All Forum Posts by: Adrian Mata

Cozy.co (Yes it's .co not .com) is free but it takes the money out of the tenant's account and a lot of people don't like that.

1. I physically pick it up. Paynearme is a service that works with retailers like Ace Check Cashing. Customers can go to those retailers and pay a surcharge on top of their rent and the rent will be deposited into the landlord's account. They don't service my area anymore unless you have a lot of units.

2. We went on a legal assistance website and made our own lease.

3. Most common answer from those with more experience I've gotten is ...."Use your gut." Start out with the traditional criteria (3X rent for income, good credit, no criminal record) and go from there. You're going to have to use some common sense if you're not in the greatest area. Mysmartmove.com is a great site.

-How do work orders work?

-Do I get monthly reports?

-How much is a minimum service call?

-Do they charge a premium on repairs? 90% of the time they will even if they say they won't btw...

-How do you deal with a BAD tenant?

you need to be on the exact same page as to the process you're willing to accept when it comes to dealing with tenants. You should be clear cut to the letter with your PM.

-What types of guarantees do you have for leasing a tenant?

I dealt with a company where if they had to replace a tenant in 30 days, I'd keep the first month's rent. ....60 days I get half back....90 days they keep the whole first month's rent.

I'm honestly not really into the idea of appreciation for a rental property. I'm more attracted to cash flow. I followed the barometers on this forum when I started looking at houses. I was more into the 50% rule than the 2% rule.

I'd say let it go. It's not their fault that a power surge occurred. 

Wood is a no go. It scratches. From what I've heard, vinyl flooring is great. Laminate works well and you can get that stuff that looks like wood but tenants have to take care of it. 

We're using carpet because that's what we can afford in the current situation. If you go that route, get a good carpet pad so that way you'll only be changing the carpet in the future.

Pex not copper piping. Pex will expand and contract because it's basically flexible plastic.

Cheapest stuff you can find in terms of appliances or things that will get replaced.

I would say no to both. With that payment and rent I don't think there's enough room. You're going to have maintenance and turnover. 

To answer your question

-Buy a house on contract

-Get seller financing

I looked into these a bunch and usually the terms aren't going to be in your favor at all and you need to trust the seller which is super risky.

Banks don't really have a lot of leverage on an investor with a mortgage on a rental. The way they look at it you could walk away because you won't be on the street or anything.  They want to make sure you have something to lose(down payment).

Yea, honestly first thing I'd do is figure out where you need to file your eviction. Sometimes those courthouses will be able to help you. If they're not willing to give any kind of advice they'll probably be able to point you in a direction of some type of legal assistance for really cheap. A lot of people that go to court can't afford a lawyer. If none of those work then you'll need to get your own lawyer.

I just try to help out however on here because especially in those situations you're already losing money so it's tough to have to pay more. 

The best advice bar none though is get your own lawyer.