All Forum Posts by: Austin Youmans

I would get multiple bids and ask the contractor to list the material and labor separately.

I would suspect that material for gutters is pretty cheap so you might think about doing it yourself as it would not be a hard job or take too long.

I have thought about this as well but it does seem like you would have a difficult time finding tenants that get along and clean up after themselves. If you are ok dealing with roommate debates as they will come to you then it is a valid way to make a little more money off of the property.

I wouldn't bother with the mold inspector as it is most definitely mold and that is all the inspector will tell you. Just clean it up yourself and have a friendly conversation about how mold grows and ask them if they have been using the fan and clean the bathroom on a regular basis.

You can not control how your tenant lives so that is about all you can do.

It would be the same thing when tenants complain about ants but they have food everywhere and nothing is clean.

You have a few options but first go use the BP calculator and run the numbers to see what you are getting. If you haven't used the calculator it is free the first 5 times and fairly easy to follow.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/buy-and-hold-calculator

• What were the results of BP calc?
• Can you refinance to get better terms?
• Could you make money selling? 1031 exchange (No Tax on Capital gains) and buy right this time.
• How much are you spending on maintenance in a year?

Ask property management companies what they would rent it for.

Also find a similar unit and ask the landlord or tenant what they are renting it for.

What are your goals?

If you want long term buy and hold then you probably don't want to do lease option as they will buy the property or have the intent to buy.

If you would rather sell the property and put the money towards something else it is a viable option.

I would screen them well and ask yourself why they want to do a lease option and just can't get a loan right now.

I would go by the numbers first but if it is a good deal then benefits would be...

• easier to manage if rentals are clustered together
• find good tenants to raise the quality of neighborhood
• make improvements and raise rents in sub market

I am looking into this as well and narrowed it down to 3 options so far.

• Cozy - Free - 4-5 days for transactions
• Intuit - $0.50 per transaction - 1-2 days for transactions
• Chase - Free - They give out deposit only cards or use chase quickpay. (Still looking in to details on this one.

• Are you licensed?
• Do you have insurance?
• How long have you been running your own crew?
• How many guys do you employ?
• References?
• Where is there office? (If they are not an established company but a small LLC it is easy for them to vanish)
• What scope of jobs have you worked on?
• How often do you communicate with customers?
• What is your work load like right now?

You can BUT there is most likely a clause in your loan that says "Due on Sale"

Meaning that the bank MAY tell you that since you sold the property then you have to pay the rest of your mortgage or be foreclosed.

I know people that do it anyways and none of them have had that happen to them but just know it is a possibility.

You might want to look into a lease-option.