All Forum Posts by: Al Pat

@Jihan Shareef I had many of these stories in many years. Never rented them much less showed them the house. Waste of time.

@Dassi Lazar Tenants will do what is best for tenants. Comparing your experience of employer- employee relations is different. My tenants see me as a property manager even though I own all properties. The day county, my insurance company and bank send me a box of cookies, I will pass one to my tenants because I’m paying them on time and always has been. We often see these messages around holiday times. If you are planning to NOT ever evict them despite non-payment then sure go for this gesture. I have been maintaining very professional business relationships with my tenants for years. I’m with Denis on this. BTW my average tenant has stayed for four years.

Originally posted by @Richard Sherman:

@Sarah B. while your attorney is at it for the renter, have him fire off a demand letter to animal control, the county (I am assuming it is county, if not then City) manager, probably copy the DA and local police demanding that they handle this and holding them responsible for future issues with the dog of which you have notified them....that should light the proper fire.... we did something similar for a neighbors dog at one of our properties that bit a child from our property.  Attorney letters are a GREAT weapon...usually not more than a couple hundred bucks.

 I absolutely agree with this recommendation, hold their feet to fire (animal control and local law enforcement). They will react quicker than you think just to avoid liability and a fear of long drawn expensive legal battle. They will take easy way out by doing what they should have done in first place. You already have an attorney anyway. Second, sue the tenant for your husband's injuries. If your tenant were attacked by your dog, would they have treated you like the way you are treating them? Once these two events take place you will not have to worry about eviction as they will disappear over the weekend. However, if they do not, then know that eviction filing is very cheap, less than $200. 

We don't allow dogs in any of our properties. Few months ago one of our new tenant sneaked up a pit bull. As I was doing my late evening drive through ;) inspections, I heard dog barking so I asked my friendly neighbor of the rental and he confirmed that tenant got a dog over the weekend. I texted her immediately and told her of lease violation. Same night, emailed her official lease violation notifying that their tenancy will terminate in seven days unless dog is removed in next 24 hours. Next day posted the same notice on the door and mailbox. They got the message, dog was removed, she confirmed and I did my random drive by to double check.  

Hi Katrina - Did you see the property before or after you purchased it?  This may have gave you good idea as to the condition of the property. Self inspection can allow you to question future repairs. Plumber will not admit to wrongdoing. Most but not all plumbers try to up sell once they are in the property and with absentee owners, out of state owners, they try to charge you higher. It is better to have some boots on ground. I don't think you need property manager to manage one rental but that's me. I fix up all my properties well so no headaches down the road. Hope this helps.

@Gerry Harris plan right and you should be okay. With that said, I would recommend you put enough money aside to cover your expenses (including all payments) of at least one year. In your case that would be about $25k but let’s say it’s $30k just Incase. So now you have $70k at your disposal. With that, find a duplex but quad if you can and then use part of $70k to use for $20% down payment. Live in one of the quadruplex while renting other there let’s say at $650-$750 depending on your market. Your job in law enforcement will provide you with opportunity to get leg up in offers and better loan rates. Time this to happen by June 2019. Goals without deadlines are just wishlist. At the same time first six months of 2019, grind hard to develop your real estate career and then before end of the year you will see if leaving your current job is feasible. Scale from there and the good part, you will still have about $30k-40k left in your account.

Originally posted by @Charlotte Edwards:

Thanks, everyone!

It was move-in ready when I bought it. PM fixed a few minor issues that did need taken care of. Our first two rentals went quite smoothly, so I was not expecting this. However, it's only our third, so I certainly have a lot to learn. 

Rent seemed reasonable for the size (3 BR/1BA), spacious 2 car garage, deck, driveway. I'll suggest a bigger drop. It's located in a decent area, near to a main road and many shops/schools. 

 Okay - so besides high rent, house configuration may be an issue. I have a strict rule of staying away from anything less than 2 bathroom for 3 bedroom units because of convenience factor for tenants. Your other units (SFHs) may be 3BR/2BA and rented quickly. Only thing you can do at this point is reduce rent. Even my two bedroom units have two baths and they go fast, in matter few weeks, because people like having extra bathroom. Look on Hotpads.com for that zip code and see what is advertised at what rate and what's the house configuration for each of those properties. It will also tell you how long the property has been in the market as well as rent reduction history. This was you can better manage and guide your PM.

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

your obviously determined..  very few people  collect on judgements from bad tenants.. 

all they have to do is file BK and your going to have to give all the money back LOL.. that's happened to me a few times so I just quite g

 What is BK?

@Payman A. Only way I know you can collect from past due tenants after you sell is by getting a judgement against them while you still have ownership of your property. Eviction filing will be the first step and then comes collection once judge grants you eviction. This will put serious ding on their credit and future rent-ability but will also give you options to garnish their wages. This you can collect on even after the sale of your property. Hope this helps.

@Payman A. You should give buyer a clean slate or reduce the price for them to go through eviction. If you want to make in this business then besides being ethical, key thing is to learn to be decisive. File for eviction by 5th, PM suppose to manage property and tenant while you manage the PM. Sorry for strong words but I would not like to inherit deadbeat tenants and I will not pass on to buyer.

@Jeremy Mangen I had a tenant about six years ago that turned a nice house into roach club. Even when I opened a front door they were falling off. Everywhere including in electrical sockets. So I called a friend of mine who runs a commercial pest control company and the solution he offered me is still showing results even after seven years now. Zero roaches and I use the same method in all my units with 100% eradication for less than $50. Just order these Maxforce FC roach baits and watch them die like plague hit the roach town. https://www.domyown.com/maxforce-fc-roach-bait-gel-p-52.html?sub_id=3989 I am very happy with the results.