All Forum Posts by: Ariel Smith

@Craig Tomlinson wow that's a crazy story and I'm sorry you're going through that. I don't have experience with that situation, but I have heard of the craigslist scam of people pretending to be "property managers" and leasing out properties that they do not actually have ownership or rights to. So not sure if the "tenants" were legitimately scammed or not. Sounds like from your description though you're leaning towards the people living there being the scam artists. I suggest either way to lawyer up and get some legal advice on the eviction process.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

@Jane Dang welcome from the Bay Area! Our area is very active on the site so I recommend searching for threads that may already have some of these questions answered. Since you have a lot of broad questions, it sounds like you're looking for some direction. It's going to very greatly based on your exact goals.

I recommend starting off by reading The Book on Rental Property Investing by @Brandon Turner. It breaks down everything you are looking to learn, from how to analyze a location to how to analyze a property - and more! Check it out and I think it will help you get started. Best of luck!

@Jason Monroe more commonly the tax benefits or refinance opportunities outweigh the fact these are not cash flowing. We're talking about investors with massive portfolios and/or capital here, who pay with cash then refinance their money back with appreciation and just hold onto the asset. 

@Lanis Olanisa that's awesome! Best of luck to you with your career!

@Jason Monroe Yes pretty much. The other option is to demo and build condominiums if you can get the plans approved. They are large projects that require a lot of jumping through hoops. The city really frowns upon Ellis Act evictions for obvious reasons. Makes it difficult for landlords/developers.

Some hold onto properties like this for tax benefits as well. They know that the tenant will at some point move or pass, so they can afford the negative cashflow since it actually provides them with less in taxes. It's all case by case and really depends on what type of protected tenant you have in there. Either way, it's usually very experienced people who are buying these up around the city.

@Jason Monroe I'm not sure what your exact question is but I'm familiar with the property in question. Two of the tenants are protected, so it would take you at least a year for an ellis act eviction. You also would have to have the units removed from the rental market, so there isn't much upside here for any normal investor. Hence why it has sat on the market for 10 months with multiple price reductions.

@Mike H. Some good suggestions you've gotten thus far. I use coral guidebooks to send to my guests. Easy way to get everything over to them digitally and it's free (for now). We use excel for managing expenses/revenue. 

@Leigh Ann Smith just log out of your account and go to your property. You will be able to see the prices that the guest sees

@Whitney Tutt Congrats! That's very exciting and I wish you the best with this and future endeavors!

@Matthew Orme 

@Chris Mason may be able to help. Send him a message