All Forum Posts by: Mike S.

Not sure what AreaVibes is however as an investor in the area I can tell you there are no areas of Huntsville that seem very bad. My scale for this is there are not many areas that appear unsafe when walking through at night. It isn't obvious visually to know where the crime infested areas are. Also when you compare the Huntsville market to other towns in the southeast you don't have as many issues e.g. Birmingham, Montgomery, Jackson, MS. One of the reason for this anyone that wants a job here can find a job. There are now hiring and help wanted signs all over the place.

You should also be aware there are no soldiers on the army base. It is mostly scientist, engineers, and logisticians.

There are about 1,000 soldiers and about 1,300-1,500 dependants on the arsenal.

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I read books. Fretted about it, but there is only one true way. Become a landlord, set your criteria and stick to it, then meet and screen people. As long as you're not wishy washy and stick to your criteria, you'll learn all you need about dealing with tenants screening them. Eventually, if your smart, you'll start screening them over the phone or by email and the bad ones will never step foot in your rental.

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Sure, it's C- in that I could find worse areas, but the demographic is a solid D. I find it crazy there are listings over $100k currently when low $50's would have been high end a few years ago. Rents are going to be $800, maybe more if you can get section 8 to pay. Any housing North of 565 and close to the Memorial Pwky is going to be higher crime areas. 35805 the closer you get to Patton Rd is higher crime. Although, Holiday Homes neighborhood could have occasional good finds there. Better on the Bob Wallace side than the Drake/Triana side. Crime in Huntsville is not as bad in bigger cities, but if you play the per capita game, we're higher than some cities like Chicago. I can still walk down almost any street in Huntsville in daylight and be relatively safe, although there's a chance. I know several places in Birmingham where I can't say the same.

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Huntsville, Alabama

35811 is one of the larger zipcodes. It's both rural and county as well as city addresses. Chapman mountain splits the county and city areas(mostly, Huntsville has weird annexing boundaries). Towards the city, 72/565 split the C/D housing with most of the lower class, higher crime areas on the north side, though anything close to the highway on the city side of Chapman is class C at best. Move more south and east you'll get C,B, and A depending on the neighborhood. Largest portion is the County side and most housing is newly constructed or within the last 20 years or so. County side is where people want to live, so a deal here would be a needle in a haystack. 2 years ago, all of Huntsville was on sale, now only D areas and some C areas are. Even those are higher priced than they were 2 years ago(or even a year ago).

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Huntsville, Alabama

Shop around. Small local banks will be your best bet. I just signed the lock agreement on my 8th property at 4%, 30 year 80% LTV. Edit: 75%LTV for my last cash out refi.

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Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

Some people completely ignore fair housing laws and some people take them too far and apply them to areas where they do not apply. Just because you allow one tenant to have a puppy does not mean you are automatically required to allow every tenant to have a puppy. I have really good tenants in low-class properties and I would not mind letting them have a puppy. at the same time I have mediocre tenants in really nice properties where I would not allow a puppy. Things like that are very situation dependent and in no way a violation of fair housing.

Dogs are not a protected class. Honestly, you don't have to treat people the same as far as pets. Allowing or not allowing them doesn't transfer to other tenants unless the landlord allows it.

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Originally posted by @Quandra Adams:

Originally posted by @Mike S.:

How did you give the money back? Just hand it to them? Did you get a receipt? Some states, without a certified letter and certified fund receipt, you may open yourself to them saying they never received it and have to pay 2-3 times damages.

Money order. I have the other half of the receipt.

Money orders are not a certified form of payment. There is no proof that you didn't fill out your name on the money order and their name on the receipt. If they take you to court, they could say they never received it. The proof is on you then to produce delivery verification. Will it happen? Maybe not, but there are many sites out there telling tenants how to exploit landlords who don't follow the prescribed legal requirements of their state.

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I charge $400 for one pet and $100 each additional, limit of 3. One of the things about pets is, they cause damage. 100%. Sometimes it's not noticeable, sometimes it is, but everyone of them accelerate your wear and tear. My pet fee doesn't even really reimburse me for the wear and tear, since most of it goes to cleaning between tenants.

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Even if it was even close to being accurate(which it's not) I can't imagine paying for it. You can go on Zillow and see actual listings for any area you're interested in. Look at time on market and any listing 2-3 months on market without major defects(including location) is overpriced.

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All Forum Posts by: Mike S.

Mike S. has started 14 posts and replied 416 times.

Post: Huntsville AL crime rates?

Post: How to Start Gaining Landlord Experience

Post: 38511 Zipcode in Huntsville

Post: 38511 Zipcode in Huntsville

Post: Advice for Lender - are they "messing with me?"

Post: Tenant objections to extra costs for a puppy (previous dog died)

Post: Tenant deposit + Prorated Rent

Post: Tenant deposit + Prorated Rent

Post: Pet fees? What do you usually charge

Post: Rentometer discount code