All Forum Posts by: JJ P.

If you call your trailer a "tiny home" instead of a trailer then it will go over better with the naysayers.  

Personally, I think any plan that gets you set for life is worth a bit of sacrifice.  If you can imagine a sacrifice for a couple of years while you sock away money, pay off debt, and position yourself for a better LIFE, that's worth a couple of years.  You didn't actually say how long your plan requires the downscale.  I reread the post-- it it a one year plan?

  In any case, I think if you're on board as a family, go for it.   Worst case scenario, you're debt free, own a triplex and a car free and clear, have 200K in hand and are cash flowing $7000 a month.  I think you'll be able to buy another house if it comes down to that!  If the situation gets dire at the folks house, just rent a house and regroup.  There's plenty of exit strategies available to you if you need them.   Bravo for your wife for coming up with the idea and you for considering it even though it's not "normal."  Normal, average Joe Blow American people live above their means, keep up with the Jones and die broke.  Don't be normal.

Don't overstretch yourself due to overly rapid growth.

I'd work on the two empty units and get them fixed up and rented at market price, meanwhile, the low but steady income is flowing in.  When the leases renew, you can evaluate whether to upgrade them.  We wouldn't want to upgrade with a tenant in the unit, if we can avoid it, so at that point would be facing a termination of the lease at renewal, or a moderate rent increase that would delay the need for upgrading because the current tenants would stay.  In the meantime, keep your upgrade cost monies in your pocket.  

In California, the lease absolutely transfers in its entirely with a sale.  If I wanted them out, I'd leave it to the current owner to negotiate with his friends and family and provide it vacant as a condition of the sale.  The seller can offer cash for keys, if he'd like, and maybe you'd negotiate that with him.  Open up a discussion with him about it, if he's motivated to sell, he'll be your best ally.   But once you close escrow, the headache is all yours.   If you want the place vacant, it should definitely be a discussion that is opened up during the escrow period.  If your plan is to close escrow, then negotiate to get them out, the tenants may feel railroaded, short changed and pissy.  It could get ugly.  Ugly = costly. Why forego the chance for an excellent, in place ally with personal ties to the tenants and extreme motivation?  Get the seller to do it! 

Ugh, that's messy.  It seems like you should be able to give her less notice to move, like 30 or 60 days, on the basis that she is allowing activities which disturb the neighbors.  Your California lease agreement should state that ongoing nuisances are a violation of the lease.   Is he living there or could reasonably be assumed to be living there by an average person?  That would certainly violate both her lease and her Section 8.  First, I'd talk to her, then I'd give her a 3 day notice to perform or quit, clearly stating that her lease includes the following named occupants only and her guest and his friends are disturbing the neighbors.  

Couple 2, without a doubt. No pets and long term wins out every time in my book, just because of turnover costs.  I think the fully rented property far beats out the $25 for a pet.  Even good pets have fur, dirt on their feet, scratch to get in, vomit, etc.

I've had similar requests, and here's what I did:  I gave a 24 month lease that locked in the price. Those tenants are still there 4 years later and the house looks amazing.  They've painted and done some nice upgrades on their own dime.   So, if it were me, I'd give them an 24 month lease that locks in the price.  You may be happier if your long term lease includes a small, token increase, just because....  In my state, leases are pretty easy for them to break, but, nonetheless, it shows good faith on your part.  Avoiding a one month vacancy will save you $2350 and the turnover costs.  

I want long term tenants, they are golden, even if the rent is a bit low. In our little business, happy tenants make happy landlords. We are a mom and pop 10 SFH operation, and we value a good rapport with our tenants/clients, simply because there's no buffer between them and us. We're the ones fielding the troubles and making the repairs, and we want a simple, happy FIR life. Keeping the LL/Tenant relationship copacetic is important to us, and we're generally very slow to raise rents. Our methods may not be right for you.

I'd also mention clearly to them that if they get a pet, there would be a rental increase of $25 per pet, per month, and that you're just giving them a heads up about that in case their pet ownership status changes while they live there.  

I'd still screen them well and do a background check, though.  

Perhaps also go take a look at it when it's done, to be sure of what they did and if you like it.

Great plan and implementation.  It shows that a little resourcefulness can go a long, long way.  Good luck on your continuing journey. 

I did the freebie and the $197 seminar. Then, motivated by the sales pitch, I paid $1000 for some web builder program that was a real let down. The people at Fortune Builders and running the web building site were great sales people, but the program only operated (you guessed it), for as long as you paid the fees. I killed all those web sites and would never again pay the Fortune Builders group anything. They are absolutely amazing sales people and I don't consider myself an easy target. They did provide additional motivation...for that, I appreciate them and my $200 bucks for the weekend was well spent. I got funds from a private money lender that I knew and bought more SFR's. I'm grateful to them for the ideas and little push. But to take 50K, sometimes on credit cards, from these poor people who just want to build a future for themselves is criminal.