All Forum Posts by: Joseph Walsh

I have a question for you.  Scenario: you have an nice, older renter, maybe with 1 minor still in the house, and a dog.  They are great tenants, take care of the yard, the dog is rough on it, but ok, never complains, "fixes" minor things himself, say, a ripped screen, etc.  However, 4 months in, he pays the rent late.  What do you do?  If your answer is ANYTHING but send a notice of late payment, advising of the late payment fee, AND a notice of impending eviction, then hire a PM.   I found I don't have the personality to do so, and am a "problem solver" type, trying to find a resolution.  My life got infinitely better when I hired a PM as a result.

actually, an ESA is not the same as a service animal under the ADA Title II or III. Here is the HUD guidelines:

Here is a summary courtesy of animalaw.info (emphasis mine):

There are only two questions that HUD says a housing provider should consider with a request for an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation:

(1) Does the person seeking to use and live with the animal have a disability — i.e., a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities?

(2) Does the person making the request have a disability-related need for an assistance animal? In other words, does the animal work, provide assistance, perform tasks or services for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provide emotional support that alleviates one or more of the identified symptoms or effects of a person's existing disability?

(FHEO Notice: FHEO-2013-01 at page 2). A "no" answer to either of the questions means that a housing provider is not obligated to make a reasonable accommodation according to HUD. This may mean that the person does not meet the definition of disability or that the assistance animal does not help with symptoms of the disability. If the answer is "yes" to both, then HUD states the FHA requires an exception to a "no pets" rule. The emotional support animal must alleviate, or help, some symptom(s) of the disability.

HUD does not list all the possible disabilities for which an assistance animal could be used. Instead, HUD says the functions include "providing emotional support to persons with disabilities who have a disability-related need for such support." (FHEO Notice: FHEO-2013-01 at page 2). Emotional support animals have been known to assist disabled individuals with severe depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and many other emotional and psychiatric disabilities.

If a person with a disability needs to use an assistance animal, he or she must first make the request to his or her housing provider or housing board. HUD says that a person seeking the accommodation must submit reliable documentation of the disability and disability-related need for the assistance animal if the disability is not known or readily-apparent. This documentation is usually a letter from a medical doctor or treating therapist who can establish the disability and need for the assistance animal. The housing provider may not ask for access to medical records or unreasonably delay the request.

Note I specifically highlight TREATING therapist, some online site is not a treating therapist, even it a licensed therapist is what they use to essentially scamp the system.

I also don't see anything about not charging them an additional fee, just can't deny them, nor do I see anything about requiring them to add the animal as a rider on their renters insurance.  Please note however, I am not a lawyer.

Depends on the size of the job, but I am a big fan of a draw schedule where the first draw is after the demo phase.  for a few reasons, they don't need to buy materials to demo, other than the few $100 to rent a dumpster (or better, if they have a dump truck), you get some work out of them, and if they do a ****** job, pay them for the demo and hire someone else.  They get the first set of cash they need for the first set of materials.  I have seen to many contractors take the upfront money to finish off their previous job, then wait for final payment on that to order materials..and extend my job several weeks as a result of their bad business skills.  That said, for a small, 1 day thing, sometimes it's better to just write a check for materials up front, they can pick it up, usually at better prices and/or selection.

Better to take a loan against it.  And better to do that when the market takes a down turn.  Rather than temporarily lose money,you can "pay yourself" interest back, once the project is done and sold (or refinanced) you can put it back in and hopefully the market has rebounded.  The only good reason right now to cash out a 401k is to put it into a "back door" ROTH, since rates are tax rates are at their lowest right now, and will go up again in 5 years, but that is rather specific and at your age, probably better to just fully fund your Roth directly. and keep the 401k money as is.

No, the media seems to be "waiting" for one, but the indicators aren't there.  There could be short term blip, and rising mortgage rates if a Democrat wins, but it would likely be a short term slow, not a recession.  And that is just based on historical reactions the the assumption that Democrats are hostile to business and banking, which isn't always the case.  It's also always the case that even if they are, it takes a couple years to get any of those kinds of changes through congress, if at all.  That said, if there is one, we're ready.  A recession would help scoop up some more properties :D

Keep looking for your BRRRR, but you could look at the flip potential on this one, depending on ARV and comps...run the numbers that way and see if it works.

short answer: Yes, but not that scenario.  

Long answer, yes, but only for much higher cash flow and an area with "little" appreciation, as in, it is not likely to depress MORE.

I do wonder though, could you instead turn those houses for seasonal weekly rentals instead of $400/month long term tenants.  We used to drive down to Sandusky, camp or stay a night in a hotel after we hit cedar point and head back up in the morning.  (or sometimes, cut out a bit early and drive back to Detroit at night).  Now, if we could get a nicer house for say, $250 for the weekend, there are other things to do that we never bothered to due to the quick turn around...still sounds like more work, since you have cash available, seems like some leveraged MF units in some nice "B" area's would be better.  It doesn't have to be local.

Drywall is cheap to repair when you are doing the cutting.  Don't be fooled by "good looking" electrical work from the outside.  I have seen more than a few that took a foot or so of NM into the boxes, and just connected that with tape to the old cloth wrapped inside the walls.  Often this is done to try and "Fool" an inspector knowing if they needed to pull a permit in the future, they might get away with it.  My favorite is when the old wiring is actually aluminium, copper to aluminum is a future fire risk (unless done properly).  

In most places it is possible to get a professional to certify the work for an "as built" permit after the fact,and THEY would determine what to open up, etc, no idea the cost.  Usually you can limit most of your cutting to behind baseboards and use inspection camera's etc. and not have to do too much damage, but each case is different.  Something to consider anyway.

I'm a big fan of lift straps and a hand truck.  If you get the shoulder mounted (hump strap) style, vs the forearm ones, two people can move just about anything, because you are lifting with your legs, and the hand truck has leverage.  Then you just need access to a trailer and some ratcheting straps.

I am guessing you have not toured the place yet.  If she's this disorganized about money, I imagine she's not keeping it very clean, or remembering to notify you the sink has been leaking...etc.  Something for thought.  On that note, you get your rent every month.  Assuming she's not trashing the place, maybe worth keeping.