All Forum Posts by: Damaso Bautista

@Sean L.

You didn't plan for this situation but now you have the ability to.  As long as your rent is getting paid, take time to make your plan.

1. Find out how if the PM company has an office you can go to.  Maybe tell your turn key provider that your are going to be in town looking for more properties and you would like to drive by your property as well as meet with the PM company in person to discuss more properties in the future.

2. Make sure you line up other companies in the are- first online and then do in person visits with them while you are on the ground.  

3. Make sure your review your contract as suggested above to determine if they have you locked in or if there is a fee for terminating early.

4. This is a great learning exercise for any long distance investor.  Don't stress too much and work through your problem. Then keep on going.

@Heather Meyer

My wife and I have this conversation all the time.  From those conversation I have come up with the following questions to ponder.

1. What does your housing situation look like in a new place?

In my opinion, unless you and your husband are willing to really scale back and live in a location that is way below your means, then selling to buy a place that costs the same as your leaving does nothing for you but put you back in the place where you already are. In this case the way to capture the most money from your situation is to sell and then buy a small low cost home.  Then you have a large pot of money to start investing.  This is always a sticking point because there aren't many people (my wife included) who see the value in that.

2. What if we stay put what options do we have?

Get a cash out refinance and use that money to start investing. In this scenario you get to have your cake and eat it too.  You give nothing up on the lifestyle (family home) and you still have money to invest.

3. If we sell in our neighborhood are we ever planning on coming back.  

Right now in my case if I was to sell my properties in Los Angeles, there is no way I could afford to come back if I wanted to.  This is something you need to think about.  Which goes back to question 1.  If you are ready to really downscale, then selling in my opinion is the best thing.

I know these answers are not very technical but they come from real life experience.

Good luck and I look forward to others opinions on the situation.

@Sean Lasher,

I just checked Expedia. $225 for a round trip flight from NYC to MLI airport.  20 minute drive from there and you are in Davenport. Now you can have a first hand look at what is going on.  

If the company isn't working like you want it to, get some first hand info. Then make your decision.  That is the way I would handle this situation.

Good luck!

@Scott Lennon

I believe a mentor should be a sounding board. A place where a mentee can go out do all the legwork on a deal and then come back to review their progress.

This is the only way they will learn.

I have a feeling that when people ask for a mentor on here, they are looking for someone to hold their hand and physically walk with them through each step.

I also believe that there is enough expertise on these forums that you can pm your way into all of the information and advice you can want.

The part that is missing is the physical holding of the hand.

Just my opinion.

@Jonathan Giglio

It seems like you are locking yourself down to your geographical area.

Widen your scope because there are still places where you can buy rental properties and come out ahead.

@Senia E Cuevas

I like your enthusiasm and drive.  Just make sure to work the numbers on your deal inside and out.  Also go through some worst case scenarios and work out contingencies for them.  If you can do that, then you should be good to go.

When I look at your situation, if you go all in with $40K and acquire the property, what happens if you get 8 broken water heaters at the same time or if all 8 tenants stop paying rent at the same time.

As long as you have a plan to mitigate that and it won't sink you, then go for it.  

I hope you are very successful in your journey.

Good luck!!

@Jake Blumstein

I think the tenants play here is to build a case for not maintaining your property up to the standard of the law.  If that is the case then you may want to take care of these maintenance requests.

For some reason courts seem to be sympathetic to tenants in eviction cases. 

Just some things to ponder in your thought process about making the repairs or not.

Good luck!

@Jas Singh

Find out who the Section 8 investigator is for your area.  This person has a large case load and has the responsibility of making sure the compliance of section 8. This person also has the ability to take section 8 away from people who violate the rules.  If you wanted to go this route.

If you want to keep your tenant, have them sign an agreement not to have the named subject at the property and anyone else not authorized on the lease or section 8. All this will do is document the tenants understanding of the rules if you needed to move to get her out at a later time.

Lastly see if you can do a Public Information Request to get a copy of the reports of the legal activity going on at your rental caused by the boyfriend. Use the information from that report to get a restraining order against the individual.  Based on the activity occurring, the court may rule that he can not be at the property at all. If he is it would now be a violation of the law which he could be arrested for.

Just a few ideas.

Good luck!

@Anastasia Bourdon

I understand the reality of real life.  I understand if you feel more comfortable and safer with your friends renting from you. 

So those are the things you are going to have to weigh when doing this house hack.

Remember there is no right or wrong answer and you are the only one who is living in this situation.

I hope everything works out for you.

@Anastasia Bourdon

I don't have any advice for your local market but a couple of thoughts come to my mind when I read your post:

1. House hacking is a business strategy and mixing business with friends is similar to mixing business with family.  Unless you are willing to lose those friends you may want to rethink renting to friends.  If they are balking about price now,,,that means they might be comfortable being late with the rent or even missing a month completely.  Just something to think about.  In business emotional ties (friends/family) usually don't work well.

2.  Also research how much rent for a two bedroom 1 bathroom home in your area goes for.  If it is more than $1550 a month then you are losing money that way also.

Good luck! I hope someone from your area can give you accurate prices for single rooms in your area.