All Forum Posts by: Eddy Dumire

@Therese V. Those are good points.  I also considered that they may be friends with some of the neighbors too which will only hurt my case.  I'm still trying to figure it out and I'm really looking forward to advice/suggestions from the BP community.

PITA Neighbors -- So apparently it hasn't gone unnoticed by the neighbors about the problem tenants that are in the house.  Yesterday I received a complaint from code enforcement about overcrowding.  There are only 2 bedrooms in the house, but apparently someone complained that 6 people were living there.

I honestly don't know how many people are/were living there at any given time.  There was a constant stream of people flowing in and out of the house.  It's pretty likely that if you went to the house twice you wouldn't see the same people there.  I really don't know how many actually stayed there though.

This notice was in addition to two other notices I received from the city complaining about trash and weeds on the property.  This has all been in the span of two months.  All three times the complaints have been somewhat petty, but somewhat justified.

What I'm concerned about now is if the complaints are going to stop.  What if I spend thousands more on rehab and get nice tenants to live there and this neighbor keeps making complaints?  If I knew who it was, I'd go talk to them, but it could be any of a dozen neighbors that are causing the problems.  I think I may just write a letter and send a copy to the whole street acknowledging the problems and letting them know I'll be fixing up the property soon.

Anyone else had similar problems with their rental properties?

The quick answer is whatever is most profitable.  I'm not trying to be flippant.

If the garage space is being used as a bedroom, then it probably wouldn't be profitable to decrease the bedroom count to return it to being a garage.  If it's just a weird extra space that doesn't fit a typical room listing, then it's better as a garage.

For instance, I would think a garage is move valuable than a "bonus room".

You should also factor in the difference in finished square footage because this will factor into your valuation also.  If you're friendly with an appraiser, maybe you could get them to do the math for you.

I'm also in the Fredericksburg area.  If you ever need some advice, just let me know.

Eddy

@Donald Capwell I'm glad you're getting something out of it. I'm a member of the REIA, but it's hard for me to make meetings. I have Board of Directors meetings for the fire department at the same time every month. Hopefully I'll be able to make it soon though.

I've decided to go the cash for keys route.  They accepted my offer to be out on the 31st in exchange for 1 month rent.  They actually accepted it a little too quick for my pleasure.  They said they had already been looking at other places.  Oh well, at least now I can get in there and finish up the full rehab.  I need to get it fixed and rented out in time for an appraisal around the 6 month mark for the cash out refi.

@Therese V. I've come to that conclusion now.  Thanks though! :)

I would just ask them why they're in Quantico and for how long their assignment is.

@Gabrielle E. You won't find anything in Quantico itself but the base and base housing.  Look in Dumfries, Woodbridge, and Stafford.  You will likely have some military applicants for any rental in these areas.  You still need to screen them well though.  While there is some accountability for payment in the command structure, you can still get people that trash your house.  I've also heard of people going to basic school (6 months) who sign a 12 month lease.  The VRLTA requires you to let a military renter out of the lease if they are transferred.  Anyone in basic school is almost guaranteed to be transferred 6 months later.

You won't be able to find good cash flowing properties by looking at the retail ready market. Plan on looking for REO properties, short sales, or otherwise distressed properties to make the numbers work. Read up on the BRRRR strategy. It's worked out great for me. I started a year and a half ago (May 2014) and just closed on my 5th property and still have a full time job.

I just finished doing this in my master bathroom.  There were two layers of wallpaper plus a border.  The last owner before me painted over it.  You could still see the seams though and my wife and I decided it was time to go so that we could prep our current primary residence for rental.

It's been literally about a month of work.  The wall paper removal job itself took more than a weekend.  Our bathroom is divided into two rooms.  One has two vanities and a tub and the other has a toilet and shower.

We started in the toilet/shower room with the tool that makes the holes along with a solvent.  We soaked everything thoroughly.  We ended up with chewed up drywall.  In the other room, we just soaked thoroughly and peeled starting at the very top where it meets the ceiling.  With lots of patience, lots of water, and very slow peeling it would come off in big strips.  The paper layer beneath would come off very easily when wet, but left behind a residue that had to be washed multiple times.

So since I had multiple holes in the shower/toilet room, I ended up with lots of drywall finishing work anyway.  I have probably below average drywall finishing skills and as a result, I have walls that could look a bit better.

My conclusion is this:  If the wall paper peels off very easily and in very large sheets after soaking it down, then just proceed to do it that way.  If it's on there so good that you need a tool to chew it up, then you'll have to do drywall work anyway.  So tear it all out and start over with fresh drywall.

A 10x10x8 foot kitchen will take about 10 sheets of drywall @ $12 each (use the 5/8" in rentals... it's sturdier).  Add a bucket of mud for $15, a 5 lb box of screws for $22 and a roll of tape for $2.  Even if you don't have tools you're still looking at less than $200 in materials.  Moreso, I think you'll learn a ton in the process and as such, you'll be able to see ripoff artists much more clearly when you need to hang and finish drywall in the future.

If you have more money than time, you can hire someone (day laborer) to hang and finish it for you for about $20/sheet.

Good luck.

Dislcaimer:  The 5/8" drywall in rentals advice came from the podcasts... can't recall which one though.  It makes so much sense and only adds about $1.50 per sheet over the 1/2"

The 5 day letter I used specifically itemizes the past due rent, late fees, court costs, and attorney fees.  I put the relevant values in for the first two, but put in 0 for court costs and attorney fees.  I don't think I'd be able to add them into the UD now would I?

I also found that the certified letter wasn't delivered until yesterday so that puts me even more behind.  I'll wait till Monday and file the UD and make the cash for keys offer at the same time.