All Forum Posts by: Diana K.

@Brandon Sturgill Well, I would pay “something”. I would cooperate with a new owner unless or until they didn’t follow through with fixing things. I am fine with the rent escrow thing, but if they are going to make it harder instead of easier to get repairs done, in addition to not paying rent, then they don’t belong there.

@Jill F. Thanks, yes, I have been working on that.

Thanks for sharing your perspective. I guess I wasn’t expecting a cakewalk, but was hoping for some cooperation (from the tenants), which so far I’m not getting so I’ll likely end up following your recommendation. 

I just closed on my first rental last week. It is in another state (Detroit), is tenant occupied, and needs many repairs (new roof, electrical work and plumbing to name a few). I spoke with one of the tenants today and she does not want to pay rent until the issues are fixed; she said she wants to look into putting rent into an escrow account to be held until the repairs are made. This is because the previous owner apparently made promises that weren’t kept. It could be months before I can get all the repairs done. Should I go along with this escrow plan or get a lawyer or try something else?? Any advice will be much appreciated. The second tenant appears to be following the lead of the first.

David - I could copy/paste your first paragraph, I am in the same situation. I’ll also add that I’m looking to invest out of state. 

I recently put an offer on a property at the asking price and it was accepted (my first). Nothing was disclosed in photos or description that anything was amiss except maybe that it needed a little "TLC". I was lucky in that I was able to obtain insight into a recent inspection report. Typically you pay $350-$400 for one is my understanding. It was over 80 pages long and had a laundry list of repairs including new roof, drywall repair, cracked windows, basement waterproofing, stair step cracks, and more. I considered negotiating a lower price but as a first-timer and being out of state decided to back out of the deal (and should get my EMD back).

I have read such advice as “get 5 itemized bids on the work and then average each line item to get a good idea of what repairs will cost.” That seems to be wishful thinking. I couldn’t find one contractor to respond to my inquiry. I will be interested to see what experienced investors have to say on this. Thanks!