All Forum Posts by: Filipe Pereira

You should call the emergency contact that you collected as a part of your tenant application process. If it was an inherited tenant, they should have submitted this information as a part of their on boarding process, ESPECIALLY for tenants who live alone. 

Owed utilities / rent comes out of the security deposit if there is one. 

It probably comes down to situation by situation but most tenants will probably not have an estate that you can collect from. This subject sucks, but like anything else, compassionate but firm is probably the way to sort through it all. Mourning takes time so to not be abrasive is to be smart, but it's a fine line that has to be walked, no doubt. 

You can do it all in Cozy @Uri E. If you don't want to then you can do a banker's check, money order or cash at a bank with a receipt. Software is definitely the best route if you want some of it to be automated as much as it can be. Cozy.co is free.

Wohoo! Congrats @Matthew Horstmyer! Now don't forget to get those tenants to sign estoppel agreements if you can... They're becoming more and more important in this covid world we find ourselves in. 

- Can I evict these tenants, even with the COVID protection acts due to them not paying the previous landlords pre-COVID?

Depends, @Grayson Prickett - I know in CT they are allowing evictions for any tenants who haven't paid in 6+ mo. Not sure what it is like in NC. 

- What can I do to secure this loan? There is no way the tenants will let the appraiser in. The loan requires a full-appraisal so I am unsure how to move forward? Are there other loans options that might be better for securing the funds quickly? Closing is set to be in 2 weeks.

Show up to the property with the owner and appraiser, after having given proper notice to the tenants. Call the local PD and tell them you'd like an escort because you are concerned the tenants will be violent. The police will not force entry, but they will be there to make sure no one "gets hurt". That's probably your best shot. 

OR 

Try to convince the appraiser that a photo based appraisal is enough - due to covid. 

Unfortunately it isn't really a question of what WOULD we do, but rather a question of what CAN we do? @Ray Alsaigh it isn't common for there to be only one company with no competition, no. 

If there really is only one option, you may want to explore ways to reduce your trash creation in order to save some $...

 Really depends on your net worth and how much equity you have in each property. 

The most common way is to set up a LLC per property. For those who don't have high equity or high net worth, sometimes bunching the properties into 1 LLC is sufficient. Just know that if you get sued on one property in a LLC, all the other ones are at risk as well, which is why people with high equity / net worth divide them into multiple LLCs.

Setting up a LLC is fairly simple and straightforward, you don't need to hire an atty for that.

I am not changing anything right away @Chace Corbett. 100% of our tenants paid rent all through 2020 and I expect that to continue through 2021. If anything, our screening criteria will become even more strict as it's pretty darn near impossible to evict at this point without being several months in the red. 

It's really just pushing off the inevitable - a slew of evictions coming down the pipeline followed by some foreclosures. 

Here are two on the tenant screening side of things @Anthu Tam

1. Use "NET" aka "take home income" to qualify tenants. I usually aim for 3x the rent. 

2. Don't rent to tenants who have evictions on their record.

The best bank to use is the one that is most convenient to you that offers low or no fees. For me that's a local credit union here in CT. For others that may be a national chain bank. Pull up google maps, compare the hours of operation and go from there!

Hey @Jeff Piscioniere why do you feel like you are on the hook? Aren't you all on the hook to each other to pay each other out at closing? Further- wouldn't you be getting the 60 from the sale, and thus you can pay them the 40 (20 each) at close?

Anyway, outside of that - find a new partner and have them "buy in" at the price that you would owe your two current partners. 

The seller finance aspect is tough to achieve with a mortgage. 

I'm trying to figure out if a master lease is an option for a creative solution here, but it's not hitting me in the face...yet.