All Forum Posts by: James Galla

@Marcus Floyd,

There are a couple ways. I think one of the easier ones is to engage an agent and get an understanding of how a comparative market analysis ("CMA") works. The idea of comparability lends itself to other valuation tools, including formal appraisals and automated valuation products.

The agent may be able assist in looking at neighborhoods as well, but the review may not have great depth (it may be as simple as that one is good and this one is bad). It depends on your agent. Other than an agent, with respect to neighborhood reviews, your city may have data on it. Consider other sources of data as well.

I'm not really sure what your question is, but if you're trying to access leasing information online, it may depend on the county in Texas. Many don't have their county recorders documents online. I'd also search around the state government websites for a system similar to the GIS. Ohio, for example, has a nice online system that lets you look at oil and gas well data, which includes production, type of well, name, etc.

With oil and gas, you ought to consider an attorney. After all, it's probably a well, and not a "refinery" if you're looking for a lease.

One profession in real estate is a real estate appraiser. You can also do architectural work or civil engineering. There's also urban planning. Those careers may not be up your alley, but they are in real estate. Otherwise, you're going to be looking at something in finance, being an agent/broker, working at a property management company or for a developer.

You want to have a solid grasp on how basic real estate valuations work. You also want to become familiar with your local markets to see whether there is an opportunity for investment.

Attorneys can review/draft those, too.

Welcome aboard. Always great to see others from Akron on here.

You can play it a couple ways. I would consider the potential financial burden of moving out now. She presumably has a $500 deposit that is tied up and possibly deposits on the utilities, so for her to move, she would first have to be able to. Right now, she might not know the property is for sale or that a new landlord would want her gone. She may not have money saved up to move until the end of the lease term. She would also likely need a first months rent at another location. So, to get things smooth and to ensure she has the ability to move, I'd consider around $1000. I think that adequately incentivizes her to move because she would have the first month of rent and security deposit partially covered for the next unit and could possibly anticipate return of her security deposit.

Whatever they ask you for. Presumably, it'll be bank statements.

If you would have rented to her, maybe you'd find yourself in collections, too. It depends on your area, though, and what the debt was for. Medical debt has less weight than credit card debt or utility debt for example. Credit card debt tells me they are bad at managing money and utilities debt tells me they don't care about basic necessities. Past judgments for lease violations/property damage are probably what I place the greatest weight on because that represents their housing obligation. Some people genuinely don't care and will destroy houses and not pay their rent - those are the primary red flags. I also like to see how honest they are with respect to the report.

Lenders will have different criteria for that kind of income. Normally they require a certain period of years for anything that isn't regular W-2 income because the period of years demonstrates stability/reliability.

For example, I knew someone in the food service industry working part time and for tips. The lender didn't want to consider that income unless he was employed for at least one year.