All Forum Posts by: Maurice D.

permits and assessor are two separate things.   you already own it, so go talk to the city permit office and see what they say.  if your renovation cost exceeds 25% of the value of the home, then the entire home must be brought to code, for example.  depends on the city.  if it's a small renovation, they will look just at what was changed.

in the future, doing the due diligence and calling them on unpermitted work might be a bargaining chip, to reduce the price? but not your case, since you closed already.

yeah, that's tricky.  also consider drawing right after the monthly report so you have 30 days before the hit hits you.

but as you know deals and contractors don't hang around for your LOC statement date.

Another option is to just take out the equity with a refi, and keep the money out,  this way it reports as a mortgage and you don't have to deal with util.   I did this recently to offset exactly that, a Heloc that was carrying a balance and impacting my score.

this is simple. Time is money. if you want to sell this soon, use an agent (fix/flat fee if need be) but get on the MLS.

FSBO, you will only get buyers that happen to drive by, or see your marketing. this works if the property is in a desirable, visible area. If you are deep into a suburb at the end of an obscure cul de sac, I'd go agent.

need more context.  but let's assume you have bad credit, debts, and are renting.

with that, you should work on

1) getting your score up to 580 (if below)

2) look for a house hack / FHA at 3.5%

3) Save for that 3.5%

Once you get situated on that house hack and stop renting, work on your score more until 640.

All the while, you need to examine why the bad credit, reduce the debt (second job if need be), and clean house with the finances.  this means don't eat out as much, cancel gym subcriptions etc (drop your spend).  most importantly put everything on AUTOPAY so there are no more lates.

Now, not all of the above my apply to you, but I had no context so it's generic.  

do you have a car?  you can make some $$ this season / Amazon delivery etc  it's crunch time to get out of debt.

don't mix family with business.  if they have poor credit, there is more to it than meets the eye.  they will be lax with payments 'cause family and your girlfriend will foot the entire mortage.   If they can't afford 1,900 they should be looking at some C class 1,200 small place until they get their act together. 

Tell them you are not renting the condo, it will go up for sale.   Then rent it out to someone else, or sell it.

I wouldn't do it, even if they promised to pay 1,900 because I know they will default down the line.

where is the property?  does it even hail there (like Texas)? if not, remove it. 

the obligation is to the lease/landlord.  if they haven't paid at closing they still owe it, and now owes it to the new owner who has become the new landlord.  

Zelle is a growing US bank standard.  instant transfers, unlike Cozy which takes days to appear.  it's built/owned by a few large banks (to compete with venom etc), so it's here to stay.

https://www.zellepay.com/support/what-is-zelle

Like any other payment system it is vulnerable, so I tie it into a purpose specific "rent collection" account , and move the funds out as soon as they come in.

maybe the landlord is lazy/unorganized etc about the paperwork for the rent increase.  ask them when was the last time they asked for a increase?  this could be a potential gain area for you, ripe for rent increase requests (every 12 Months?) there is no reason why it can't be brought up to market IMO, but I'm not a section 8 expert (yet).

Just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to this thread, some really good points, I'll be reading this over a few times this month to digest :)   #GoodStuff