All Forum Posts by: Jack B

Quote from @Pedro Andrade:

Jack, sorry to hear about the fire—glad no one was hurt and that the damage was contained.

A few thoughts based on similar situations I’ve seen as both an investor and a property manager:

1. Safety – You're already taking the right steps with a general home inspector. I’d also recommend having an electrician assess any exterior wiring that might’ve been affected by the heat (especially near the siding). Sometimes fire-related heat damage can impact electrical systems that aren’t immediately visible. Also check the HVAC intake/vents—smoke residue can travel.

2. Insurance – You're thinking about it the right way. If you're close to the $3K deductible and the total is $5K, it might not be worth filing, especially if it risks a premium hike. But if that number creeps closer to $8K–$10K, then using insurance becomes more sensible. Still, I’d get a few formal bids ASAP to help you decide. And document everything—photos, inspections, communication with your PM, etc.

3. Liability – Unfortunately, if the fire was unintentional and there’s no car insurance, you’re likely covering the cost. You could try small claims court if there’s evidence of negligence (e.g., working on the car improperly), but with Section 8 tenants that may not be worth the time or yield. Double check your landlord policy to see if it covers tenant-caused damage—even accidental.

4. General Advice – This is a good moment to revisit your lease. In our management company, we require tenants to carry renters insurance with liability coverage for exactly these reasons. Section 8 rules vary, but you can often include this in lease addenda and at recertification. Also, if you self-manage in the future or switch managers, I’d suggest having a preventive maintenance and risk checklist to minimize surprises. Fires from vehicles aren’t common, but having a plan for post-incident steps (like you're doing) really helps mitigate long-term impact.

You’re handling this well. Let us know what the inspector finds—I’m curious how far the damage actually went.

Hi Pedro, thank you for your thorough answer and your time. I think that you made a great point with the electrician. I do need to ask the management company about the renter's insurance. Unfortunately I only have 1 unit under management with them so I don't want to be too picky as I know I'm not their biggest customer(in fact, I am probably their smallest). Something to think about.

I'll keep you posted.

A few days ago, my tenant's car caught on fire in the driveway of a duplex that I own. The firefighters did a great job at stopping the fire from reaching the house, but there is some clear damage to the front siding and there is a broken window(see image). My insurance deductible is 1% of replacement cost or about $3,000. I've gotten a few rough estimates to repair the siding and replace the window for $5K or so, but nothing in writing yet, just waiting on them to come back. A few questions for those more knowledgeable on this than me:

1. My main concern is safety and liveability right now. I have a property management company who said that the unit is still livable because the fire only reached the driveway going to the siding of the house to the porch. I am also getting a general home inspector to come out there next week and inspect the inside. Is there anything else I should do here for safety?

2. At what point is tapping into my landlord's insurance worth it? I'm thinking that if the quote goes over $10K(which I don't expect it to), I will.

3. The tenant is a Section 8 tenant and did not have car insurance, unfortunately. The fire department's incident report says that the fire was unintentional. I think that I'm going to be the one paying for all this, unless somebody thinks otherwise?

4. Any other general advice here?

1. A real estate cycle is a natural occurring up and down of home prices in a given area. You determine what point a market is at in the cycle by looking at data. Median sale price(not median listing price), sale price per square foot, and new home listing numbers are all considered when determining this. A good way to tell is just going to Zillow and clicking on the "Local" tab.

2. People rent all throughout the year however the summer is the most popular season to rent.

3. Just about every metric you can think of... However most buying in a trough(low point) of a market's cycle is idea. #1 will help you with that one. City-Data.com is great for getting all sorts of data.

Could be a couple reasons...

• The property has some hidden problem. Asbestos? Constantly flooding basement? Or is it something concerning the property's history such as liens against the property?
• Overpriced. It doesn't matter if homes in the area go for 200-250k if they aren't 2 bed. Make sure you find properties with similar numbers. Lets just say your property is a 2/2/2 1500SQ craftsman on a 10000SQ lot. Make sure your comps aren't far off from that.
• Check out the neighborhood. Is there something wrong with the neighborhood(crime rate)? Or is it something concerning the neighbors such as their 100 pound barking Rottweiler next door?
• Something less common - It could be a 'fake' or 'bait' property. This is basically when agents, particularly in competitive areas, put up sold properties for sale. When someone calls asking about the property the agent says something along the lines of "Oh that property just entered closing yesterday... However I do have properties very similar to <insert property here> that I can show you".

@Bryce Cutler Here are some websites I've heard of:

directrentdeposits.com - Little to no information on it, sorry.

depositguard.com - I've heard a lot of good about them.

paynearme.com - This one seems like a game changer to me. It allows tenants to pay rent IN CASH at 7/11 and Family Dollar.

I know theres more... I just can't think of anymore off the top of my head. Hope this helps.

Jack

@Emilio Basa  Before you enter any negotiations visit your attorney and have him write up papers for your referral commission. Since you don't have your agent license it'll be hard but not impossible.

@Emilio Basa  A couple questions:

-What are your exit strategies if you were to wholesale?

-Do you have your agent license?

-Not really a question but you need to get all the information on EVERY door. What is the cap rate? Tenant background checks? Insurance(is there flood, recent claims, etc)? How old is the house and everything in it(including roof, hvac, etc)?

-Do you have enough capital to wholesale the properties?

If you answer those questions we'll be able to help you more. Anyways, to answer your question, bird dogs get anywhere from $500 to $2,500 per deal. But since this deal involves 10 properties I'm gonna bet above $10k.

@Account Closed  Go to the top right corner of the screen and click "search the site". Search for "business plans" or something similar. From there select blogs(or whatever source you want) and read blogs on business plans.

This article looks pretty good to me.

Replying on this via phone so I can't mention you. Anyways, HELOCs usually take 2-4 weeks but are usually on the lesser end. During a review an underwriter will review your financial profile and compare it to the loan's requirements. Make sure you bring financial records, past and current credit scores, etc. You can go to any bank that offers HELOCs and to be honest every reputable bank offers them.

@Jacqueline Brown  Ehh... I don't like this deal. Do what you want and trust your gut above all but it doesn't seem good to me. You're breaking rule #1(or #3, who counts..) - don't rent to family members. Anyways, if you still want to go through with it, here are some options for financing:

• Owner financing - Seller finances the property. Ask the seller if he owns the property or has a large amount of equity in it. This would be my option #1 but thats just me.
• Hard money - Short term loans (6-36 months), 8-15% interest rate, high loan “points”(fees to get the loan). Maybe? Who knows...
• Private money - I like to call it hard money w/ close friends/family. Maybe your mom wants to finance the property? Probably not since she is renting it but who knows...
• Home equity loans and lines of credit - It sounds like you have another property. If you have a considerable amount of equity in it, you can take out a LOC on it.
• Credit cards, investor loans, etc... I wouldn't recommend a credit card since this isn't a flip but who knows? Some banks(and credit unions especially) issue investor loans to clients they like.

Another thing about your mom... when I'm talking about family members I'm talking about cousins, aunts, etc... people you don't have a rock solid relationship with. Your mom? Different story. If you trust your mom and believe she can keep your property in good condition then by all means go ahead.