All Forum Posts by: Jeff Sprunger

read Landlording on Autopilot by Mike butler, NOW! your tenants are not your friends! even though they live in your house, right next to you...give them privacy! it's the law. manage this one 6-12 months before buying another one...you'll learn a ton. God speed!

Bribe her with large sums of money (you're gonna pay it one way or the other) to get out...$2500-$5000.  hire a moving company to pack up and move her sh!t. 

start the eviction process...follow the state published landlord/tenant law eviction process to a T.

stop all communication with her, but respond to her if she reaches out.  be nice.  fix things she bitches about.  but don't initiate conversation with her.

a few buddies, black ski masks and baseball bats...should take care of the problem.  (last resort, I'm kidding, don't do that! ;) wink)

file complaints with section 8, your goal is for her to lose her voucher.  everyone has a boss...keep pushing the issue.  this would be my number one goal!!!

good luck.

AND, do you have something in writing from the tenant allowing you to have a video feed with sound capability in their unit, even if it is in the basement/crawl space?  that could come back to bite you later! just sayin'

you, or have you realtor, call the listed broker for the property. if it is vacant, you should be able to go see it. if not, there is no way inside. the listing gives the bid details, it is that simple. you usually need your realtor (their broker) to submit the bid on your behalf, depending on which auction site it is listed with. it really is that simple. I just bought a property on Hubzu.com. my broker submitted the bid for me. I waited 24 hours and received a counter offer. the email said "take it or leave it"...I took it. I could choose to use their title insurance or buy my own. I took the advice of my lawyer, after he did some digging, and used their title insurance...so far, no issues. we'll see what comes up when I go to sell in a few months. I've never bought a REO property directly from a local bank, so I can't speak to that. but, those properties are usually listed with a realtor, so the process has to be similar. my Hubzu property was done completely online and by email...so prepare yourself for that...meaning, you will need to wait for answers (24-48 hours) and will need to sign docs via Docusign (or similar program). just do it. it isn't that painful. besides, you'll learn a ton. and make sure your numbers work. call assessors office about taxes and city county building about any liens on the property. I always end those calls with, "is there anything else that I should be asking, anything that I haven't asked about that I should know?" or something like that...

Originally posted by @Brian H.:

@Jeff Sprunger I am not against that... just haven't really researched it. Do you know of anyone on here that does this? Would love to hear how it works out and what not.

do a search for Student Rental and you will find a ton.  good luck!

yes

Originally posted by @Brian H.:

@Jeff Sprunger   I'm planning on investing in Wilkes County and Caldwell County at this point. Those are two neighboring counties. Boone is a small mountain town with a 16,000 Student population state university. Also a huge tourist destination for crappy skiing and beautiful warm weather months... it has led to ridiculous real estate prices here, I have realized. So I am looking about 30 - 45 minutes away where prices seem more realistic. It is beyond me how people make money buying rentals here in Boone.

could you tap into the student rental market?  I've heard of people making a killing renting individual bedrooms to students, instead of the entire house to a family.  I know you would need to provide everything.  in these situations, the landlord might provide internet, cable, all utilities, washer/dryer, etc...but when you can get $500 per room...wow!

what else is the seller paying for?

any outside lights that stay on all night?

are all taxes accounted for? in NY, we pay a school tax, which usually isn't given when a property is listed.  you have to call the city building to get that number and sometimes it can be over $1000 a year.

Wow, so when you are paying $68K for mobile homes, you may want to consider investing elsewhere...

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/149-Turkey-Trot-Ln_Boone_NC_28607_M67781-82848

I agree with Chris Mason above.  taking out $100K or so might not change you payment too much, maybe a $100+ a month or so.  upon reading your title of the post, I was thinking hell no, but with that kind of equity, I'd say go for it, carefully.  preserve as much equity and cash flow as possible. 

what would you do with the money? have you already identified other deals that you can use the money for?

as brent says, that money would burn a hole in my pocket.  I'd feel obligated to spend it (I'm thinking new camero, afterall, I deserve it...right?).  so be careful!