All Forum Posts by: Marc Ramsay

Thanks @Brandon Laughridge. I'll pass that along to the person who was requesting the referral.

Are there any venomous snake native to the area that could find their way into the house one night?

Damn inside voice getting out again....

Thank you @Christopher Coleman. Much appreciated.

I would include some reasonable dollar value for deferred maintenance as part of the purchase price calculation as it sounds like a new owner will probably have some work to do despite the tenants apparent desire to remain.

What happens in the first couple of months that the tenants decide they don't like the new owner, have a change in employment status, or any number of other things that can cause them to move out. Now you're stuck with an empty unit that probably can't be rented out as is and will need some amount of rehab. I'd consider what it would cost to rehab half the units and add that into the acquisition price calculation and call it deferred maintenance to assist with determining the CAP rate.

This suggestion is based on personal experience, unfortunately.

Having some direct experience with East Cleveland, I would suggest anyone looking at property here to KNOW the market, and also check to ensure the buildings they are buying are not on East Cleveland's demolition list. You will not get them off the list once they are on it without a court fight. This is speaking from experience.

A couple of investors I know who worked together used to buy each other gifts like cars and such, and as it was a gift it was a tax deduction for the business. Not sure if that would still work, but it used to.

Personally, until my portfolio is cash-flowing at a rate to which I have more money than I need, I will hold off on the luxury items. I think my next fun purchase will be a vacation rental somewhere nice that I can get some benefit from periodically, and also be a cash-flowing asset.

Myself and a few other investors I know have been burned by paying contractors upfront, so I will not do it any longer. My only exception is for larger projects where there is a lot of materials involved, then I will pay a deposit towards materials costs. Even with my most trusted contractor, he does not expect money up front for any of my projects except for materials on larger jobs.

I also try and pay everyone weekly for the work that has been done, and that keep everyone pretty happy.

I had a $50,000 window job last year and even after the work was done I withheld 5% until my contractor and I had a chance to inspect the job and have any issues resolved.

Hello BP;

I have a need for a referral to a good RE lawyer in Kansas City, MO, for a possible RE lawsuit for an associate of mine. It would be great if your nickname for the lawyer is 'Pit Bull'. :)

Thanks,

Marc

More Than Cashflow - Julie Broad

On Writing - Stephen King

I am in the middle of this with not one tenant, but about 35. I purchased a building that was a LIHTC building but it lost that status on the foreclosure when I bought it. For any tenant on a month to month we gave 30 days notice and bumped them $25 and left them on a month to month lease, then 4 months later we did it again. Over the last 8 months we have lost some tenants and replaced them with market rent ones, and others have just paid the higher rent because they like living there. By sometime later this year the whole building will be market rents.

Luickily Ohio doesn't have any laws that restrict how much I can inccresase rent. I just have to abide by any leases currently in place.

In your case, if there is no law governing max rent increases, and you aren't worried about vacancy, and the tenant is on a month to month, then by all means give them the appropriate notice and then increase the rent and get them to sign a new lease. Also, as @George Paiva mentioned, you may want to see what kind of a tenant you have before deciding if you want to renew their lease or not.

No legal advice here, just my 2 cents...

Good luck!