All Forum Posts by: Maria G.

Hello,

I was wondering what the best portals are to advertise a property for a private investor (landlord/owner) are.

Thanks.

Hello,

I would like to know what others do when it's time for a lease renewal. When you inform your tenants of the new terms (presumably 30-60 days in advance), how much time do you give them to think about it? How do you proceed if they do not agree to the new terms? Do you immediately serve them a "notice to vacate"? 

I want to give them a reasonable amount of time to think about it, while not falling in a situation where I near the end of the term because that would mean that a "notice to vacate" would essentially add 30 days to my desired lease-end date, which I avoid because the property is located in a very sought-out school district, so right before the summer is when most of the movement happens.

Thanks.

Thanks, Michael, for you prompt response.

I will definitely read that link to educate myself. Would you please use the example that I gave to illustrate how you would think? I know that would not be comprehensive, but I think it would give me an idea of the pros and cons.

A preliminary read of the article you send makes me believe that the paint could be considered a betterment (the paint is better than initially used) or to restore (not to adapt, for sure).

My other question was not to determine what is, but when it is fuzzy, how to choose to your benefit.

Hello,

I have been reading about it, but sometimes I find there is a blurry line between one and the other and, in those cases, I would like to know what is better, so that I can choose accordingly. I know that "better" can vary depending on the circumstances, so I would like to know what to consider to make that call.

Here's an example: exterior painting. According to the IRS site, it is generally an expense, unless it's part of an improvement project, but how can you tell? You may choose to make your improvement project be precisely that--making the exterior of your rental nicer. In that sense wouldn't that count as improvement? 

And that brings me to the main question: Is it really better to mark something as "improvement" instead of "expense"?

The considerations that come to mind are that I would expense something if I want to add deductions to lower my AGI and that I would use the improvement if my rental went up in value, so that I can raise its base, but I am sure those two are very rudimentary and there are better ones, so if you have more sophisticated ones, I'd love to hear them.
Thank you.

@Jacquelyn West: I guess my question should read "recommended vs. a non adjacent property"... so all things equal, is it a good idea. Of course, I need want to buy a property in that area at all :)

Hello,

I am a small investor. I have a SFH that has done well and my tenants (whom I really like) told me that the next-door neighbors are preparing to sell. They have a sign that reads "coming soon" (not sure what that means), but I don't see it listed on zillow/redfin yet.

It sounds like a good idea to buy a property side-to-side with the current one--I already know the area, the neighborhood, I reduce the risk of bad neighbors, etc. But perhaps I am not seeing something that I should? If you have done it before, do you have any specific advice? Unfortunately, I would be paying 50% more than I did 5 years ago for the other property, but that's everywhere in the area...

Thank you!

I see a SFH with a sign that reads "coming soon" but I don't see the property listed in redfin/zillow. What does it mean? What is happening and what is the owner expecting to achieve from that? Is it listed somewhere else? Obviously, he wouldn't want to announce it just to the people that drive by...

Thank you.

Thank you very much for all the advice. 

Quick update: I wrote to them after seeing your feedback and I offered them an 11-month lease for the $50 discount and a 12-month lease for a $125 discount. They said they would have liked more flexibility (I will respond that they can understand I am not an apartment complex) and asked for the weekend to think of options. 

Hello,

Six weeks before renewal time, I told my tenants that I would help this year by not raising the rent because of covid. Far from being happy, they asked then whether I could lower the rent because "some units in the complex are running for 10% less." I told them that I wasn't sure about those units but that all my costs had gone up. So if it really helped them, I could write off $50 a month. They didn't write for 2 weeks and then said they wanted to meet with me in person and "finalize this." When I met them, they told me that they had been trying to buy a house but that the market was crazy and that they knew they needed to stay but wondered whether they could get a shorter term, like 6 months. In my area, there is not much movement after schools start (August), so I do not want to do that. Then they asked again about a lower rent mentioning the units they claim to have been rented out for less. I told them I would think about this and get back to them. They are good tenants and I want to keep them. I am thinking of offering a slight discount for 12-months or the $50 off for 11 months, but less than 11 months on the lease would not be a good idea. Any suggestions that have worked for you in the past?

Thank you.

Yes, I have read the CC&Rs and it seems that we should actually share proportionally the cost to maintain it according to "use," although I am not sure how "use" is defined--I look at the wall; he uses the interior of it (on the other side... This is the exact phrasing of the code: "Sharing of Repair and Maintenance. The cost of reasonable repair and maintenance of
a Party Wall shall be shared by the Owners who make use of the Party Wall in equal proportion to such use."