All Forum Posts by: Brandon Ingegneri

That is correct. Get the wet ink on your lease, and you will be in good shape. 

@Patti Robertson I have found that there is a bit of variance with different municipalities housing authorities.  I did have a difficult tenant that I was able to have removed prior to hear lease expiring because of consistent and ongoing issues with her.  That was my only "bad" experience with Section 8, which ultimately resolved itself in a manner that I was satisfied with.  

@Holden Davenport I would say that all in all, my experience with Section 8 has been a positive one.  You still have to screen tenants as you would normally.  There are a number of responsible people who are in the program.  If you are a landlord that stays on top of maintenance, there really aren't any issues.  Occasionally, an inspector may nit pick something ridiculous.  I have had the same tenant in the same unit for over 5 years.  Nothing has changed.  This past year on the inspection, the inspector needed me to add 1 GFCI outlet in the basement which I ultimately did just because it was easier to do than to fight.  Having said that, 5 years of inspections prior didn't require this outlet be installed.  It was just a pain in the *** inspector.  

The money is in the account each month on the first without incident from the 3 housing authorities that I am actively in contract with.  If you are a responsible landlord who is on top of maintenance, the pros outweigh the cons. 

It has been a few years since I have built a deck, and I recently bought a summer rental/beach house.  In that time, I know that Trex and Azek have come a long way.  I was curious the pros and cons of each to help make a decision of what decking material I want to use.  In the past, Trex got extremely hot, and Azek scratched very easily.  I am looking to install the most durable and longest lasting product. 

I am limiting to these two materials first because I am not interested installing a PT deck, and secondly, because the supply house that I regularly utilize mainly carries these two brands.  

All input welcome.  Thanks in advance!  

I tend to buy all of my investments seeing if I will cash flow at a median rent.  If I can make the numbers work at that rental amount, I can ride the wave a bit should rents pull back.  Screening your tenants thoroughly though is a factor even when talking about a recession.  Having a financially responsible, stable tenant will typically have less volatility and can weather personal transitions to an extent that a recession may bring.  

I think I'd put a little spin on it.  Instead of telling her that you would like her to pay rent, I'd say let's come up with a household budget that we both contribute to.  Now you can pay X bills with her contribution to the household.  May be a bit less of a bumpy discussion. 

I know there are companies that do it, but I also know that there are also some mandates in certain states.  One of the bigger issues I would think is establishing hot and cold lines independant to each unit.  The metering would be the least of the cost.  Reworking all of the associated rough plumbing and the follow up work inclusive of the finish work would be a tremendous cost in many situations.  If it is a down to the studs rehab, I think it makes sense.  If you have units that are in good shape, your getting into a project in a half.  I eat the cost of water/sewer on all of my units, and it doesn't have any massive impact on my bottom line.  

It is all property and deal specific.  I have bought in both scenarios.  If there are good, long term, respectful tenants who pay a rental amount where you are cash flowing, that certainly is helpful.  If you are getting into a project house that is occupied, there can be difficulties associated with that.  If you inherit "bad" tenants, we all know what that can be like.  Its one of those things where I do not believe one size fits all.  

It is a landlord's responsibility to be aware of what is going on at the property.  Part of that is selecting a tenant that you can have open communication with so that small issues are dealt with when they are exactly that... small.  If damage occurs outside of normal wear and tear, it is the tenant's responsibility.  This is when negligence or deliberate damage occurs.  If it is a question of deferred maintenance, that is on the landlord.  

Having said that, the terms and conditions set forth in a lease may or may not spell out specifics, especially for a single family home. The buredon may shift slightly in a SFH depending on what is noted in the lease.

There isn't a particular lease window where I see a trend unless it is student rentals like @Nancy DeSocio pointed out.  I would say that people unofficially try to not have a lease renewal in February for example because it's quite frankly a time where people are not as actively looking to move.  Having said that though, I have found that while the volume of people looking to rent may be less in February as opposed to August or September as an example, they tend to be more serious.  In my experience, I have had a fewer number of people look at units during this time of year, but a higher percentage of applicants are serious as opposed to a higher volume viewing a unit in the warmer months but many may not be as seriously interested.  

Given that I have had leases expire at various months, as my unit count has grown, I try to set a number of renewals for the spring, and a number for the fall now.  Some people may be opposed to this given the potential simultaneous vacancy of multiple units, but I tend to have a very low turnover and quick re-occupancy time, so it is a calculated risk that I have chosen to take in order to maintain organization and streamline.  Now, I know that if I am going to have turnover, that is my focus on April/May, and again September/October.  All of my renewal notices go out in one shot, re-execution of leases happens in a condensed window, and the few turnovers that we have, we can focus on and knock out.  We aren't getting blind sided and have to pull off any other projects.   

@Braden Anderson

In cases where I have one in a particular city or town I refer to the municipality. Where I have multiples I’ll use the street name. One is referred to as the beach house because it’s in a beach community. I am in an area where there are some college rentals and I’ve seen owners who have multiple properties stacked in one very localized location name houses. Ones near a field had Fenway Park references. Ones in a hill had references to that, etc.

Realistically, I would only name and tag them if mine were in this type of situation where a bunch were on several streets.