All Forum Posts by: John Clark

Quote from @Junior Baez:

Quote from @John Clark:

"The 2 flat is metered so it changes slightly for each month based on tenant water usage. I should look at adding a second meter and hot water heater and move the water bill over to the tenants so I could save almost $1000 a year. "

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You'll have to branch your service line before the meters in order to do that, and alter the sources for your lays for the second apartment. Should not be too much of an expense, but count on a few thousand dollars, anyway.

John have you submetered in Chicago?  I have been offered a 6 unit apartment.  But, I had 2 major concerns.  For 1, it's not metered & 2 will I be able to submeter the property.  The person selling me the property said it's "illegal" to submeter the property, but that doesn't make much sense.  

 I'm not talking about a second meter after a first meter. I'm talking about branching a main service before the meters and having one meter on each branch with no prior meter on any line.

Quote from @David Galea:

I put an offer on a home without knowing it was " sold as is" until the last minute and my real estate agent pressured me to make a decision without explaining the consequences of no contingencies. Later i found out the home is 500+ square feet smaller than advertised and it was in an "A" flood zone as well. Am I entitled to get my $3,000 earnest money?

1. Now you know why I hate real estate agents.

2. Why are you asking strangers on an internet board a legal question? (getting back your earnest money). What does your lawyer say? You HAVE spoken to your lawyer, right?

What do you think prices will do in your area over the next two years?

What are your family plans over the next 5 or so years (meaning -- might you lose wife's income due to pregnancy, etc.)

If the profit from the AirBnB is $20k - $30k a year (after paying its mortgage off), is that enough to pay your mortgage? If not, how much of a dent does it put in your mortgage?

Not enough information. Take worst case scenario and your monthly payment increase is $825 (simplicity). Month of vacancy for current tenant move out so you're out $3100. Good thing is that current tenant vacancy doesn't hurt your situation, since you are incurring that vacancy loss in any event.

How long will it take you to find a new place? How long will it take you to find a new tenant for your current place. Worst case is that you move to a motel for two months while your current house is full (at a gross increase of at best $1,700 in rental income) and you're waiting to close on your new house.

Run the numbers.

Quote from @Cody Marck:

Hello all, My parents own a home in New Richmond Ohio (in town) and owe almost 90,000 dollars on the mortgage after multiple cash out refinancing. What advice can I give them?

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Your post doesn't make any sense. Your heading is that the home's value is way under the value of the mortgage, and the balance of the mortgage is circa $90,000.

So your folks are under water by some unknown amount. That means they have to bring money to the table to close. No one, flipper or otherwise, would buy under such circumstances otherwise. It would be a rare situation where cosmetic repairs would take a house from under water to substantial equity. In that case your folks could fix and sell.

What are the terms of their mortgage? Low fixed interest rate? High variable rate? What did they do with the money?

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

The issue I see (beyond the plumbing issue) is that they took a shower when they clearly knew that there was a clogged drain.

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The fact that there is a clogged drain in one part of the system doesn't mean the entire system is affected, especially if the shower's connection to the stack is below the toilet's connection to the stack, so no, it is not "just stupid."

Second, the shower was used Friday night and no apparent immediate back-up into the shower was noted, so the tenant might have had no reason to believe that the shower was affected by the toilet clog. Again, not "just stupid."

"I know I can use private money but don't have those contacts yet."
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You just named your solution: Get those contacts. How do you get those contacts? Track record. One profitable deal at a time, until you reach a critical mass, where someone is willing to back you BECAUSE "you are you." So develop and demonstrate your judgment.

It is not important to get big. It is important to start.

Musicians identified the problem and the solution centuries ago: "Pay your dues."

The rest is detail.

Look for your cancelled checks and loan statements from the lender towards the end of the payments on the second loan. You may need to sue for quiet title if you cannot get evidence of a release, and those documents will come in handy.

Call your attorney, and your title company.

Quote from @Paige Hogan:

My fiancé and I bought a house outside of Boston, MA in Weymouth in July, 2020 for $430,000. We've done some improvements including laminate flooring and added a patio, and currently the Zestimate is at $515,000. 

For reference we live in a 1 family cape in a neighborhood about 1 mile from the train into Boston, 3 miles to the nearest hospital, and a downtown that is only expanding. I am currently a travel nurse and we are looking to start investing/ buying multifamily properties in the next 6 months based on locations we travel/ our home state of CT. 

Our question is, based on the information provided would you keep and rent the property knowing Boston is only expanding , our downtown is expanding, the location etc. and buy a more affordable multifamily or sell to reinvest in a larger multifamily or a couple multifamilies and start fresh. We are not planning on living or working within 2 hours of the Boston area anymore. We would love to hear some thoughts! Thank you in advance. 

 First, just remember that a Zestimate isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Have the property professionally appraised two ways, first as a sale, second as a rental. Check the comps the appraiser gives you as to what their value is now, and what their value was when last sold. That -- with due windage for improvements that buyers made after last sale -- should give you an (very rough) idea about appreciation. Run the numbers, act accordingly.

Give notices, but don't tell them anything beyond what is required in the notices. See a lawyer immediately if not sooner. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, and certainly don't take partial rent payment if you plan on evicting.