All Forum Posts by: Tracey B.

finance examiner,
add to that:
be a groupie or have baby by any of those mentioned above, also a great route to riches for attractive women

You think it will ever be fixed to run as founding fathers envisioned again?

Rich, what exactly is this way you are referring to? Is this the time when slavery was ok?

BR, I have always charged market rents and am very particular so my properties on average can take a while to get rented. What I am doing this year is getting different types of voucher tenants. In my city there are so many besides section 8. What I recommend is you look into the different voucher programs. Google section 8 and your city to get a starting point. Also see if gosection8 works in your neighborhood as I have had great success finding tenants with it.

Marc-thanks for the laugh tonight, Al Gore, lol
TC-points well taken but I just dont get how no one complained when Bush spent all this money on a phony war and now everyone is mad after Obama has spent more. Neither is right, I am saying that its silly to blame the person who is left cleaning up a mess for the mess in the first place. If we agree that Bush started the frivolous spending, then he can't be better than who's in office now.

1. Should I form an LLC now?
It depends on what you will use LLC for. If you plan to buy and hold and are using a loan, you may have problems if using LLC name. If you are flipping, using an LLC wont matter.
2. Initially, we will begin investing in another state, so if we form an LLC, does it have to be in the state we plan on investing in, or can we form it in the state we live in? I'm pretty sure we can form it here, but just thought I'd ask.
You should check on the requirements of the state you are purchasing in for using out of state llc's to purchase real estate.
3. Also, if I currently have an LLC setup, can I just change the name on that one and use it, instead of opening a new one? In Maryland you can just pay to file a resolution to change the name as long as the name is available. But do you have to change the name? Can you just use it as it without making the resolution?
4. Can we use our accountant here or should I find one in the state we plan on investing in? Your accountant will need to work with you to do your taxes so I always recommend find someone local and mention to them what you plan to do. They can provide some input based on your specific situation.

Fiscally responsible? Sending thousands of troops into Iraq to avenge his fathers beef and lying to the country all while spending billions and giving government contracts to his friends? If thats fiscally responsible, you shouldn't be allowed to vote.

Marc, the choice was between Obama and a retiree, who else should they have chosen? Did majority know best when they put George Bush in office?

Claudia, sometimes the tenant isnt home when the repair is done so I do not routinely get signatures that work was done but I do try to keep a log of all their requests per tenant in my rental management software; if i think i should get a signature i will but i usually do not. I give the tenants a number that is specifically for tenants and goes to a voicemail.

Claudia, I have done this from the beginning of my rental business and I do not get a lot of maintenance requests. As far as painting, my lease states that they can do whatever they want to the unit as long as they get written permission and pay to bring it back to its original state upon move out or they will be charged to do so. You can send me a PM and I will copy and paste my verbage for you. As far as your questions:
1. What does moldy mean? Is there a ventilation issue or mold growing on the walls? If so, I would repair that issue for free.
2. Using the toilet for example, she called the repair into my maintenance line, we repaired it and then I sent her a bill for $100 and told her she had to pay it with next months rent.
3. All repairs are required to be called into our maintenance vmail or sent to us in writing. My lease states repair payments are due like rent and non payment is grounds for eviction.
4. I am a very fair landlord. When people have issues, I always get to it within a few days if non life threatening and immediately if a serious emergency. The types of issues I have had over the last 3 years have been clogged toilet, clogged tub, drippy faucet, broken fridge, broken stove, missing screens, roof leak and busted drain, spray for pests. I repaired all the issues. The only person who had to pay was the clogged toilet because it was a third offense. After I sprayed for pests, tenants were informed that subsequent visits would be billed to them if required. The guy who had the clogged tub had already paid a licensed plumber to snake the line before he called me to come fix the issue so I did not charge him. The reason I do this is to prevent being called every week over dumb stuff. I read my lease line by line and discuss in detail with tenants at time of lease signing so they get the point that they are not going to harrass me over dumb stuff and if they do, I will be billing them. I have recently started doing a lot of government tenants so we'll see how it turns out with them. One thing I check for when screening is to see if they have judgments against them from management companies or landlords and whether they have filed any kind of rent escrow against previous landlords. If so, I will not rent to them. I have one government tenant I am trying to evict right now that had a judgment against them from a previous leasing company and I overlooked it. Now I am paying the price.
One last note is when people move in, they usually mention some things I may have overlooked like screens and I fix it right away.

Eric, I never advise someone to invest in rentals unless they have significant reserves to cover renovations and/or vacancies. If you really want to get a rental and you have some reserves, you should try to find a property that is ready to go and doesnt require significant cash outlay to get rented of course these are not where the deals are so take that into consideration. It is very hard to get a loan nowadays for the average joe who doesn't have 5% to put down or good credit so yes there are lots of renters and in my area, lots of new government grants for voucher people.