All Forum Posts by: Alissa Engel

@Mike McCarthy -

First, either add a hood above the stove or add a decorative floating shelf (rustic wood or iron). That will help fill that space so it looks finished. Currently, it looks like a fridge should go where the stove is. Checkout some Joanna Gains kitchen designs for ideas on the shelves; she does it often in her kitchens.

Second, paint the cabinets and add hardware. Another option (if you are willing to put in sweat equity) is the cabinet restore by Rustolium. I’ve done it on three sets of cabinets. I did a chocolate brown, white, and grey. You can do that size kitchen with one box ( about $100). It holds up very well and looks nice. I am in the same price point: 2bed/1bath around 900sf for $1000 - $1100/month and I’ve had lots of compliments. The downside is that it is VERY time consuming. It will not look good if you rush or are not a detailed person. There are several U-Tube videos that you can checkout.

I was just contacted by Fox Corporate Housing about a property I currently have for rent.  They stated that they were hired by an insurance company to find temporary housing for a client whose house was damaged.  The terms are: 6 month lease then month-to-month thereafter. They will pay $300 over the normal rent to compensate for the short term option.  This sounds fine to me given that 6 months puts us in the Spring when it is much easier to rent Montana properties!

They also want the lease in the company's name.....this is where I became leery.  I'm worried that we would have to go after a big company if the tenants damaged the property.  Also, what will motivate the tenant to take care of the property if they are not on the lease? 

Does anyone have experience with this company or a similar company?

What additional consequences/benefits are there for putting the lease in the company's name?

I asked all of our normal prescreening questions, and they meet our criteria.  I did a quick google search and the company looks legit.  I also asked for references of local landlords that the company has worked with in the past. 

@Mike Montana, @Bijorn Ahlblad, @Dan Handford - thank you for the great advice!  

Mike Montana - What is 12 or T12? Thanks for the advice!

Good Evening!

I am looking at buying a potential 12-plex.  I've only purchased duplexes and single family in the past.  I know that I need to analyze a commercial deal differently (requesting much more information).  I asked the selling agent for the following information:

Taxes

Profit and Loss Statements

Utility Bills

Current Leases

What am I missing?  Is there anything more I should request?  Am I using the correct "lingo"? 

Thanks for your time and advice!

Alissa

My husband and I have been listening to the Morris Invest podcast for a couple years, and have really considered investing with him.  My biggest concern thus far (and maybe this is something I need to get over) is that the homes he has on his website look a bit "shabby" to me but are considered "turn-key".  This along with my history with very BAD PMs are my big hang-ups.  Thanks for posting your experience with them; I will be following closely!  It sounds like you have experience with rehabs, so I am very curious about your satisfaction with the final product!

Hi! We own several duplexes where the water isn’t separately metered. I recently listened to a Podcast discussing this issue, but I was driving, didn’t write the info down, and now I can’t find the episode! The gist of the episode was that paying utilities can kill your bottom line. So, we are looking for ways to separate the water bill (one duplex is over $300 a month) and pass it to the tenants. This episode mentioned a device that attaches to the meter and separates the usage. Another complicating factor is that several have sprinkler systems, which makes the “separating” more difficult. Does anyone know what this device is called? Does anyone have experience using it? And does anyone have ideas for other ways of separating and passing these bills to the tenants? Thank you!

Thanks for the input everyone!  It sounds like 12 months is the magic number, but I’ll talk with the underwriter incase there’s some exception or incase they have flexibility.  

P.S.  I am the military member - not my husband.  Sorry, couldn’t resist 😉

First time posting, so I hope this is the right place!

Does anyone know how long the wait period is between purchasing owner-occupied properties? 

My husband and I bought a owner-occupied duplex sight-unseen in October. We are military in AR, and the property is in MT. The seller was elderly and not business savvy (she ended up passing away before closing), so the sf was listed as "buyer will verify". The realtor estimated 900sf per side at the time of our offer. It's a hot market, so we had an offer in within 3 hours of finding the property, and didn't have time to verify exact sf. Turns out that each side is 750 sf. My husband moved in (October) and is remodeling the home. I am still in AR and haven't seen the home, but he's pretty sure we won't last long in that small space. We have an accepted back-up offer on another duplex (1200 sf), and would like to live there instead. We would move in around Feb if we get the property. My lender is saying that she doesn't feel comfortable doing another Owner-occupied loan that quickly, but she's not able to give me a specific amount of time that we need to live in the first duplex before buying another OO.

Is there a specific amount of time?

Anyone done this befor?

Thanks!