All Forum Posts by: Kevin Harrison

This sounds like you may have been scammed by someone renting out someone else's unit. they take the first months rent and security deposit and run before they get caught. you may want to go down to the courthouse (or online depending on your county) and find out who the owner is and contact them if you are unable to reach the PM or whoever rented you the unit.

This is a great idea, I would also see if you can get some of those huge "supersaver" coupon packets and add those into that basket as well. it will let people know whats close by and get them started acclimating to the area. Maybe a couple of delivery menus as well.

Yes with the attorney idea. another thing I would try to do is send him an e-mail/ get the conversation in writing, tell him how much he owes and get him to acknowledge that he owes. Then you can take that to court and actually have some written proof of the tenant acknowledging the debt that you can take to court.

maybe if they have some equity you can guide them to refinancing what they still owe for a longer term, even possibly at a lower rate.

Not that this will help your situation any but.. I think it is very sad that something as simple as watching the neighborhood kids (just what I am assuming she is doing) can be such an issue now. I remember when I was a kid being watched and watching other children once I was old enough to make extra money. Im not saying don't cover your ***, just a sad state of affairs in this country IMO.

Yes @Daniel Ahern, structuring is something you see a lot when people are trying to launder illegally gotten money or people that win big at the casino and don't want to have to pay taxes on their winnings.

I would tend to shy away from properties with a pool. Its more of an inconvenient luxury than anything else in my eyes. Some buyers will pay a premium for it while others will stay away because of it. Plus if there are any issues with it, it will get expensive to fix quickly.

I would ask if its in ground or above ground? does it have a fence around it? does the fence meet code? Is the pool currently maintained or is it out of use and nobody knows if it works right?

These are all things to consider if you want to go this route. 

While I understand trying to keep your reserves intact, this situation is exactly why you have reserves. What is the point of having them if you don't use them? Also why would you want to pay interest on money you already have? It would be different if you were going to re-invest this money into another house but seeing as its reserves it is just going to be sitting in your account no working for you anyway.

Maybe you're looking at this from too much of a LL perspective, he was trying to be honest with you about what you were getting from him as a tenant. He probably figures its better to tell you now then to have to move out in a few months if you don't approve.

I say patch it in the meantime and get on saving up enough to get it fixed by next year. You just better hope that it holds up until then.