All Forum Posts by: Diane S.

look in south jersey across from Philly and del ,and way north, lots of fix and rent, taxes reasonable, more train lines coming in so market to commuters, and in a tough area always take section 8, you will be able to refill so fast

first I would go out to see property, stroll up the street, run into tenants and strike up conversation, if they don't recognize you , you might learn a lot, maybe even mention you are looking to rent in area, 2 PM is not doing his/her job period, if you have to even go there, expectations are not inline somewhere, It might be a good time to screen your own tenants , if they make good and was a misunderstanding you maybe able to save it, or 3 rent is not making its way to you on time.....

If you haven't seen it in a while I would make a tour, and spend some time looking it over well, I will be in that area in 2 weeks if you need anything

Looking at listing may not need full rehab, new roof and water heater done, 3br in neighbor run 900 to 1000, rehab for low maintenance, try to buy as low as you can , look at comps, probably could go in as low as 38-42 with good agent and stress as is, maybe a few agents here to help, get one to give you good numbers not listing agent numbers , street is a nice one for area, not much back yard or parking but nice front, before you close make sure vacant  contingent, if numbers work I would do it, the are predicting an abundance of rentals avail next year with building craze but keeping expense low you should be safe, remember don't rehab as if you are living there, think durable and repaintable, number should go into systems and structure first, elect,heat,walls, windows,floors,plumbing, if you use a contractor go with one you know or work with someone in area to keep an eye on progress, good luck at least you know some of the history of the property

I would contact the court house and find out the status of your applications first, get your funds and paperwork back second, plan on making a trip in to meet with your manager in person third, if they spend that much time at the court house not doing very good job at managing, as being available in your place is their primary task, you don't say what the problem was with the property you took over but could that be getting in the way? speak directly with licensing

Look at other places, chock this up to your spidey senses, If tenant are that hostile to landlord/owner photos do you want those tenants?, you could check how long the seller owned it and things might make more sense, the landlord should have had some photos prior to tenants unless they inherited them, also if you look at rentals always make sure the seller passes on the security deposits, the realtor could get some generic photos of inside at the tenants convenience but for some reason does not want to or there is more to the picture, say foreclosed on occupied building and wants easy flip, also check city records of the address, say foreclosures evictions court cases but sounds like too much work for too little $ , if they agent doesn't take you serious there are other places and agents that will

I was just reading somewhere to be a licensed landlord in Philly if you don't live in the district you have to have a property manager in Philly. Philadelphia rules are really different. Anyone else hear this?  

joel is right , some have to be on section to afford to live in this economy, some have an entitlement attitude, one type sticks in your mind, while the other doesn't, some section 8 are your grandparents when the economy fell out under them, lost their homes and retirement not to laziness and just too old to start over in most fields, or may have been injured permanently, so on disability, which is on section 8, in many states minimum wage still need help to make rent. I know someone who was a state job service employee  25 yrs and still needed section 8 for a basic apartment , it is a cycle as rents go up the more that need help paying it, just be glad there is a place that keeps the market from breaking and paying landlord mortgages so it can be reinvested in the economy, was just saying how if enough properties went under, no taxes paid, governments then have less money too, like Detroit going bankrupt, and then values go down too even if you don't use the program

It looks great, you did a great job, I have done a few too, but I always say don't make the rentals too personal or close to your heart, if anything does get trashed(hope not) you will be more hurt esp if your first whats your price/voucher range?

sorry to hear troubles, use go section 8 avoid we take 8 site, didn't see her boyfriend was living there too... well they don't usually push enforcement that is hard to prove, he said she said kind of thing, but if extra people living there that have an income it is possible they could be liable to owe section 8 refund of over payments, hard to prove unless boyfriend actually documents it somehow, such as tax returns etc. , a thought was if any amount of communication left, maybe some kind of settlement can be reached, say if moves out by date will not turn her in to hud etc, (document),  you will not know final damages till moved out, next time don't replace with expensive stuff, assume will have to replaced with each tenant, if doesn't you will be ahead, use vinyl flooring, such as the vinyl wood look stuff, easy to replace sections, fake wood stuff doesn't wear well, retouch hard wood if you have, repaint with white easy to match, shop habitat restores if you can

Strange what people will post out in public isn't it, if it were me I would read other friends/family posts as well since they are public just fyi, but cant really use as well as officers could, but may give you heads up,  fed investigating we had to document everything and build a huge casefile, more hours than you may have, just try to get out as painless as you can, at least she is moving, be glad she doesn't claim you were responsible for flood, miscarriage, permanent health issues etc, 40 miles isn't really that far, but consider a prop management if too much stress