All Forum Posts by: Gregory H.

Wait, he owes you unpaid rent? If he doesn't provide you a forwarding address you have no responsibility to send the money within 30 days. If he asks you about the security deposit return, tell him it was put against the unpaid rent. He lost his right to the security deposit when he broke the lease by not paying the rent. Almost all leases have in it that the security deposit can be used to cover unpaid rent/damages, so once he provides an address, if ever, just send a certified return receipt letter saying the security deposit was fully applied to unpaid rent. You could even give him a full accounting, showing all the excess money he owes even after the security deposit, then you'll usually never hear from them again, haha

They're only due interest if you put it in an interest bearing account ... additionally, you are allowed to charge a reasonable account servicing fee (not to exceed the amount of interest generated by the account). This was only an inconvenience in a high interest rate environment. If this is what is stopping you from being a landlord, it shouldn't.

On the HUD/CD, where all the accounting for the transaction is done, and both parties sign ... were the prorated rents on the sheet as a debit on the seller side and a credit on the buyers side?

You'll be much more thorough if the tenant is not there looking over your shoulder & distracting you. Tell them to leave the keys, you'll do the inspection & notify them if there are any issues.

@Alan G.court ruling last year in PA declared that collecting last month's rent is the same as a security deposit. In PA you can collect 2 months worth of security deposit for the first year of tenancy, if the tenant remains after one year, one month of security deposit must be returned. Therefore, for a tenant you expect to only be a year tenant, you can hold both security & last month's rent, for a long term tenant, you cannot. I am a realtor and this court ruling was presented to our entire brokerage by an attorney that specializes in real estate.

You liked the house, made an offer, offer was accepted, appraisal came in at the price you made the offer at. It doesn't sound like the sellers were actively trying to deceive you, and the appraisal came in at the offer price, why should they lower their price? If you're unhappy because now you can't tell your friends/family you bought a 4,000 sqft house, then have an attorney review the document to see if there is a way to get you out of the contract without losing your deposits.

giving the address is only as small part of the equation, give us, square footage, number of units, condition (with pics), rents, utilities (and if tenants reimburse), etc

If its $669K for 3 one bedroom / studio apartments that need a gut Reno, yes, thats a joke. I own a studio in Rittenhouse now that rents for $1,300/mo ... I value it around $230K. It all depends on the unit, the rents, and the Reno budget. The thing about Rittenhouse is that it is a very idiosyncratic market, block by block, unit by unit, layout by layout, without having detail, its hard to say

@Jason Morris I just want to make sure that you are aware that if you are managing property that is not your own, you are legally required to have a real estate license in Pennsylvania.

Make the offer contingent upon clear title, have the sellers figure it out on their end. Have a preliminary discussion with your title company before making the offer. Worst case scenario, tax owed gets paid out of the sellers proceeds at closing.