All Forum Posts by: Cassi Justiz

Plan to seal and repaint all surfaces, change out anything soft (carpet, etc). I haven't personally gone through and had ductwork cleaned, but I've been told that's something that you should account for as well. 

I would go in with the assumption that everything will need to be replaced or repainted and negotiate based on those repairs.

I personally use buildium to self manage my local and remote investments. It's a little more expensive on a per month basis than some options, but I really like all of the features it has. It will do everything that you are asking for (and then some) except for showings. I believe appfolio will allows for showing integration in addition to all of the above. I also know people that use buildium plus something like rently or showmojo for showings. I just have an electronic lockbox with one time access codes that I give out. It's not the most efficient, but I don't have a ton of turnover so I didn't want to pay anything that was subscription based. 

On the cheaper end of things, tenant cloud is supposed to be a good option. I haven't personally used it, but supposedly it's a less robust option for people that don't want all of the bells and whistles that buildium has. 

With 24 units and it being a few hours away, I would be a little hesitant on the purchase if the numbers do not work with a local PM. Can you find a local PM that will do a discounted fee and just assist with leasing or getting things established with you managing remotely once tenants are placed?

If you want to pre-market, you will need permission from the seller (builder). Also, if the home is on the MLS, it will not be posted to third party sites as long as there is still a listing on the MLS.

If the builder gives you permission to pre-market, I'd post it as soon as you have a super solid closing date. Most responsible tenants start looking for a place 30-45 days before they need to move. So whatever you start marketing now will get the tenants looking to move in late August-Mid September. 

What price point are you considering? If you are trying to purchase another condo in the sub 100k range, a HELOC on the NJ house could do the trick. If you are looking for something more expensive, then you might need consider getting a little more creative or saving up a little more.

If you are open to partnerships, you might find someone that wants to go in with on the deal and they can bring the majority of the down the payment. If you are buying distressed homes, some lenders will base the loan price off of the ARV of the home rather than the purchase price. That definitely helps you from having to bring money to the deal.
 In more favorable buyer markets, it's not unheard of for sellers to do lease options and/or finance the home as the lender for a period of time. In our current market environment, most sellers are able to sell at the top of the market with extremely favorable terms. So there is less incentive for them to consider it now, but still may be worth asking about if the property isn't in a bidding war. 

If I were in your position, I'd consider it after the first year of college. Make sure they like the area and covid restrictions don't shut down on-campus studies again this year. 

Something to consider is purchasing the home but putting your daughter on the loan/title as a co-borrower. It may be a good opportunity to boost her credit and get a lower interest rate because she will be occupying the home. If you buy the home and rent it out to her, then you can get the tax benefits of owning the rental. Ultimately it will depend on your daughter and how comfortable she is going to be with the responsibility of home maintenance/management. 

Generally it's not as much about waiting for the "mortgage" to season as it is to evaluate the risk profile of the borrower. This is especially true if you have a newer relationship with that bank or you are a newer investor. They want to make sure that you know what you are doing, rents are where you projected them, your rehabs are realistic, you've built up enough in reserves, etc. 

You can always talk to more bankers and find someone that is comfortable with loaning you more money. If you are getting push back on conventional loans, try going commercial. Once you get in with a few commercial bankers the sky is the limit as long as your purchases make sense. 

My application has a spot that says if your application is incomplete you may be rejected. Generally speaking my thought is that if they can't be bothered to complete the application, I'm not going to spend my time screening them as potential renters. If it looks like it was unintentional, I'll ask for clarification but multiple skipped questions is a big red flag to me. 

If you switch from W2 to 1099, you will most likely be unable to qualify for conventional financing for the next 2 years. If you can stick it out in the industry you are in, I'd recommend starting a new W2 job in the same industry to get out of the toxic environment and start putting stuff in place to get the new business going. You can start building it up on the side while you wait for the house to be completed. I wouldn't write it off, but I wouldn't jump into it 100% if you REALLY want to get the new house early next year. 

You could also consider commercial financing, but it would not have nearly as favorable terms as the conventional options. Even those lenders would still be a little hesitant to lend to a new business owner without at least a full year of tax returns in that industry. 

Some of this is state specific, so you'll want to double check your local laws. 

I'd let him know that you will be assessing for damages and any security deposit it will be returned to a forwarding address within x days with an itemized list of deductions. (Some states specify 30-45 days). I don't charge for nail holes unless they are just REALLY excessive or they anchored stuff to the walls. But I would charge for a deep cleaning, and any repairs that are not normal maintenance items.

My lease also has a clause that there is a re-leasing charge for anyone that moves out prior to the end of their lease or fails to give notice. It also specifies that this charge will be deducted from the security deposit or added as an outstanding balance.  

I'd read through your lease and see if you have any of these clauses. As someone already mentioned, it's not about "keeping the deposit" or "returning the deposit." You want to make sure that you are utilizing the deposit in a legal way to repair tenant caused damages and lost rental income.  

@Eric Velazquez, ask away! I'm always happy to help! 

I'll send you a message with property managers that we really like. 

Edmond has a lot of reasons that it's more expensive, but the biggest one is that Edmond has a lot more REALLY expensive homes than most other areas in the metro. That bumps our average sales price up quite a bit higher than most of the other suburbs. Edmond has been consistently in the 300-350k range for average sales price for a while, while Mustang and Yukon are usually closer to the mid 200k range with Mustang being a bit higher than Yukon. From a pure investment standpoint, there's not a huge benefit to one of these areas over the other. Depending on your strategy and investment criteria, I'd consider them all pretty equal as far as rentability goes. Depending on what type of property you are looking for you may find that one area is better suited than the others.