All Forum Posts by: Angela Smith

oh my!  you are more brave than I.  You have my curiosity piqued.  What's the story on how you found this?  How did you settle on a price for a having never seen it?  are you able to share before pictures?  I would like to follow your progress on this and perhaps learn through your experience.  BTW, I assume you own the title free and clear?  Did you use a title company, an attorney?  who helped you along the way?

I'm wondering if the covid crisis, the eviction moritorium issues and the general current financial environment will have any impact on landlords' willingness to accept a year of rent payments as signing.  Once covid hit, I was glad that we had made this arrangement with one of our tenants.  There was no wondering whether we would be paid.  

We had a tenant break their lease as well.  They guy contacted us and said he lost his job and would be moving in with his sister.  Prior to that, he had never missed a rent payment and kept the property in good shape.  

We chose to just let him go with no consequences.  He didn’t have any money to pay us, we had it cleaned and rented within 2 weeks.  The easiest thing for all parties was to just part ways and wish him well.  

Concerning small claims court, yes you could take them there and if you win, get a judgment against them.  But that doesn’t mean you’ll ever see even a penny of it.

The type of person who does this also doesn’t give a hoot about their credit or their reputation.  

To get any money after a judgement you would have to hire a collections agent and whatever ever money they can get from the guy will be eaten up in fees to the collection agent. They charge something like 40% of whatever is recovered.

So....small claims court, for a landlord in a different state, will cost you more in travel and time than you will ever actually get back in your pocket.

You sound bitter. And you can't count.  Don't worry, I won't hire you.  

Oh wait, you're not an employee.  Hmmm, when I contract with a service provider for a job, I have "hired" them. If I am unhappy with the service, I am free to "fire" them.  Yeah, while I consider that service provider as a contractor, I also consider them as working for me.  So, not technically an employee, they are still working for me. 

I strongly recommend you look into mandatory reporting laws in your state as it concerns children.

I don't know about your state, buy in mine an individual has an obligation to report if they are aware of domestic violence and/or drug use happening in the presence of minors.  It's about protecting the kids.  It is included as a mandatory reporting law.  This is because witnessing domestic violence IS considered child abuse in that it results in significant emotional consequences.

getting a mortgage for such a low amount is hard to find.  The paperwork is the same as it is for a bigger loan, but the mortgage company will not be making any money on such a small amount.  You may be able to get a personal loan for that amount.  And make the purchase with that cash.  

oh, I see you are a college student, so I assume you are young.  I'm not sure you can get a personal loan with little credit history.  

The best way to go might be to work work work and save the money.  You can prove yourself a good risk that way.

Add some information.  What is your target class?  What is your budget?  Are you considering turn-key, minor repairs, or a fixer upper?  Are you familiar with INDY?  

why refinance?  What will you do with your cash?  

If you refinance, you need to inform your lender of your intention of using this as investment.  The mortgage rates are different for owner occupied vs investment.  I would recommend borrowing no more than 70% of the value of the property.  Being over-leveraged is not a good idea.