All Forum Posts by: Beth L.

@Jessica Dreisonstok 

Hi Jessica! I'm from Hagerstown too! I mainly focus on buy and holds, preferably duplexes in desirable areas outside of city limits. Let me know if you come across any deals you think I might be interested in.

I don't have any experience wholesaling, but I would think that having a contractor to walk the property with you may also be a great addition to your team, as well as a real estate attorney.

This same thing happened to me. I just had my sister, who is also a property manager, collect the check and deposit it for me while I was away.

Yes, online payments are best but some tenants don't have access to the internet like they should or are really computer illiterate.

@Jamie Scharbrough 

It is great if a tenant patches the nail holes! I recently had a tenant do that and it was a lifesaver. All I had to do was paint then. I recently had another that did not and it took at least an hour inspecting each wall and patching.

This happened with a property I bought. One of the tenants was really late on their rent for that month (we closed on the 20th of the month) and the other tenant moved out and told the seller to keep the security deposit for last month's rent which we did not want to do. Our attorney at closing collected for us what was due; both security deposits and prorated rent for that month, no matter if the seller had collected it or not. The attorney said that was the settler's responsibility to now collect those funds. 

I like to use Craigslist to find other rentals that are similar to mine. In my area the rent could include all the utilities or none, so I can't just gauge by rent price alone.

@Alan Deveau , since the lease is a legal contract, it may be best to ask a real estate attorney for their recommended template, since it would contain all the necessary language for your state.

I got mine from a successful property manager, and made my own changes to fit my property. I then had my attorney review it (it didn't cost much) and he gave me a list of things that needed changed or added, to comply with current local laws.

Your lease may need to be reviewed periodically if laws change.

@Matthew B. 

In renovating both sides of our duplex, we chose to go middle of the road with window types. We got standard size windows from Lowe's and Home Depot, up one series from the low grade. They are not the best windows, but they are better than what was there. The tenants pay the electric, so we were not worried about making sure they would be as energy efficient as the windows we chose for our own home. The cost of those windows would never be recouped, and we would never be able to charge more for rent based on that upgrade (tenants don't seem to care about what type of windows are there).

I do know that it was going to be REALLY expensive to have someone install the windows, so my husband replaced them all himself, and he doesn't have any experience.

@Scott C. , It is up to the landlord to make sure that they are compliant in all respects due to this law. I understand that they are strictly fining any that they find non-compliant. I am not sure of the methods that they employ to check up on everyone though. We are responsible for reporting turnover dates each year when we renew the registration. Then, on our own, we must contact an inspector at each turnover to get new testing done, then wait a week or so for the certificate to come.

The law also states that I have to provide the tenants with a copy of the certificate showing that it passed inspection, a lead paint information booklet that they specify, and have them sign off on Federal and State forms acknowledging that they received these things. Plus, even though I don't have to have the testing done until those tenants leave, every two years I need to provide them with the paperwork again.

I understand that you can rehab an older place and have it certified "lead-free". However, that would mean that you would have to remove all painted/varnished surfaces (a complete gut job) and have it supervised and signed off by a certified person. I am not sure all the details, since I have not done this.

@Scott C. @Kimberly T. 

This is actually not a new law, it's just that they made mandatory certain aged houses. It used to be anything built before 1950 required testing and certification, and built from 1951 - 1978 was voluntary.

My older duplex was built in 1920, so nothing has changed for me. The $30 fee per unit/per year, is really not that big a deal, it's the cost of having the test done at each turnover. You have to have swab tests done at a window in each room (or the floor), and if the windows are old and not replacements, you need two per window. My cost at each turnover for this testing is over $200, and I have replacement windows. It would be much more if I didn't, since they charge per swab.

They really want the older areas revitalized, but with this kind of racket, I don't even look at older homes anymore. Shame.

@Jason Krawitz 

In my area, especially during the fall/winter months, turnover can take a long time. I am still trying to rent a unit that was open in October. In addition to the loss of rent due to vacancy, I also have turnover costs for lead paint certification (~$260), cost of marketing materials, time & money spent to clean, paint, repair and prep the unit for new tenancy, showing the unit, holding open houses, making up new tenant handbooks, printing out new appliance manuals that got ruined or lost, etc. There is a lot of time and money involved with turnovers, so for me, it would be beneficial to get a longer term tenant. I am currently negotiating a 2-Year lease term for one of my units. I figured that this would save me a lot.

However, as @Sam Leon  said, depends on the market.

Why not just average the rental price over the term of the lease, or make the rental rate increase each year? That way your cash flow is not decreasing while your expenses are increasing.