All Forum Posts by: Grant Shipman

@Ryan Swan what made you land on Buildium over RentecDirect/others? 

Also, in your experience w/Buildium so far, what are its lows & highs?

Wow that is super helpful Ryan. Thanks so much for commenting!

They seem to be the best but very expensive for having a lower number of units.

I have read all the forums/etc that I can find out PM software along with online review/comparisons. I want to make a final decision. I think I have landed on Rentec Direct, but I've not heard anyone mention it on BP. 

Does anyone have experience with Rentec Direct? Please chime in if you do. 

This is what I would like to use it for:

-Individual rooms within single family homes.

-50 units and under

-paperless system to accept application, screen tenants, background checks, sign documents/leases, accept rent payments, auto reminder to tenants, accounting/bookkeeping software, produce basic financial reports, and auto post to craigslist/etc.

I'm going to house hack my first rental property that I'm closing Nov 10th on by renting out the extra bedrooms.  There are 5 conforming bedrooms (windows & closets). There are also two non-conforming bedrooms that look exactly like a bedroom, except they do not have a window. 

Is it legal to rent out a room in my house to someone if that room doesn't have a window?  How do I find out if it is legal or not? 

If I was a renter, I would actually prefer to rent one of the non-conforming bedrooms b/c they have much more square footage.  

Hi BP Community- I wanted to share my accomplishment and joy! I started out 2 months ago working hard to understand REI, and so I got a Pro membership here. Y'all have helped me a great deal along with book reading and networking!

Here's the play-by-play so far:

• I have an equity partner that is providing all the financial resources while I act as the active investor for our partnership.
• After some trial and error I found a great agent and lender.
• Saturday I found a deal on the MLS and asked my agent to go after it.
• Tuesday I offered $275k on a SFR in Loveland, CO listed for $319.5k ($118/sqft)
• Wednesday we got a counter-offer for $316.5k with the selling agent kicking an additional $1k of his commission to us at closing = $315.5k actual price.
• Wednesday I immediately accepted the counter offer.
• Today reread the BP Book on Rental Properties chapter on Due Diligence (thanks @Brandon Turner!)
• Today I scheduled the inspections, handled the earnest money, and am about to call my attorney. 
• Tomorrow the adventure continues!

That's great to hear! I think Eaton has a lot of potential and is a  beautiful little town. Congratulations Mark!

What do you plan to do with it?

I would love to work with you all and just moved to Denver 6 weeks ago!  I'll shoot you an email :)  

I'm working on getting my first property under contract, and I would really appreciate advice on whether my plan would be violating the terms of the mortgage.

PROPERTY & LOAN INFO:

-Conventional Loan for a Primary Residence

-Single Family 2 Bedroom Home with a basement and an accessory until (360sqft tiny home).

PLAN:

-My partner will be on the loan (and therefore must have the house as her primary residence for 12 months), and we will build out the basement as her living space.

- Will rent out the rest of the house (2 other bedrooms and accessory until) via long term rent or Airbnb.

MY QUESTION

My mortgage lender is concerned that renting on the rooms to long term renters or Airbnb during the first 12 months may violate the mortgage agreement. I have researched everything I can on OO loans, and I don't understand their concern. Please respond with anything you think helpful. Thanks!

@Natalie Kolodij Thx- I hope I can find someone. Are the tax implications the same if it was an single member LLC compared to an LLC?

@Katie L. you are a CPA in Cali. If she was going to create an LLC, would you suggest doing it in CA or TX?