All Forum Posts by: Bill Ward

I use Statefarm because they have a local office and I always have good service with them. I have a single rental house. 

I've never been in an attic where you couldn't see the roofing nails. If they didn't penetrate the wood they wouldn't have much grip...

Just a thought, why not buy five $150k properties outright. They should each cash flow over a $1k a month. Same cost up front with way more cash flow....Seems like more return to me, but I'm a beginner. 

@Jon S.undefined 

I self manage but I only live 20 minutes away. I’ve never had a call that was an “emergency”, and most tenants prefer to text over call anyways. My house attracts young families or couples. Only complaints I’ve had were of insects or rodents which I have solved with contracting a local pest company that does maintenance there. Tenants can call them directly too, so I don’t have to be involved.

I do an open house style showing when I’m due for new tenants, allows me to meet everyone interested before they put in applications. (I schedule showings 15-30 min apart) And it limits the number of times I need to be over there to conduct viewings. 

I made a similar move, but on a smaller scale. Moved from a $130k home to a $200k home, but the process is the same. I've been renting out my previous house for 3 years now. One of the things that helped that decision was the status of my house before I moved out, it had new carpet, new appliances, new HVAC; so I knew there shouldn't be any major expenses in the short term. Calculated how much the mortgage would be paid down in 5 years, if I rented it for 5 years and then sold, and compared that to if I had sold then. It's currently cash flowing $400 a month and getting paid down. Screening tenants is probably the biggest factor. I show the house myself so I get to personally meet everyone (usually before they've submitted applications). The ones truly interested will submit applications within 24 hours. I've been lucky with good tenants, no evictions, no major damages (dog smell and fleas in carpet though was a pain). I found that here and with my house anyways, I was able to get a higher rent than I expected. Look at similar properties in the area to see how their rate is compared to yours. What I actually did was listed it for rent a couple months before listing for sale to see if we had any interested in the property as a rental for my price, and I did. That gave me a fall back option of selling if I didn't have enough interest. Good luck. 

I currently rent one single family home, and been playing with the rough numbers in my head. In a about 10 years the house will be paid off, rent will be roughly $1500 a month by then I'm guessing. So I'd be making $18,000 before taxes, repairs, maintenance etc on the house. So let's say net $10k a year. If I were to sell the property then for $150k and invest that in stocks and the markets been averaging 6% a year, that's $9k the first year and then more every year. That includes no landlord or property management tasks or headaches and is completely passive. Am I missing something? Does each property have a tipping point where its worth selling to invest and avoid the hassles and time of renting?

Thanks,

Bill

Check your local ordinances and laws, it may require deck or locked gate to prevent access. Mine did when I was a kid. I would assume your homeowner's insurance would also need to be aware in case someone was injured in it. I'm a newbie still, but I would definitely add a lease addendum specifying rules for the pool. If they move out and don't take it out that could be quite the pain to remove. I'd be interested to see if their renter's insurance covered anything to do with it, injury or damage related to the pool. 

Got into the rental because the woman I was dating at the time was a Property Manager, so she knew all the rules/laws/paperwork. I had just done some recent repairs, fixed up the house and hvac etc, prior to moving, so everything was in good shape. Figured I could rent it, each year was about $5k getting paid off principle and I'd get my money back. We're no longer together and I lost my confidence in landlording alone.

The tenants moved from either getting out of military, or moving to a location on the other side of the bridge (bad traffic), one base on this side one base on the other. I'm more worried about having to deal with bad tenants than just an expense for a repair. I've had good luck screening and having good tenants though.

But my current house, mortgage is $1100 and I could probably rent it for 1600, so I'm also thinking about that if I were to move again, rent both properties. Life just keeps changing.
 

First post, just wanted to see what yall's thoughts were on this property. I'm the fell into landlord position guy. It was my residence, purchased in 2010 for $123k. I refinanced in 2017 to a 15yr mortgage, total mortgage payment is $900 month. Moved out in 2018 and have been renting it since then. Was renting at $1200 until this year, bumped it up to $1300. It's military area so new tenants every 9-12 months usually. I've had pretty good tenants and been using the cash flow to put back into the house and fix minor issues, so that when it's ready to sell I won't have anything to do to it. It's currently paying off $500 a month toward the principle. Doesn't have much maintenance costs, all utilities paid by tenants. Sometimes I want to sell it to not have to have any major issues (none yet), sometimes I think I should keep it forever. Current mortgage balance is $80K, should be paid off in about 11 years.  I'm just a cop so I don't have a huge salary or anything and don't have the desire to buy several properties.

Any thoughts or opinions?

Thanks,

Bill