All Forum Posts by: Mark Yuschak

This is an extremely subjective question. As J Scott mentioned, everyone's numbers will be different. I would never expect two investor's numbers to be nearly the same since every market is independent of what works or maybe acceptable in another region.

Lately, my acquisitions have been between $14 and $38 a square foot. This is for my rehab flips. For the rentals, they've been ranging between $9 and a $13 a square foot.

I have a mix of property sizes in my portfolio.

Not every person is looking for a 3/2. You have to remember, there are many people who are single, or are single parents with joint custody and just need the extra bedroom occasionally. Plus, there's a niche to be filled by offering the smaller homes - boyfriend/girlfriend, recently engaged, temporary out of town workers, and just plain single people.

The 2/1s tend to have more turn over than a 3/2, but it's a niche that many investors overlook, and still a good segment of the housing market.

If the numbers work on a 2/1, I would continue your due diligence and proceed if everything makes sense.

I quit doing BPOs long ago because the pay is lousy and the requirements are too expansive. Plus, it's always a battle to get paid by a few select companies. There are greater things I can do with my time to work for peanuts. It's borderline volunteer work, in my opinion.

I will only ever accept a BPO if I'm completely bored and have NOTHING else better to do.

Tony Piedra ought to become a member of BP!

Check the state site at this link:

http://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-35299_35414_60647_35475---,00.html

As J Scott mentioned, you should also make a few calls to them. Surprisingly, they are quite helpful. I've had to make calls in the past and can typically get the answer I'm looking for quickly.

As a licensed broker in the state I have never heard of any regulations on whether or not a party must be licensed in order to sell their own real estate, or assign a contract for a fee. That appraiser is feeding you BS (of course the State can confirm that!). You only have to be licensed when you're hired to act on a buyer or seller's behalf who are party to a transaction.

Lending on mobile homes is extremely tight and is almost to the point of non-existent. Some lenders are filing the niche in very secured circumstances, but they are far and few in between. When you're talking an ARV of $300K, it will be tough to find a mortgage-buyer who can actually get funded.

It sounds like the home is in really rough shape. Since the value is in the land, would you consider demolishing the trailer and flipping the vacant land to a developer or end buyer? Even for a non-developer buyer, it's a heck of a lot easier to get financing on raw land than it is for land with a mobile home on it.

Talk to your local REIA and see if they can get the lists, or if they're already getting them.

I'm a Board Member of the REIA in Genesee County and we publish the eviction list monthly from the 67th and 68th District Courts. It's a free service to our members. Many of our members (myself included) use the eviction history on applicants as a screening method.

Since you're in Dearborn, I'm not sure what REIA you would talk to (perhaps the Oakland group?). This information is available for free through FOIA. It's just a matter of talking to the right people.

Have you gone to the court office and talked directly with a clerk during non-peak times? Sometimes asking your questions in person gets you better results than calling.

I am a full time investor and run my business from a home office. The office is exclusive to the rest of the house, and nothing else is kept in that area. Even with a portfolio of rental properties, and multiple rehabs going at any given time, I do not claim the home office exemption.

Based on discussions I've had with my tax preparer (who is not a CPA, by the way, but is very well versed in tax prep and representing clients in IRS audits) and other tax professionals, the home office deduction is one of the leading flags the IRS uses for potential audits. Since an audit is not something I'd like to deal with, I forgo that deduction.

If you have only three rental properties and maintain other employment, you might want to carefully think using the home office deduction.

To add what Ryan Moseley says, if you can't find the main cleanout for the sewer, you can remove a toilet furthest from the street. The drain cleaning person can then snake the main sewer line through the toilet drain.

All good advice. Thank you for that!

The family was not involved in the beginning of the process. They are now. The tenant was somewhat estranged from her family from what I understand.

My main point of contact during this has been the tenant's case worker. She aided the tenant in getting placed into my apartment. The case worker has also placed many other tenants into my properties and I've gotten to know her well over the years. For distribution of the deceased personal belongings, I've been following the case worker's lead on this. Most of the furniture belonged to a local agency. They are reclaiming all of their belongings so that they can be used with another client in need. The remainder of the stuff is being sorted through and removed by the family.

The bed (where the tenant was laying when she passed) has been removed. Since the bed has been removed, a majority of the odor is gone as well. All the windows have been open since this happened and a lot of the smell has subsided. The good thing is that this unit has no carpeting (it's hardwood floors throughout), so there won't be any flooring to hold in the odor. Plus, since the lady passed while laying on the bed, no odor was directly absorbed into the floor.