All Forum Posts by: Ken George

I've noticed a trend whereby the owner's licensed agent intentionally measures on the downside to I believe, increase the seller pool and quicken the sale.  In the cases I've identified, all of this agent's listings are over $1M.

In one case, this agent was 350 sq. feet short which, based upon the sale price, represented a $100,000 gift to a buyer.

In another sale, this agent was 700 sq. feet short which represented a $210,000 gift to a buyer.

Has anyone heard of this practice?  If so, is it illegal?

This owner occupied triplex, legally discriminated against renting to families with children.

The owner hired a licensed agent to represent them to rent a 2 bedroom apartment in this owner occupied triplex.  A well qualified applicant was turned down by the owner because the applicant had one child.

The agent, to get around the legalities, changed the listing to a one bedroom and eventually rented the apartment to a single person.

Did the agent break the law?

Thanks Craig and Jerry.  I should clarify that money is luckily not a problem nor is identifying the replacement property.  The problem is which one to sell, either the 4 plex in the iffy neighborhood with the higher % return or the 5 plex in the stable neighborhood.  I'm leaning towards the 4 plex because when things go south again, and it will, it would logically take the bigger hit.  Sorry for the confusion.

Ok, so it's time do a 1031 exchange in an entirely different market.

The sell choices are a 4 unit residential building in an ok neighborhood.  There has never been a vacancy in the 7 years that I've owned it.  I wouldn't live there with 2 murders (drugs) within 6 blocks in the past 36 months.  My gross is $42,360 and my net is $33,000 cash-on-cash.  It is turnkey and would realistically sell for $435,000 - $450,000.

Building #2 is a 5 unit residential building grossing $70,620 and my cash-on-cash net is $60,000.  Neighborhood is excellent.  There has never been a vacancy during the 14 years I've owned it.  It is turnkey and given the location it would realistically sell for $950,000 - $1m.

What's a landlord to do?  Thanks for your experienced advice in advance.

Ken

What I refer to as evergreen gas station landscaping - palms, indian hawthorne, miniature oleander, holly, asian jasmine ground cover, crushed limestone (black and it is also permeable for wet climates like mine) I have a professional landscape service neaten it up 3 times a year.

Allison, forget attorneys and LLCs. Simply have adequate liability insurance ($1m is more than adequate) and I can promise you that some schlock lawyer will only complicate matters. I would only do a LLC if partners are involved. Allison, remember this is not brain surgery and you are not The Donald.

If you pay a property management co. then it is an expense. Otherwise, there is no benefit to managing it yourself other than keeping more of your hard earned $$.

Cheers!

Warren Buffett's advice would be "Why would you overpay for anything"? Now I'm no WB but you are buying as is with today's rents. Using all cash and your numbers with the location meaning squat, I would not pay more than $625,000 netting me a 15% noi.

60% real estate/20% Loomis Sayles Bond Fund/10% Vanguard Inflation Protected Securities/Cash. Having once dated a very successful stockbroker who told me she could just as easily be selling cars, I strongly believe that the stock market is for suckers.

caveat emptor and of course do a title search and purchase title insurance.

I left my corporate job 11 years ago, cashed in my 401K and all other savings and started buying rental property in a market I was very familiar with. My income has more than tripled and when a tenant calls and says they hate to bother me but something is not working, my reply is always "I want to know when something's not working. It's my job". It was exciting on the first day and still is 90% of the time. The other 10% is why it's called a job.