All Forum Posts by: Andrew S.

forgot to add: @Stephen S. has a point, you can probably get it done cheaper off the books (and outside the law), but that's not everyone's cup of tea.

I'm with @Ibrahim Hughes on this one - proceed with caution! I think chances are pretty good that you'll get away with 5-10K for remediation. However, the potential downside is enormous. To me, this would have to be one heck of a deal to take the chance. I walked away form one for exactly this reason end of last year - after the oil tank could not be remedied for a NFA letter, I offered to move forward with the deal at half of the original offer - seller didn't accept and I walked. Property is still for sale....

I don't think they are impossible to sell, but it does depend on what's common in your neighborhood. If you are the ONLY 1bathroom house then that's a problem. If half of your neighbors also have 1bath, you may be fine. Also, look out for any opportunities to add a 1/2 bath somewhere. Often there is a way to squeeze one in for a relatively modest investment.

interesting scenario - I don't have answers but I bet @John Fedro

might!

you are funny, @Jean Bolger , but you are of course right! I think the consensus above is not that the "$7500 is owed" by the seller, but rather that the seller is the only option to recover anything from at this point as the tenants appear to have valid leases in hand.

I agree that it would be most annoying from the seller point of view, if the buyer came back to re-negotiate at this point in the process, but that is certainly an option (may not be successful, but it is an option). At least there is some leverage, because the buyer can still walk away from the deal (minus EM). I think that's a much better chance than trying to force the tenants to accept a revised lease, where frankly, I see no leverage at all (other than to say: "pretty, pretty please").

@Dana Chun I too have some college rental properties and I do understand your desire to have parents co-sign the leases. However, the same arguments made for the possible rent increases above also apply to this point. From the tenant's point of view, they have a valid lease agreement and the terms are what they are (apparently, no co-signature required). You can ask them politely, if they would be willing to revise the contract, but if they say no, I don't see how you can force them. In fact, I not only rent to students but I also have college-aged kids who rent places in other towns. I can assure you that I would NOT co-sign your new lease under these circumstances.

I agree with @Matt Devincenzo : if there is anybody you should go after, then it is the seller (ask for adjustment). Since you are fully aware of the lease situation BEFORE you close the deal, you need to grit your teeth and accept the leases as they are.

In your original post, you say one of your goals is to establish a good relationship with the tenant's parents - well, trying to modify the lease at this point is a sure-fire way to achieve the opposite, in my opinion.

Thanks @Brian L - you are shedding some light on the OPs gripe, it seems. This is a very important discussion, and I wish the OP found a way to articulate his argument rather than just toss something out there.

I do not have any affiliation with Zilla, Trulia, etc, nor do I put much stock in their "Zestimates" (I think it's common and accepted knowledge that they can be, and often ARE, very inaccurate). That said, those sites are an extremely useful "1st pass" search tool for many of us (as @Walter W.

points out). If they are ripping off realtors, then of course, I don't blame them for objecting and discontinuing cooperation. That said, being a consumer/investor, I don't mind if this helps keep brokers/realtors on their toes a bit. Competition is usually a good thing.

@Tom V.

I totally get your math and all else equal, you are making the best business decision - in the short term. If enough landlords follow your logic, eventually we will educate a whole generation of tenants who know that all they have to do is stop paying rent and they will get out of any contract whenever they want. Better still, they actually get paid to do so!

It is the same argument that is causing deep-pocketed companies to roll over at any threat of product liability litigation against them, and we have thousands of litigation lawyers and a clogged up court system to prove it.

Again, I get that you have to balance your short-term picture, but don't ignore the potential long-term impact.

I have looked into Section 8 for a while, and have come to the conclusion that it's simply not worth it in our area. There seems to be a huge regional spread in terms of how attractive (or not) S8 is - in some parts of the country it appears to be a true win-win proposition, while in other parts, the authorities are so restrictive (both in terms of inspections AND in terms of "rent control") that it simply doesn't make sense anymore. Unfortunately, @John Harrison , we both seem to operate in one of those cities....

@Ryan Ruiz

As @Karen Margrave mentioned, perhaps that attorney is representing the seller's interests and will be able to negotiate terms on his behalf? I also agree with Karen that this is a pretty big stretch of a proposed deal, so if you really want it, why not invest that half hour with the attorney and the seller's agents and find out what they have to say? Seems like you have already spent way more that trying to get your questions answered via the agents - your meeting might get you closer to the source.

Incidentally, it seems rather unlikely to me (though I might be off on that) that a seller would share existing lease documents and such without some sort of offer or at least an LOI.