All Forum Posts by: Charlene Stovin

Hi all, of all the people that replied to this thread, and were new looking in the Abilene area - did you move forward and invest in that area?  Do you live locally to Abilene or have a property management company watch the property?  Any suggestions or advice you learned moving forward?  I live in Fort Worth area, but want to expand my options for my first investment to look at those maybe in other locations

@Joe Splitrock. Thank you and everyone; I was looking /wanting a lease template with the idea I’d put what I wanted in there then have an attorney look it over; I just think having an attorney look at it is some peace of mind! Appreciate it all everyone

@Mike McCarthy awesome thanks

Hello all

My boyfriend and I are getting ready to rent his house out; there are things that I would like to put in the rental agreement, but I don't know if what I am wanting and asking is realistic - or if there are other questions as well I need to ask and cover ourselves for.

The home is a 3 bed, 2 bath on 2 acres; the property has a seasonal creek that runs through it, but the house is not in danger of flooding

So, here we go:

1) is it possible/viable to put a 3-day no cause clause:  a friend of mine in Oregon added a 3-day no cause eviction clause In their rental contract to cover things like no payments, drug eviction, damage.....but they did it to help ilvaite  the 30 day eviction process.  Is it reasonable or legal to do this?

2) I saw on one of the forums a post that there is something you can put in your rental agreement, which basically states something like: if one of the clauses in the contract can't be enforced, that it will not nullify the contract.  (it prevents the issue if one part of the contract is ruled not enforced, then the rest of the contract will not be nullable) - what is that called?  (the legal term)

3) The creek: do you suggest anything other than home owners insurance to cover if someone where to get into the creek and drown?  I don't see that happening, but when we have rain here in Texas, and a lot of it - there is water ….I don't want to be liable for kids playing in it and getting hurt

4) late fees: when do you recommend charging late fees?  The day after a payment is late?  Can you word your rental such that if they are more than a week late, you can start eviction?  What is a suggested late fee per day?  ($50?, $25?)

5) last one - promise!!  We have a renter we are considering; he has been renting a room from my boyfriend for several months.  We are thinking of letting him rent the house if he does the yardwork for a reduced price; if he doesn't do the yard, we will have to add $200 a month to cover it -do you suggest just hiring a yard maintenance rather than giving him the opportunity to do it?

I am looking for a template for a rental agreement; when I have added what I want, I will take it to a lawyer and have them look at it, make suggestions, etc.

Meantime, I will keep looking for my answers here on BP, I know I have seen some of the same questions, and I am sorry there are so many!

@keyonte  - would you mind sharing?  I am getting ready to create a first time lease agreement - and was looking for a template -   :)

@Frank Patalano

The down payment; I can't live in it, I already own a small acreage; could take out a HELOC but not sure I could afford payments back on that and a mortgage....the 15-20 percent down payment

@Benjamin Hurwitz, thank you; that all makes sense. This seems near impossible to get the first rental under your belt when you can’t live in it for starting out (meaning I already have a home)

Appreciate the help!!

Hello

I have read on a lot of posts, people take out a hard money loan, get the home ready to rent or flip, then refinance the home loan.  I may have mistaken some of these posts, but when you pay the original closing costs for the home and then refinance within a year to two years - or less, doesn't that cost a lot?  Meaning - I have heard if you can't drop your mortgage by a point, preferably 2, it isn't worth refinancing due to how long it takes to recoup fees)

I am trying to find out I guess what are the disadvantages to hard money loans; I am assuming because they are at a higher rate, that is why people refinance.  But, I don't have my 20% down, I can't live in one part and rent the other - I already have a home.  I don't have any relatives willing to give me money.  I could take a down payment out of my employer sponsored 401K, but that is going to cost me a lot given that is 22-30K I am not making money on in my 401.

I want to understand the fee structure better of what this all looks like when doing a hard money loan to get into your first home.

@Ronald Rohde thank you; I don’t over allocate myself financially I just get worried if I can’t rent it, I could make the payments for a few months, but that’s it 😳

I could do a HELOC, I have enough equity in my home

@Steven Andrews thanks for the info