All Forum Posts by: Justin Knighten

What complex is it in?  

What is the proper amount of time to get a repair accomplished in a rental. I had a tenant let me know yesterday about a broken dryer, I'm leaving for vacation on Saturday and today was my only chance to work on the problem before leaving. I would typically do the repair myself (I'm still early on, and doing my own maintenance is still a viable/reasonable option at this point). I was unable to get it repaired myself, so I ended up buying new and having it delivered.

Question is, would I have been unreasonable to delay this for a week or so to find a better deal or have time to tackle it myself?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

I know couple of the FD guys there as well, that was going to be my plan, meet up with them and ride around.  Looks like the really cheap stuff is down by the river, but there is also some really nice stuff and a lot of revitalization going on in that same area.

Anyone here investing in Lynchburg, Va?  I'm in the Harrisonburg area, however, I have family in Lynchburg and we're there fairly often, and it's only about 2 hours away.  I've looked around a bit, and it seems that there are several duplexes and such for well under $100,000 and a lot of properties with existing tenants, that meet the 1% rule.  That simply isn't a thing here in Harrisonburg.  I've ordered the Long Distance Real Estate Investor to study up on the idea.  

I know there are some better/worse areas of the city (and most of the "steals" seem to be in the worse areas, but how is the market in general?  Are vacancy numbers through the roof?  Are there good property management companies there (which ones)?  Any other thoughts?  

The deal:

I've found a "duplex" that is actually 2 SFH on 1 parcel. Asking price is $169,000. I think it would make sense at $140,000 and it's been listed for a while, so I'm thinking about making the offer.

The problem:

Due to being 2 homes on one lot, my mortgage broker says that traditional financing would be very difficult, if not impossible to find. I've talked to the loan officer at my bank, and he has said that he could do a 3 or 5 year ARM on a 20 year amortization. I'm not sure if there is enough room to go in, do work and significantly improve the value to do a full on BRRR with it, and with the traditional financing issue, it looks as if the Refi would be difficult.

With a 30 year loan, it would cash flow, with the 20, at least at first, it would be just above break-even. I have a HELOC that i have about $35,000 left on, and this would take about $28-30,000 of that for the down payment. While that was being paid back, cash flow would be at the break even point, after it was paid off, things would be great and it would make around $4-500/month.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.  

Here's the listing

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/114-N-Central-St-Broadway-VA-22815/108061453_zpid/?

Sure thing.

Welcome,

There isn't a large contingent of Harrisonburg folks on here for some reason, there are a few though.  There is a gentleman that just started up a local investor meetup, but the weather changed the date for the first meetup scheduled in Feb. 

Greetings,

I've recently listed my first property for rent and have found some trouble getting it filled.  One of the issues I've had is receiving tons of phone calls (at all hours...) and I'm not always available to answer.  I have a full time job and can't always get to the phone.  I'm also not crazy about having my personal number out there either. 

It seems like Google Voice is a reasonable answer, but their customer service sucks and apparently my number has been used before so I can't set up an account from my phone.  Is there a cheap/free alternative to GV?  I'm looking for something that has a separate number, that I can set a voicemail up for that can be property specific, that I can answer from my current phone.  I know there are paid services and such, however, we're just getting started, will probably be at 2 properties for a while, and I'd rather not spend a few hundred a year on this.

Thanks,

Justin

I currently have a rental with 2 adults (husband and wife) on the lease. She called me today and stated that they are getting a divorce and that she wants to stay. I inherited them, but she says she makes enough money and they have been excellent since we took over; the place is immaculate, they pay early, and I've yet to have any issues. I'll verify her income, but I think that will be fine. I haven't spoken with him yet, I'm hoping that he will be cooperative in everything. How should I deal with removing him from the lease? Can I simply draft up something that states "this terminates the lease I signed on such and such a date." And have him sign that? If he is uncooperative, where should I go from there? This is our first rental and I feel like this is something that could go sideways if I don't have my ducks in a row. Thanks for any suggestions.

There isn't enough equity in the current rental to get a HELOC. We just purchased it, and only put 25% down.

I didn't quit my job, but my wife did, to stay home with the kids.  would this "investor friendly" lender still be a conventional mortgage, or am I looking for a different product?