigger Pockets! I'm relatively new here as well. My colleague has experience with VA & renovation loans & has worked all over the state. I would go as far as saying that she's an expert in that area. She could possibly help. I could inbox you her info if you're interested. If nothing more than to pick her brain & ask questions, it'd be well worth it to give her a call if you're looking to invest & do renovations outside of Denver. She's very friendly, knowledgeable, experienced & helpful. She takes a lot of pride in educating people around renovation loans, VA, etc. :)