All Forum Posts by: Eric Wilkinson

@Nathan G. I used an estoppel to verify the rent, deposit, etc but did not use it to do a thorough background check.

It was clear this landlord did not run a tight ship from the condition of the property. The other red flag was a conversation I had with the neighbor on the day of closing when he told me about the tenants.

Lessons learned. Look for the flags and heed them.

I am still new to landlording but I would say Inheriting tenants that would never have passed my screening.

Now I am moving down the eviction process with one of my properties. I should have followed my gut and ended their month to month lease at the outset when they were uncommunicative and were slow to provide their contact information. I attempted to get them to complete an application and move to my lease. I got the first rent check and foolishly moved on without completing this work. I did some more digging and found they have had 4 different eviction proceedings in the last 10 years.

Going forward to avoid this I will try to

1. Buy the house empty. Just closed on a property where we waited a month to close for the tenant to move out.

2. Rescreen the tenants and get them on my lease. If they are reluctant, it is probably because they are hiding something.

There is a Michigan Multifamily and More Real Estate Investment Group that meets near Brighton and has some virtual meet ups.  I have found the guest speakers very helpful and informative   

Welcome to the area.  

@Elliot Cole. Who sells these types of warranties? Are you able to buy this just for sewers or is it a part of some home warranty package?

@Noel Dixon. I have received a home warranty when purchasing a property. I don’t think it would be a good fit for a rental property. The warranty company requires getting preapproval and them finding a contractor. This takes time. If a furnace goes out in winter, you may not be able to wait.

The property I was referring to was in a more rural area and none of the warranty company’s providers wanted to come out that far so I still had to find my own person to fix the problem.

@Henry Thomas Austin. With the HELOC your bank is likely to give you a check book tied to the LOC. To draw on the LOC you simply write a check. To buy a house, you can write a check, deposit it into your account and have a cashiers check drawn up to take to closing at a title company. I don't know all the rule for an auction but you generally need cash or it's equivalent.

I don’t know if that answers your question.

I got a response from a yellow letter from a 93 yr old man. I visited with him and toured his house. The house is his primary home and he has lived there for 60+ yrs. His daughter was there when I first met him. I was glad because I did not want to give the impression that I was trying to take advantage of an elderly person.

When I asked his reason for thinking about selling he gave the morbid response that he will have to sometime in near future given his age. I left him with an offer, but now I am looking for advice on how best to follow up. I don’t want to come off too pushy and was thinking of following up in 6 weeks if I have not heard anything else and then keep him on a longer term follow up.

@Maxim S. The houses in the 200s that I mentioned are harder to make work as a rental. It is not a hard and fast rule but you are below the 1% rule.

They could work as a live in flip if you find the right house. Many are the age they could use an update.

Ypsilanti is affordable given what you have listed. 3/1 ranch homes from the 50’s and 60’s are available for $95k-140k depending on the area and rent for around $1250-$1300 once again depending on the area and condition of the house.  

There are newer, larger  3/2 homes (early 2000s) south and north of Ypsilanti that are in the low 200s.  

@Joe Villeneuve What is the size of the market you are referring to in your analysis? Street, neighborhood, city, or metro area?