All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Osei-Owusu

The site plan for that section is for an 8 unit block of town homes. I own the 2 lots on the end of that block. The owners of all 8 lots would have to want to build and pay for it upfront. Then it would be able to be built upon. As far as I can tell, 3 of them are owned by other people and the rest is still in the builder's name. I decided to sell off the properties to another investor and move my money into my next investment.

Wow! Got it, thanks for sharing. I hadn't realized it was possible to lock land owners into such an arrangement. I have family that bought and developed land in a gated villa community in South Texas where all of the villas are technically standalone structures, however they're built right next to each other so that they look like connected townhomes. I wonder if such an option exists in your case.

Either way, sorry you had to experience this and glad you're learning from it.

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Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

Quote from @Tina Swanson:

Hello! I just recently acquired 2 plots of land in St Cloud Florida in a gated townhome community from a tax deed auction. I own the 2 units at the end of an 8 unit block. 3 of the plots are still county owned and the remaining 3, 2 are owned by out of state companies and the 3rd by a single gentleman. My original plan was to build the 2 units then sell them. But the site is currently unbuildable especially without owning all the lots in the block. I am trying to figure out what my exit strategy is at this point. Any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated!

There was a reason these went to tax sale and no one wanted them. Hopefully you did not pay too much for them but basically your best bet isto let them go to tax sale again and eat your losses.

When buying at tax sales due diligence is key. You could have avoided this with the research.

Common sense also prevails in many instances where if there is land in a townhome community - why did the original builder not build there as townhomes are not built by individual owners.

agreed the exit is either the greater fool theory or contact the adjacent owners and make a deal they are probably in the same boat you are in.. I have seen some in FLA ( I had one client in particular that I funded there) that actually did pretty good buying low value land and flipping it.. She made so much money that she left me to go on her own.. Also she was a lawyer or law student who had not taken the bar so she could do her own quiet title work big advantage to her.. Smart lady that one. I sure hated to see her go ..

Thanks for posting, Tina. Out of curiosity, would you elaborate on what makes the land unbuildable? I didn't fully understand why not owning all lots on the block limits the ability to build.

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Hey everyone! I’m a software engineer who’s just recently wrapped up my first 4-unit ground-up construction deal. I’m now building a simple one-page pitch site to help sponsors raise equity more efficiently. Before I invest more time in this prototype, I want to make sure I’m solving a real problem. Your input here will directly shape the tool’s design and feature set.

Poll: Which format do you primarily use to share deal details with prospective investors (select all that apply)?

A) Emailing a PDF or Powerpoint pitch deck

B) Linking to a simple project page on your own website

C) Posting on a third-party crowdfunding platform (e.g. CrowdStreet, SyndicationPro)

D) Sharing an Excel or Google Sheets financial model

E) Phone or video call walkthrough (no documents)

F) In-person meeting with printed materials (pen & paper)

G) Other (please reply with yours)

Please vote by replying below with any combination of A, B, C, D, E, F, or G.
If you choose ‘Other,’ feel free to share a sentence about what you use.

---

I’ll compile the results and share a quick summary here next week—plus a preview of how I’m adapting the prototype based on your feedback. Thanks in advance for your help!

1 Vote

Quote from @Drew Sygit:

@Jonathan Osei-Owusu Most PM software allows late fees to be charged.

Ours allows us to absorb the cost of tenants paying electronically thru the software - it usually wants to charge tenants, but we want them to pay electronically.

We manually charge tenants a Processing Fee for mailing in their rent, a slightly lower Processing Fee for depositing to our bank.

Your success will depend on the Class of your tenants. Most Class A tenants won't challenge your proposal. More Class B tenants will and a LOT of Class C & D will. You'll also have headaches with tenants asking for waiver of penalties and your NSF fees.

Hi @Drew Sygit, thanks for your response.You shared some good insight, particularly about the classes of tenants that would push back against the strategy I proposed originally. How do you keep such tenants and their requests at bay?

I still am in search for PM software that allows discounts to be offered to those that successfully enroll in auto pay; are you aware of any?

Thanks

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Hey all,

First post! Is anyone aware of any of a property management tool that allows PMs to give discounts to tenants who enroll in autopay (similar to how major US phone providers like do these days)?

I've got the idea to more positively incentivize my tenants to pay rent by the idea expressed in the following example:

- If they pay any later than five days late, they pay base rent ($1,000) + fixed late fee (e.g., $150)
- If pay on time without autopay, they pay base rent ($1,000) + "manual payment fee" (e.g., $25 or $50)
- If they use autopay for timely payments, they pay just the base rent ($1,000)

In the above example, you see that a discount of $25-50 was applied in the case that the tenant chooses to setup autopay to schedule on-time payments via a given PM software.

Please let me know if any software comes to mind and also any feedback on the positive incentive idea.

Thanks in advance!

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All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Osei-Owusu

Jonathan Osei-Owusu has started 2 posts and replied 5 times.

Post: I own the land, now what? Seeking advice about an exit strategy

Post: I own the land, now what? Seeking advice about an exit strategy

Post: Capital-Raising Poll: How do you present your deals to potential investors?

Post: Property Management Software w/ Discounts for Autopay

Post: Property Management Software w/ Discounts for Autopay