All Forum Posts by: Michael Evans

Also, I have seen inspectors make contractors remove furniture if they don't have a Certificate of Occupancy

As a General contractor, I have had to deal with many different cities and building inspectors. So here is my take; building inspectors do not accept anything without visual on the job inspections. They do not accept photos. They have been trained to trust but verify. Too many contractors and superintendents have tried to fudge (cheat and lie) to them about things that they hope the inspectors won't catch. The days of "drive by" inspections are over.

Don't even think about proceeding with any work until you have written approval from your inspector. That means make sure you have your job card signed off before you cover anything up.

Good luck

Amazon is hiring. I would encourage them to look into side hustle jobs, maybe they can deliver food from all the restaurants that have closed their dining rooms. Anything to keep current. If you start letting them get behind, it will only get worse. There are opportunities in this crises.  

Make sure you have them sign a new lease, check their credit and income verification. Did they put up a deposit? How much? Are you getting the deposit credited to you in escrow?

I would suggest as a new landlord, you should consider looking into short term rental business instead of long term.

With short term, Airbnb / Homeaway takes care of getting the rent up front and you never have to evict anyone for not paying. They will alway leave on their own.

How about buying older houses and rehab to like new construction? Most new construction in my area don't come with backyard landscaping, just bare dirt and weeds.

Also, building new construction in California has so many fees and regulations that it doesn't pencil out

You should get the paperwork started NOW. Hire an eviction company. The cost will be much less than letting them stay for 6 months for free. The Virus scare will be over long before you finally get them out.

Sounds like you may have dropped the ball in screening them in the first place. Hire an eviction company to handle it. Then read Josh's book on Rental Property Investing.

Good luck

Vinal plank, no carpet anywhere. If tenants want carpet, tell them to get some throw rugs

I'm in California looking for the same thing

In California, this wouldn't even go to court. It would be sent to an arbitrator and you both would have to sit in front of the arbitrator to settle it. Total waste of time and not worth it.

If you really want to make it go away, tell him you are going to file a complaint against him with the Contractors State License Board. You can also tell him you are going to give a negative review on Houzz, Yelp and Google.

I guarantee you will never here from him again.

Good luck