All Forum Posts by: Derreck Wells

Nate, what you do here relies on whether you are in business to make friends or to make money. 

This tenant might be a great tenant at $1200 but that may be all they can afford. If you bump to $1300, it could be out of their budget and they end up late all the time and you have to evict. People get used to the lifestyle they're living. Maybe they make $5000 a month and because they're only paying $1200 in rent, they went and financed 2 new cars where if they had been paying market value all along, they would have bought used and been able to afford $1600 in rent. Frankly, it's not your concern how they spend their money, your concern is getting market value for the units.

I would simply explain to them that with the current condition of the property, rent will be $XXXX per month. As repairs are made and the value of the property goes up, the rent will increase accordingly until it reaches market value of $1600 per month. The rate at which those updates happen is up to you. 

To be honest Nate, legally, a lease in NH isn't worth the paper its written on except that most people, including the tenants, don't realize that. NH law states that a lease can be broken by either party with a 30 day written notice. Said notice must be delivered in the same method as rent, so if the rent is mailed every month, the notice must be mailed. If rent is hand delivered, the notice must be hand delivered. It's not like if they sign a year's lease and leave after 3 months you're entitled to the other 9 months of rent. You might get some in court if they didn't give you the 30 day notice, but don't expect it. 

In my mind a "Rental Contract" or "Rental Agreement" is better then a lease. Spell out what is expected in terms of property care and maintenence, due dates, late fees, landlord access for repairs, security deposits, how to end contractual obligations, agreement to vacate if terms are violated, penalties if terms are violated, etc., etc.. That way you can spell out any rent increases, you can offer to waive any early termination fees if they have to move before the contract is up if they move out by mid month so you have time to do the turnover, you can basically make it as "fair for both sides" as you need to feel comfortable with. When you get something written up, pay a lawyer a couple hundred to look it over for you to make sure it's legal. 

I just personally like the word contract over lease. I believe it leaves things more enforcable in court. I don't know for sure, but it seems to me that the word contract would work better for you if it goes to small claims court.

But I'm not a lawyer, I'm a deleader that likes to read laws. ;)

When evaluating a neighborhood, I use the "Mother" criteria. 

"Would my mother be comfortable walking here after dark?" and "Would I want my mother walking here alone after dark?" You can also use "Daughter" instead of "Mother" and get the same result.

I grew up in Lowell MA, I was the guy people would cross the street to avoid. I'm 6' tall, weigh 200#, and I'm licensed to carry a gun, so there isn't a neighborhood around that I wouldn't walk at night. I can't really use my ideas of "Yeah, I'd live here." as a reliable judge of neighborhoods. So I visualize my Mom there. If I say yes to those 2 questions, then I consider it a good neighborhood. 

I'm with Chris M on this one. Sounds like you want a cheap primary residence. A flip to me isn't something you would want to, or even could, live in when you buy it. If the property is already in livable condition, I wouldn't think of it as a flip, just a cheap house you might make a couple grand on if you pretty it up. 

A flip is taking something that's not inhabitable, and making it livable. You get the property dirt cheap because it's not livable and the seller is motivated. Fix it up over a month or two, then sell. Then repeat. 

Though I guess you could get a camper and live in the yard while the project is ongoing, then tow the camper to the next one. That way you would have 24 hour security too, no one will steal your copper or tools.

@Rich Hupper why would a management company continue managing a property if they're not getting paid to do so? They would have to sue the current property owner or put a lein on the property to get their money. Why would they go through the trouble and expense of evicting them? A new PM might take on the task, but they're gonna require payment up front. Its more like you would be hiring the company to evict and renovate before resale and not to manage. Its a completely different thing. 

In most states, the only way to remove lead paint is to hire a licensed lead abatement company. Check your state laws. If there are no state laws on it, you still need to follow federal laws. https://www.epa.gov/lead/lead-based-paint-activities-professionals

Yes, you are correct. MA has pretty much made it so every rental unit larger than a 1 bedroom must be deleaded. You also can't get government money, section 8, C.T.I., etc., without a lead certificate on file. 

That being said, it's often not nearly as expensive to do as people think. Most jobs fall in the $2000 - $5000 per unit range. Count the exterior as a unit, so your 2 family would be a 3 unit in my way of thinking. The cost completely depends on the  amount of work. If the windows are all old and have lead paint on them for instance, then they have to be replaced, increasing the cost significantly. If those same windows are odd sizes and the windows need to be special ordered, it's even more expensive. However, MA has grant programs and loan programs. Some of the loan programs are 0% interest and only get paid off when you sell the unit. So it costs you nothing to delead, you can roll the cost into the sale price. They are strict, but they work with owners because they want the units lead safe. 

If you're only deleading one unit, the common areas and the exterior must be done as well, however, if you're only doing the first floor unit, only the first floor common areas can be done. You can't go up into the second floor hall for example, that would be unauthorized deleading (UD) of the second floor unit and you'll never get a lead certificate for the second floor. If you're only doing the second floor, then you have to do the first and second floor common. You can only do the areas that it's reasonably expected that the tenant will be using. If a child lives on the first floor, they wouldn't be going in the second floor hall, so you can't delead the second floor. That's just one of the weird laws for deleading. There's many. If I have the wrong shop vac on site, I get a $32,500 fine. Yes, that's thirty-two thousand. It's insane.

PM me the property address and I'll run it through the database and see what's up. If it's been inspected or deleaded, I can let you know the status. I also know a great lead inspector that will do his best to pass the unit where many will do what they can to fail it so they get to charge you to come back and re-inspect. 

@Ann Bellamy is correct, it's cheaper to delead an empty unit. If it's rented, you're responsible for housing the tenants during the process, which usually takes a week, but could take 2. Plus, if the unit has tenants belongings in it, the deleader doing the job has to move everything and cover everything, causing more labor and material costs for you. It's much faster and easier to do a vacant unit. 

Hi Sarah, save my contact info, I can help with your clients (and your) lead paint issues. 

Matthew, PM me the address and I'll check the lead certificate status for you. Just because someone says there's one, doesn't mean there really is, or that its legal.

There was also a lot of illegal certs granted in the early 90s that come back to haunt owners now. The database will say "No Hazards Found" but when the owner goes to get a Post Compliance Assessment Determination (PCAD) done to make sure the units are still in good shape, the inspector finds evidence of deleading work. Well, if there were no hazards found during the initial inspection, what was deleaded? The lead certificate gets recinded and the owner has to jump through hoops to get a "Letter of Environmetal Protection" issued. Getting a "letter" instead or a lead cert can cause higher insurance rates and lower resale value. You can still safely rent it with a "letter" and even get state money (section 8, CTI, etc.), but in the long run, you want the Cert over the letter.

Hi Hector, be sure to save my contact info. When you find properties you're interested in, I'll look up the lead paint status for you and let you know what needs to be done to make the property legal to rent. 

Keith, what's the address to the property, I'd like to check the lead paint status on it. I'd be willing to work with your seller and/or buyer to get the place legal to rent out.