All Forum Posts by: Chris Szepessy

@Keva Niver I’m familiar with the area. Very nice out that way. Good luck with it!

I'm not a campground owner, but we used to do our fair share of camping a few years back. I always thought it would be cool to own one. I also grew up in Columbia County (currently living in Greene County). Are you able to say what town it's in? Obviously I can't help you, but I may be a customer one day! lol

If he's paying and taking care of the place, I'd probably just let him ride out the rest of the original lease. Many people live paycheck to paycheck, so he may not have had 2-3 months of rent payments available to break the lease and then need another 2 months of rent/security for another apartment. It's possible that he's a responsible person and cut internet/cable and stopped eating out in order to afford his rent.

Do you have any smaller rentals right now or are you just getting into RE investing? Instead of jumping into a 10+ unit property, buy a 1-4 family to learn the basics. House hack if that's an option for you. That might help ease her mind and then you can slowly build from there. She doesn't have to be involved in the day to day, she just needs to be supportive enough to allow you to do it. 

No, I wouldn't rent to them and I think you already knew it wasn't a good idea. The tattoos and the three "unrelated to her children" aren't the issues. It's the lack of respect and arrogance he showed. Also, when someone says they own a business and make a lot of money, but don't tell you what it is, it's probably not legal. I'm sure he's in the distribution business and may very well make a lot of money, but with it comes some serious potential issues.

I don't think anyone was trying to bully you. I assume you were mostly talking about @Nathan Gesner since he was the first response. From what I know of him just on these forums, he's very smart and very good at what he does. He's told me I was doing things wrong a couple different times and while I may not totally agree or like it, he was right. lol He's a tell it like it is kind of guy and isn't going to sugarcoat it to make people feel better. He also follows up with GREAT advice. 

So, I think Dave Ramsey's baby steps would be great for you to start with. A lot of people break off with his ideas after steps 3/4, but there's no doubt that his plan works. I don't know how old your child(ren) are, but giving up a year or two especially if they are really young to get yourselves in a better position financially would be much appreciated by them years from now. It's not the quantity of time you spend with them, it's the quality. I'm sure you can do it!

I also allow pets. It's extremely difficult for a tenant to find someone to rent to them if they have pets, so they tend to stay longer. As mentioned though, screen the tenants well and certainly meet the dog(s) prior to approving them.

I have a tenant who's been with me for 5 years...I haven't raised his rent. I know it's not the right business move, but he's easy to deal with, never complains, pays his rent, takes care of basic maintenance, etc. which at this point, is more important to me than making more money. I know he won't be there forever, so I'll raise the rent to market value when he leaves. If I was in your shoes, I wouldn't raise the rent and I'd offer the two year lease to them. It'll be a "carefree'' two years for you. 

Certainly not legal advice, but I agree with most others about not wading into those waters, at least not right now.

I gotta say...it's amazing what the news can make Americans divided over. I'm not THAT old, but I miss the good old days when people could disagree, but just go on with life and worry about themselves.

 With all the stimulus money and extra unemployment there is zero reason to have an eviction moratorium. You can't make double-triple the money and then cry that you can't pay your rent. It's a way to buy votes. Why do you think another "way more serious, way more lethal, Covid strain that infects EVERYBODY regardless of vaccination status" is now going around? More stimulus, more unemployment, etc. will be happening again shortly.