All Forum Posts by: Alvin Sylvain

Depending on your state, small claims would probably rule in your favor. However, if this has already been threatened, then it's already escalated past smooth and friendly.

Personally, I strongly dislike using the court system unless absolutely necessary. I might suggest proposing returning half the deposit, which is substantially more than your obligation, just to try to get things back to smooth and friendly. Remind her that in court, she'd probably lose and get nothing. From your perspective, half a loaf is better than none, and hopefully that will be enough that she'll go away, never to darken your door again.

If that doesn't work, maybe you want to go ahead and lose the entire deposit. Or, see her in court. It's up to you.

However, I still think you should contact a RE attorney in your jurisdiction. You can search for one here on BP. You might even find one willing to give you some "free" advice, hoping to get you to use their services on a more permanent basis. By all means, put their number in your speed-dial!

And I hate to mention it, as others have already said something similar: consider this a learning experience!

Vet your prospective tenants more carefully! If she can't afford the rent, you should have known that before the lease signing. Check their pay-stubs, don't take their word for it. If possible, call their employer to confirm.

Maybe I can't help you out of the ditch, but maybe this will help you steer clear of the next one!

I once heard a very valuable perspective: "You either WIN or you LEARN".

What mortgage company?

You mean the one that lent YOU money so YOU could purchase the property? The one that might get a little upset if YOU stopped paying the mortgage? The one that probably has a "due on sale or transfer" clause in their contract?

I'm pretty sure they'd want to know, and they're probably not going to be happy about it.

But even without any legal obligation, I'd have to say it's at least common courtesy. And yah, they'll probably enforce their "due" clause. When they lent you the money, they checked your credit, not the LLC's.

@Matt Andrew I forgot to point out that I am NOT a tax professional.

@Matt Andrew Advertising.

@Zoe Marr What does your lease (that was signed) say? If it doesn't stipulate the provisions for breaking the lease, you know it needs to be in there for next time. If things have been going smoothly and friendly, consider returning some pro-rated fraction of the deposit. Most importantly, you probably need the advice of a competent RE attorney ... STAT!

My opinion as a fully unqualified not-investor-yet ---

If it's a good deal now, buy it now. Predictions of the future have a funny way of laughing in our faces.

Originally posted by @Mike Hoefling:

Cash is fine by me!

 Don't forget, that will likely mean increased security costs.

Back in the day (I'd guess the 1920's through 1940's), my dad told me how he worked for the Post Office, riding shotgun on the payroll delivery run. And by "riding shotgun", he meant, literally, riding along with a fully loaded shotgun in hand. Bags full of cash, with little tags on them indicating the count going in. And you'd better hope to heaven the count coming out matches to the penny!

If you're going to be dealing with thousands of dollars in cash, I'm thinking you'd better have somebody "riding shotgun" of your own!

I'd say it's probably fair enough to charge extra rent based on this alone. I'm sure the tenant would understand perfectly.

Originally posted by @Sam Shueh:

My first question is how long it has been on the market? If short I will call the listing agent while looking at  crimereports.com, zip code demographics, income.  ST Louie is one of the oldest cities in Mid America, near town center years ago people warned me not to venture there even in the car.  Only suburbs are considered safe to live. A realtor friend family got transferred there she told me even in better suburbs the home price upside potential is low. She buys coast homes for investment and rent in St Louie.  

 500 plus days, if the websites have any accuracy. Thanks for the tip about crimereports.com, I think I will check it out!

Originally posted by @Jim C.:

Originally posted by @Alvin Sylvain:

Originally posted by @Jim C.:

 It wont cost anything to  a look

Me, it would cost several hundreds to fly out from LA, plus vacation time, plus car, plus hotel (I can't stay with my daughter, I'm allergic to that mutt of hers).

 I didn't realize that

No worries, I don't expect anybody to know everything. Just don't mind me while I pick your brain for what you do know!

And I'll gladly share my knowledge, such that it is, whenever it seems it might be useful to somebody.

Originally posted by @Max Householder:

I did a quick search on Loopnet. If it's the one on Diamond Drive in Riverview, this is not a desirable area and can be quite dangerous. There was just a quadruple shooting in Glasgow Village over the weekend for example. This is unincorporated St. Louis County which has been in the crosshairs of county government for several years, specifically targeting landlords. They tried to pass a controversial law that would basically require landlords to evict any tenant charged with a misdemeanor crime. To enforce it, they were pushing a landlord license where you have to pay a fee and list all your properties and then if you didn't combat tenant issues, property upkeep, etc. the way they wanted, they could revoke the license for ALL your properties. So a couple things, clearly there is an epidemic of "problem properties" in this area and the local government has been extremely landlord un-friendly in regards to combating the issues. It's pretty much a stay-away area IMO.

 WOW! This is very important information! No wonder the cap rate is so high, the seller is probably trying to git while the gittin's good.

Thanks very much for this!