All Forum Posts by: JM Payne

@Joe Splitrock we will not be at BP this year, as we missed the initial announcement and dont see the value at this time for us. I think next year will be a different story, but we are too early in our path to be dropping $2400 for tix plus expenses. Check in with Mindy though, she's a FinCon regular.

In D.C. at the Hilton this week for 4 days of FinCon @ <$300/pp.  Maybe that's just because the FI community is frugal though! :-D

Best to get her thinking about expenses from day 1...If she lives for free then all that money will go towards shopping and you're creating an anti-FI monster in the event that you guys get married.  Sit her down, have the talk, and work together as a team unless you see no future, at which point cut your losses and move on.

Hello all,

I have a sfr rental owned in a passthrough... looking to pull equity to buy more. With tax changes, am I better off with a rez HELOC, or just taking out a mortgage and letting tenants pay it off, and why?

Ty!

Thanks for continuing to arrange awesome speakers, @Nathaniel Seekins!

You potentially frontload your vacancy in exchange for a tenant that will (hopefully) stay longer and take better care of your property.  10% of 25 applicants is still 2.5 solid rental leads.  Over time, the cumulative effect is that your properties will get better and, theoretically, you will begin to impact the neighbourhoods around you in a positive way as well.  A rising tide and all that...

Would you rather be known as the guy that will rent to anybody, or would you rather be the guy known for good, clean buildings that takes care of his tenants and whose tenants respect him and his property?

Would you rather spend your time sifting through 25 sub-prime applications, turning over trashed apartments every year, and potentially dealing with drugs/police raids/disputes/evictions/etc....or would you rather take a little time up front to find the tenants that are going to take care of your property and pay rent on time?

Also, change your mindset.  You are using "it's difficult to find good tenants in my market" as an excuse for why you are doing what you are doing, and you are justifying your tenant decisions on their circumstance instead of your needs as a landlord.  If your marketing plan isn't producing good tenant leads, change your marketing.  Whatever you choose, good luck to you!

You have not mentioned where you are and your profile is private, so it is hard to recommend someone that we may know to be of use.  If I needed an attorney for this type of thing, I'd call John Moncure at Moncure & Barnicle in Topsham.  I haven't needed him yet, but I have it on very good authority that he is good at what he does.

@Andrew Earle I have not personally done one yet...initially heard about it in a class designed for RE continuing ed for how to close deals requiring rehab.  The class was taught by guys at Prime Lending, and it was good.  @Josh Gotlieb locally told me that he is familar.  He did my home loan and was great, but it wasn't rehab.  The homepath product has more flexibility than the 203k

Remember, just because you know you're not discriminating in your application process does not guarantee that you cannot be sued by someone for discrimination.  Having a clearly outlined process that is in line with fair housing standards will help.  

I agree with what most are saying about checking your rent rate based on 25 applicants, or if the market IS that hot, I'd be less concerned about how to reject tenants and more concerned about increasing doors!  

RE: Letter, short, sweet, and to the point.  Thank you for your interest in our property...the vacancy has been filled...please keep us in mind in the future kind of thing.  

Good luck!

@Ryan Murdock I'll stream the meeting if you set a camera up on the beach for those of us still stuck up here in Maine!  :-P

Hope the move went well and you're having fun working with Brandon.