All Forum Posts by: Chris Themelis

Hi Andrew, 

I disagree with your evaluation on liability here. They're on separate agreements that state they are responsible for the shared total (up to them how they divide it up). If the separate leases stated that each individual was personally responsible for 1/4 of the total, then I would agree entirely with your assessment.

This information comes directly from the Rental Housing Association of Washington State (RHA WA) and directly from their attorney's whom I just got off the phone with.

Either way, I appreciate the help and advice! 

Thanks,

-Chris

No problem @Kevin McGuire, I firmly believe real estate investing is a team sport that we can all win at.

Hey @Kevin McGuire, I think it's still possible to find properties here that will cashflow, but it is totally dependent on each persons criteria. Within the City of Seattle I don't think many deals exist.

I purchased my property in 2017 for $215,000 and I receive $200 per month net cashflow. This November, I'm planning to apply to remove my MI and my cashflow should bump up to ~$320 per month. It will go up even more once I raise my rents (I'm underpriced by about ~$100-200 for my area).

If my property taxes didn't jump up ~$150 per month (yes you read that correctly, my land went up in value 4x's the year after I bought the place) I would be cashflowing closer to $400-500 per month right now.

Thanks Flash. Yes, my understanding is that they're all jointly liable. 

I think the best course of action is to serve the 14-day pay or vacate, then the other roommates left holding the bag will go after the one not paying. If they don't pay, then I can move forward with eviction and hopefully find some better replacements for all of them.

Hi Angelica,

Thanks for the advice. Bittersweet indeed!

I think the big thing throwing me for a loop is that since they're splitting the total cost of rent (and technically on a contract together), they're all technically responsible for payment. 

So, even though R1 moved out, and R2 wants to move out, they're all late for December, and now January's payment. This means if I issue a 14-day pay or vacate and they don't pay, then I would need to evict all of them at the same time.

Hopefully that makes sense?

-Chris

Hi Michael,

A rare sighting indeed! I live in Bothell, and my rental is in Lynnwood. I am definitely looking to acquire more properties in the future, but slowly building my reserves and giving this property a test run before I squeeze the trigger on something else. I'm also thinking of going outside the Seattle/WA market for more purchasing power.

Sup everyone! Just here for an intro and to say hello. My name's Chris, and I'm a long time Seattle native that recently turned my first property into a rental unit. I'm excited to have started my venture in real estate investing, and look forward to connecting with other like minded peeps through the BP forums. 

Hope ya'll are having an awesome week.

-Chris

I'm a very new landlord dealing with my first tenants, in my first ever rental property (Washington State, Snohomish County), and really need some advice/guidance.

Background: I have a large 3-bdrm condo that is being rented to 4 tenants. The tenants are on separate leases, but responsible for the shared total monthly rent. Each month the tenants pay me their individual portion of the shared total. The lease is through July 2020.

In December 2019, 1/4 tenants did not pay rent (lets call him Mike). Turns out, Mike also decided to move out without notice, due to one of the roommates being a horrible person. I told him that he's still responsible for paying rent, and notified him of his late fees. He asked if he could find a replacement/sub-let which I agreed was fine, pending my approval. Mike has yet to find/send me a single option for consideration.

Fast forward to now. Mike has yet to pay me for Dec, and is now late for January. He says he has 5+ candidates lined up for me to consider this week, and is planning to pay me for Dec by end of week.

The other 3 tenants have paid me for January 2020, but a second tenant (lets call him Jeff) stepped forward to ask if he can break the lease and move out because of this same really bad roommate. I told Jeff that I would follow-up with options after looking into it.

My plan/questions/guidance needed: At this point, I'm wondering what to do (I realize that I should have just served them a 14-day pay or vacate in December, but I'm still learning). My tentative plan is to serve them a 14-day pay or vacate, then offer the option to break the lease early if they can come up with 2-months rent (for Feb/March). I'm not opposed to replacing Mike and Jeff with sub-letters if they can find me replacements that I approve of. 

I have very little sympathy since they chose to enter into an agreement and live with a ****** roommate, which is completely their fault, but I want to be a reasonable human. 

Does my plan seem appropriate or should I take a different approach? Are there any options I'm missing?

Thanks,

-Chris

TLDR: 3/4 tenants paid me for December and January; 1 of them has not. This same tenant also moved out without giving notice. Another tenant has stepped forward and wants to end his contract early due to roommate drama. Should I serve a 14 day pay or vacate then provide the option to break the lease and/or allow them to find sub-letters that I approve of? Are there other options that I'm missing?