All Forum Posts by: Marelyn Valdes

My mother had a lot of single family rentals and taught me the lower end rentals (C-D) will always have a lot of people wanting to rent. I don't have the high dollar homes with HOA's and never had any problem getting tenants or keeping them. No matter how the economy is doing, it only affects me if I try to sell, not rent. Keeping up the maintenance and treating tenants fairly keeps places rented long after the initial 1 year lease is up, regardless of the market. I also don't get myself into a lot of debt buying places - I buy ugly with good bones and rehab.

I would sent a certified letter to your tenant demanding he provide you with insurance to cover liability for his invitees as well as an addendum to your lease where he is responsible for any and all repairs.  If you have barns, he is also probably running a boarding or training business and you will need coverage for that liability as well.   You might also demand a certain percentage of the camper rental, but I wouldn't ask for the whole amount if your tenant is going to be responsible for any repairs or damage to the property.  You also need to do an inspection - I had a couple of board horses on my farm and they destroyed my stalls (ate the boards and tore up fences).  

Just stick a box next to the mailbox and throw the mail in that....if the old tenant shows up asking for her mail and packages just say they were left in the box.  After the packages keep disappearing she will get the hint.  I have had tenants move and get mail for lots of names I never heard of - I just write never at this address and return to sender.  If the tenant was evicted, I write evicted return to sender.  You don't know how many tenants are dodging bills and drive by to pick up mail after they have moved.  One accused me of stealing her mail - I had left notes a couple of times to the mail carriers that tenant had moved and then rubber banded the box closed so no more mail was delivered until the new tenants moved in.  By law in Florida, you send the security deposit or notice of intent to keep all or part of the deposit certified return receipt to the last known address.  If they don't give you or the post office a forwarding address it just goes to the rental and then gets returned to you.

Just to give you an idea of the eviction process in Florida - http://www.orlandoevictionlawyer.com/blog/articles...

I do my own evictions, and in Florida you can accept partial rent and then start the eviction with the 3 day notice afterward.  You can only demand the actual rent and if you start the eviction during the month, the next month's rent will be included in the amount due at the beginning of the next month if the lawsuit is still not settled.  I had one tenant try to stop the eviction by paying his past due rent  a couple of days before the end of the month only to find he would be evicted if he didn't deposit the new month's rent on the 1st.  He was livid, but ended up getting evicted.  Make sure you follow every rule with the eviction or it will get thrown out and you lose your court costs.  By the way, when you give a 3 day notice and start the eviction, the tenant can go to local charities that may pay their rent for a month, as well as the electric bill.  If they are paying electric for the first time they may have had to pay a large deposit - see if pay as you go is available, then they can pay small amounts as needed and there's no deposit.

https://dos.myflorida.com/sunbiz/start-business/ef...

A fictitious name (also known as a“doing business as” or “dba”) is:

• Different from your personal name, if doing business as a sole proprietor.
• Different from your entity’s legal name, if you have incorporated or otherwise formed a separate legal business entity.

I have a couple of mobile homes in Ocala and just recently sold one in Morriston for $70,000 (buyer used VA financing). They make great rentals and I currently am remodeling one I rented for 3 years and have several realtors with buyers for $75,000 waiting for me to finish it. It's on a 1/4 acre lot and it rented for $850 a month. It was pretty ugly when I bought it, but I had added kitchen cabinets and an island (bought used on Craigslist), a new HVAC unit when mine went out, painted, replaced bad wood on deck, and new fixtures. Now I replaced the hall bath (tub, surround, vanity) and new vanity in master bath - and vinyl bead board with chair rail in both bathrooms and subway tile back splash in kitchen, along with all new laminate flooring. Not a whole lot of money in upgrades, but it looks great and will pass an inspection for financing and insurance. The only thing you have to look for in MH's is whether you can sell with conventional financing unless you want to hold the mortgage. With your low cost of acquiring MH's, it may well be worth your while to hold the mortgage or do a lease option on them. I would never buy in a MH park, but that's just me. If you run across any you want to wholesale in Marion or Levy counties, please let me know.

Judith, I am in Ocala and haven't found the Marion County group info yet, so please let me know when or where they meet.  Also, I just bought a flip house (needs quite a bit of rehab) in Sumter County, so if you find a group there, please post the info, too.

Richard Bennett, I am in Ocala and would love to also find a group in the this area.  Please message me if you find one.  I have a few rentals in Marion County, and am always on the hunt for something to add to my portfolio as well as selling off one or two I have owned for years.

I found great insurance on my rentals with Rebecca Aldridge at Bird Insurance in Ocala.  She even found reasonable insurance on a couple of rental mobile homes as well as insurance on a property that I bought that needs $35,000 - $40,000 in rehab.

I don't like cheap paint on my rentals, but I do keep an eye out at Lowes for their "oops" paint - 5 gallons for $25.  If it's a light pastel, it's great to keep for rentals when needed and I just take the paint back to shake it when I am ready to use it.  Single $5 gallons of "oops" are great for accent walls or small bathrooms.  I used to use Behr, but Home Depot changed their paint discount policy a couple of years ago so now I mainly go to Lowes.