All Forum Posts by: Jim C.

@Justen Ashcraft- Be professional and let the Sheriff do all the talking. Bring all your paperwork with you just to make sure anything should go awry. If the tenant wants to help move stuff, I would kindly tell them no and to wait outside near the street. Bring lots of garbage bags (preferably contractor grade) as most loose stuff / junk probably hasn't been packed and can be "gently" placed in garbage bags and hauled outside. Also bring a dolly for hauling the heavy stuff.

   @Leigh Ann Smith-   Awesome! I'm in process of building a tiny house 24 x 24 on a foundation in SWFL (Southwest Florida) about a mile from the beach. I hope it looks as good as yours!

I always provide a shower rod and curtain, especially at my lower end rentals. That way, the tenant can't say "Well, I didn't know I needed a shower rod and curtain since there wasn't one when I moved in and that's why the floor rotted....". I just buy a cheap shower rod from HD, and have a supply of $2 shower curtains (from the dollar store)  for my rentals to change out after each tenant. The $10 cost for a shower curtain and rod is cheap insurance vs changing out a rotted floor.

If you make them purchase Renter's Insurance, would that cover any losses to damage to HOA property?

In my opinion,a 30K house that only gets $700 in rent cannot sustain itself over the long term unless:

1) You self manage (I.E. JOB)

2) You do all the maintenance and repairs yourself (I.E. JOB) 

3) You don't have any evictions or high vacancy rates (> 7%) for 5+ years.

OR:

You plan on selling at a near future price above the 45k selling point due to closing costs, depreciation recapture, etc. Or sell to do a 1031 and buy something 'nicer'.

Alot has been talked about on BP regarding 30k houses. I have several that I've owned more than 10 years, but I do my own management, maintenance, and I don't have high vacancies. My goal on these is to own a few more years and then do a quick rehab on these and sell for 60K or more (as long as the market allows it; currently they are valued around 60k-70k). I wouldn't want to hold these forever because as I get older I won't be able to self manage/ maintenance myself. And if I contracted that out, it wouldn't be worth it to me.

@Gunnar F.- Have you called Animal Control or Police to find out if she has called them, and if so.... How many times? They should have a record of if/when they were called and what their response was. Having video of a dog barking doesn't matter much as all dogs bark. Have a video of a party doesn't matter also as your tenants have a right to have parties at the residence as long as nothing illegal is occurring and they aren't breaking any laws such as curfew, etc.

I have a neighbor next to one of my rentals who calls persistently to complain. One night she called to complain they were having a 'rager' party.  I went there only to find 4 people sitting outside listening to the radio (and radio was NOT that loud).... So.. Is the neighbor just doing this to get attention or doesn't like your tenants? 

You could ask the 'neighbor' to call you when this is occurring and if you live nearby can take a ride over to truly see what's going on. By doing this, if they were to try and sue you, you can state that you were personally there and witnessed xxxxxxxx (nothing going on). If there is a problem, you can say you were there and tried to  alleviate the problem. That would show you were attempting something rather than ignoring the situation.

In Indiana (not sure about Georgia) I have to have a crew there to physically move out the tenant's belongings once the sheriff gets there. I use movinghelp.com (a subsidiary of UHaul). I schedule the crew for that day and then call them when I find out what time the sheriff will be there. The movers at movinghelp.com would be cheaper than $400 I would expect. You probably need 2 people to move the tenant's stuff out to the street. 

CapEX expenses?

A PIG is @Ben Leybovich's  trademark and every seasoned investor truly understands what it means..... When you've been in the business a number of years, you will learn to avoid these like the plague! 

Hey John- are you doing your own advertising for HML, or using an established HML company and investing your funds with them? I've been looking into this and wanted your feedback on this. Thanks!