All Forum Posts by: John C.

Hi All,

I had a roommate move out of my primary residence June 04. She explained to me that she wanted to move out during the previous month, so I said pay me for half of June and you can move out at any time during that part of the month. I wanted her to leave so I happily gave her full 1-month deposit back hoping she would just leave nicely and not F anything up.

Long story short. She moved in and within 4 months decided, since I am single, that I was her future husband, ugh. I politely let her know I was not interested. She became very upset and decided she was leaving.

She just sent me a message explaining that since she left she actually wants part of her half-month rent payment back! There was no signed lease, I know, bad decision, but that has worked for all my other roommates so far.

I would rather not pay her this money because I feel I was more than fair. Any suggestions? Any lawyers here? *wink* Thanks in advance.

Anyone else have any experience with buy-and-rent future retirement properties like Cheryl? If so, where are you located or looking? What are some of the states that offer advantages? I am currently thinking where would be nice to to buy for the future that I can remotely manage until I move in (when vacant).

My $.02. I dont have much experience with hunting down dirt on potential tenants, so I really appreciated this service. The tenant pays and I feel like I have an edge, even though I dont think the info presented is thorough enough (its still better than what I could find in my valuable time).

I had one very suspect applicant, who sounded good but questionable, fear this background check because they were in the process of "re-building" their credit, so they wouldn't be able to take another inquiry hit. I said, thats fine but this is required by the Owner (me), so good luck with your next place. They then started whining. So, I reached out to transunion to ask if this is a SOFT (good) or HARD (damaging) credit hit. Here is their response...

"SmartMove allows the potential renter to initiate the inquiry into the renter's credit, so the inquiry is a soft inquiry instead of a hard inquiry and will not impact the applicant's credit score."

So, FYI, if anyone hears it will hurt their credit, dont believe it, it wont affect that at all.

By the way, after this I "convinced" them the Owner was even more cautious now and it was no longer an option. Do it, or go away. So, reluctantly they did and BLING BLING BLING! They had evictions, complaints, foreclosures, court cases, HOLY SCHMOLLY!!

I called their previous property manager, which I wouldn't have found without smartmove and lightly inquired, just for giggles....

They reported that these were very nice people... until you know them! And suggested to "go with my gut on this one". Phew! Thanks smartmove. And no, I dont work for them in any way.

The show is great! All be it, the actors are terrible, but they are just actors playing out very real exaggerated scenarios. The producers have picked out atypical crazy examples of real court cases, then during the show the actors stop and give updates on what tenants and landlords need to watch out for. Its very informative about some stupid mistakes landlords can make too.

Dion, Thank You!

OK, so you do see this the way I do!! Phew. After reading this again, I hate to admit it, I really felt retarded even posting this, HA! But, he made this sound like it was a great idea. I shook my head and said... WHAAAAAT!!?

I will still fill in a few blanks tho.

30% profit = cash flow. Each month we have been seeing 30% cash flow once P&I, taxes, insurance, condo fees are paid. ROI Around $600.

For the deal, I would put 25% of my cash down and hold a mortgage for the rest, he goes in on the title.

We have no LLC but would document all of this, which is why I am throwing this out here to see if this sounds at all reasonable or what I could add to make it more fair. The joint bank account has not been opened yet.

This suggestion was made by the possible partner. Basically, we called each other coincidentally on the exact same place that just popped up. He is closer to it so he would get there first. So it was kinda one of those "why dont we put our efforts together and go in on this deal" kinda things.

He lives closer and knows more people, so much easier for him to manage tenants, but I didnt expect "Lets go half, after you take all the risk."

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Hi again BP! Thanks for all your advice.

I have done one buy and Rent investment. So far, its working out excellent! And I have plans to do more, but have recently been approached by a similar investor who would like to partner up. Tell me what your thoughts are if this is wise or not in general.

We find a property that will make about a 30% profit after costs every month. I put my money down. I hold everything in the deal and the partner signs together on the Title. We pay all expenses out of a single account and input all rents. We split that 50/50 at the end of each year (or buy more) until we decide to sell. I take all profit or loss of sale at that time. Any needed repairs etc comes from that same account.

Is this good enough for a beginner such as myself? The Condo will easily rent because of our location, I just feel a little greedy because it seems like Im taking all the risk and all the partner has to do is manage it? Im actually not even sure HOW much risk I am taking, but I know it will rent well, and I do actually trust the partner, he has many years under his belt doing this on his own.

Thoughts?
(Thanks!)

My name is John. aka BrProps4u. I was blessed with several very well timed primary home exchanges that were profitable. My primary was paid down pretty far just by being frugal and adding to my payments each month. After making all those payments and missing out on "living the good life", I realized my toiling wasn't really getting me anywhere unless the market corrects itself. Well, with rates as good as they are, I decided to take my equity and attempt to start a new adventure.

So I bought my first property thinking buy and hold as a landlord (I always act as the property consultant [for the owner]). A condo just outside DC. YEA! In the process of attaining my loan, I found biggerpockets.com doing research. THANK GOD! I love this site and check it consistently for great new info. I am learning daily and deposited my first rent check TODAY!!!

I still have some investments Id like to do, but really look forward to learning from all your contributions. I have spoken with a few here over the phone and appreciate all the advice. I would really like to meet some local investors, like Mr Hanson, but Im not a big fan of the rah-hoo-rah Investor Groups yet, unless there is a local one anyone knows that meets up at the local watering hole!! HA!

Thanks Mr Dorkin for starting a great site!

John