All Forum Posts by: Lynn Z

Having such a difficult time in this mid south area attracting tenants. Fall is always terrible but this spring is awful. Everyone and his brother, brokers, property managers are listing EVERYTHING they own on craigslist and the university websites. People call or email, you leave a message and they simply don't call back. They look but ask "You're not in a hurry to rent this, are you?"

Local ads - no response. $750's are renting; 4 bedrooms are renting for $1650 but 3/2's 2/1's, 4/2's not much. It's depressing. You can stick a sign out but wind up with someone wanting 4 adults with their children and grandchildren. Have we reached a point that the market's flooded and you can only really get some interest in one month of the summer? You can reduce the rent but hey you can't give them away.

Am I the only one having a hard time this spring? I welcome experiences.
Might make me feel less like a failure.

I know a vet that rescued a dog that was part wolf because he knew the dog could never be placed in a home legally. He made a good home for it and never tells about the true nature of the breed, thus saving a good dog.

My understanding is some insurance companies deny due to certain breeds of dogs and others simply deny they'll pay any claims arising from damage those breeds might inflict. It really needs to be checked out.

I'm finishing up a rehab I bought because it was a 3/1 and wouldn't sell despite the best agents in town. People I ran into that saw the house said they adored the house but couldn't see 1 bath so that advice is so correct.

Walk into the property manager's office of an old established real estate company in your area. Ask what a 3/2 or a 4/2 rents for--they know and they can afford to "under rent" because a lot of their properties are paid for. Normally most of ours have mortgages.

I'm having trouble renting my perfect 3/2 at $1350 but my sister is renting up 4/3 and 4/2 for $1500 and $1650. We're in a university town. If you're outside of what these folks (and their parents) consider "too far" --say 2.5 miles instead of 2.0 miles--you're out of that rental market.

Townhouses (especially two story) and difficult to rent for over $750 no matter where they're located nor what you paid for them. I had one for 3 years and sold it because it was a "hard" rental and limited market. Average condominium sales in our area has historically been in the $70k's but everyone and his brother developer is building, converting and high rising to reach 250k-500k buyers that may or may not be out there.

It's quite risky right now.

It's a pain to scrap off the popcorn ceiling for smooth ceilings but you'd better have a good drywall man. If it's painted it's a no go. I've just remodeled a home with plaster walls and ceilings and small grain ceilings. Frankly I was afraid to try and take it off because of the potential of the plaster being no good underneath.

With great paint, gleaming wood floors and crown molding added throughout I don't noticed the popcorn ceiling anymore. We'll see if it hurts this house sell. People normally are turned off but I'm not sure they can't entertain sheetrocking the ceilings if they hate it that much.

I bought $10,000 worth of furniture from the most reasonable furniture store in town for a home with 2300 square feet. If you're talking Lowe's rugs and nice but medium quality furniture...it's hard to furnish for $10,000. It just doesn't go very far.

No one is staging in our town but the idea for decorating a house is interesting. I note two responses from my "furnished house" ad today and none from the less expensive "unfurnished house" ad. Must be a niche out there. I realize you're talking furnished for sale but it's interesting just the same.

Doing on a string is one way to do it. Perhaps a parent as a back up to help out if the mortgage and newly assessed property taxes and insurance get to be too much but...if you are on your own... save the cash.

If a new investor just bought low and lived in the house for two years they'd get a real grasp of what it costs to maintain a home. The end result is tax free gain up to $250,000 which is probably not going to be available to us forever. Then take the cash and buy, fix and rent a 80% ltv investment to hold. 1031 it into two investments later on. It's what you do over time that I believe makes the difference.

Just went to an open house that's going to be featured on "Flip that House" . Everyone and his brother was there to soak up a house that had been renovated in 3 weeks. Purchased for 90k, 38k renovations, selling for $209k.--the entertainment factor was everywhere. Some people came to be on film as well, I suspect. 1300 sq. ft. and a decent job at that. OK street. Now when he says $38k renovations that's probably not counting closing costs, carrying costs, finance costs, termite, inspections, utilities etc. nor sales commissions if an agent brings the offer to ......this agent.

Alot of this does depend on your age (level of risk/opportunity) and banking connections. I have always had to put 20% down or cross collateralize to get
at least 20% on paper. If hard times come and you can't get the income you thought you'd get (such as the last 5 years) you'll be glad you've got 20% in the deal. There are alot of 100% folks out there stuck now.

Place in the lease the requirement that the carpet be "professionally cleaned" because they will show up with a Walgreens do it yourself machine.

Take digital pictures of condition of everything. Toilet (lid up); stove (door open), refrigerator(door open). I have found that tenant really cannot keep a yard so I split the yard service fee with them.. I haven't had an objection yet but then, they don't have to rent from me.

Call in a professional maid service and get them to make a check list of what they did. This is your certificate of cleanliness. When the house/apartment is vacated, take "after digitals" bring the maids back. Whatever needs to be done, subtract it from the deposit. No magistrate will give you anything for your labor but will recognize the service's checklist and payment. Do the accounting within 30 days or sooner...and yes, we do get hauled into magistrate's court for deposits. Tenants can't relate to 'clean' photographs and documentation from rug cleaners and maids. They usually always lose.

Never, ever leave yard equipment for tenants thinking they are truthfully going to keep the yard. They will ruin your equipment and you'll be really sorry. Do the split. It'll always look good, keep the neighbors happy also.

I do quarterly pest spraying and go through the units quarterly. Check the filters and see that they are promptly replaced if dirty and tenants are notified they are not maintaining the equipment properly. This way they can keep up and your heating and air conditioning units will survive.

15 year mortgages are painful and will back you up against a wall fast but if you have the money...they pay down great and I prefer them for investment property especially with partners. 20 year is slightly less painful.

Ditto on how hard it is to cash flow. I'm in the south and we don't have huge booms or busts in my locale. build one new porch to prevent water rotting your door facings off can take your profit for a year. Also, how about a heating and air system that has to be replaced in July. Try and get that back in a year.

It's hard and nearly impossible lately because every realtor in town has the hot sheet every morning and out buying that afternoon. I say you make your profit in the buy and settlement of inspection report findings because most of the properties I buy really need oodles of work just to bring it current. Doesn't anybody sell a property that doesn't need to be completely redone? It's exhausting and you can blow 45-70k in renovations, carrying charges in six months easy -- before your FBSO sign or "FOR RENT" sign goes up.

You really have to have large cash reserves, access to cash and/or a large line of credit to hedge your bets in real estate.