All Forum Posts by: Mike Wood

As previously said, there is NEVER a good reason that a perspective tenant needs to move in a week or less.  Of the dozens of tenants I have had in my rentals, my two evictions came from tenants that wanted to move in less than a week (one stated they were living in a hotel and the other stated she was getting divorced).  Both had to be evicted for non-payment of rent.

Now, if anyone asked to move in less than a week, I tell them we are not interested.

If you put any.loans in forbearance,  it will affect your ability to get new loans or refinance existing loans, as it shows up as non current payments on your credit report and without 12 months of current payments on your loans, you will not qualify for a conforming loan. The forbearance may not affect your credit score, but will affect your ability to get new loans. 

@Petur Karlsson I would recommend tile in all bathrooms and LVP in the rest of the house.  Tile will hold up much better for the wet spaces of a bathroom.

@Amanda Dehaas  I would recommend something that is a low maintenance as possible.  Sounds like grass does not want to grow there, so add sod may require upkeep (like watering) that may not happen.  For areas that grass does not like to grow on my properties (generally due to too little sunlight, or vehicle traffic/parking, I like to install crushed rock in sufficient thickness (3-5in) to keep the weeds from growing.  Its looks very tidy, and is about as low maintenance as you can get, but is still permeable during rain.  

I do NOT add extra landscaping to any of my rentals.  Tenants generally will not take care of it and dont really care (if they like that kind of stuff, they have plants on their porches/decks or inside.  I just make sure there is some ground cover so its not exposed dirt.

That is not a simple answer. A duplex is likey to be larger in square footage than a single, thus the numbers gets skewed.  For example, the I build 2/1 duplexes, that range between 1700-2000ft2 total interior square feet.  That would be a big single, must larger than the typical 3/2 rental.  If you think about it, there is a second kitchen, separate utilities, fire boundaries, typically two laundry spaces, etc. 

So, its not easy to make a blanket statement about the cost difference between a duplex and a single.

@Keith Everette Smith  I agree with others, that there would not be significant savings.  I have not built 5 at a time, but have built 2 duplexes at the same time right next door to each other.  No real savings. There are minor things that will same some pennies, thing that can be combined like dumpsters, portopotty, temp electrical service, etc.  But unless your a major track home builder, you wont see big differences.  You subs's dont really care, as they can just get the next job at their original price.  The material guys don't care, as they will just sell to the next builder. And on and on.

@Rob Ayala Most do it as its automatic rent in marginal areas. There are some areas of our city were you will have a tough time renting market rate but can easily rent out in section 8. You generally don't get a premium for section 8, maybe a small amount more, but generally its market rent upto the HANO limits.

@Rob Ayala  If you think that market rent is $1600-1800, why would you think that HANO would pay more than that.  They won't. I don't do section 8 rentals, but am familiar with the rates, as it sometimes affects pricing.  Additionally, be careful with these high priced section 8 rentals, as the tenants will often times be responsible for a portion of the rents, and in our city, that usually means its not collectible, as often section 8 tenants have the opinion that you got your money from HANO, you dont need mine.

@Kevin Tillery You need a construction loan, which would be from a local bank that does investment construction loans, not all banks do it. Your going to need down payment/equity of 20-25% of total cost to get the loan. I really don't think the end buyer really comes into play.

If you dont have any experience with new construction, you will likely have a tough time getting approved unless you have super strong personal finances and personally guarantee the loan.

A better option might be to sell the project to the end buyer as is, pocket a small profit and pass the risk to the end buyer.

@John Fider Given its a flip or rental, i would do what ever is easier and cheaper. You would never get a higher rent or sales price for one over the other, so no need to waste your money.