All Forum Posts by: Michael Randle

So I have noticed on gosection8 and a few other posts in this forum that Baltimore has a huge surplus of section8 housing and too few tenants (at least compared to the number of units available, looks like 235 right now.) Is this still the case? Has anyone had luck with section 8 as an investment?

Out of all the European countries, England will have the 'closest' knowledge based laws and practices to the US due to such a common history. But there are huge differences, think Texas (U.S.A.) vs San Fransico (England/EU).

I would say the worst market in the US to be a land lord, as in the least friendly, would rank as one of the best in the EU.

Depends on how serious you are. 

I think rent-o-meter resets after a month so in another month you get your 10 free again. You 'should' get a feel for the rents in your area by about the time your free time is up. Plus you can get on your tablet, another pc or cell phone and get your 10 free again.

That being said, if you are going to make a proposal to someone that involves rents I like to bring out rent-o-meter as a strong reference. Say you are going to raise rent, or looking to pitch a deal to someone.

Rent-o-meter is pin point accurate for location wise, and is a great resource. But Rent-Jungle or RentCafe (cannot remember which one) breaks down rent via neighbor hood. That should be good enough if you are just window shopping or trying to get a feel for the basics of running numbers.

Or how about the description in this one?

https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/720-E-21st-St-...

Poorly planned typo error or intentional in the 'About this home' section.

I have read that when people start to hit the hard cap they roll all the loans into a 'portfolio loan' or certain type of commercial loans with a small or local bank. This clears out the 10 active loan cap and you can start over again.

I agree with @Chris Svendsen, going to be a huge problem tenent. Take the opportunity to not renew the lease and get them out August 1st.

She didn't sign a lease with you so will not pay, fine. You as the owner didn't give her permission to stay, so she has to go. Door swings both ways sweat heart.

The 10 day rent pro-rated should be covered under the sale price, along with deposit. So take it out of that money for anything crazy this person will do.

If Houston is like Phoenix I know A/C was considered a critical need, health and safety I think was the terms they used. It was even written into law in Phoenix, something like if above 90 degrees or anytime between the months of April and Sept.

That means if the A/C went out they had to treat it like your water isn't working, the only toilet isn't flushing etc. If they didn't get it fixed within 8 or 12 hours they HAD to put you up in a hotel on their dime. I would check and see if you have anything like that in your lease or anything like that is the law down there.

I would put it on the tenant, mainly because for financial purposes they will have to take over those payments once the house is theirs anyways.

That being said I know my HOA does not allow transfer of fees to a tenant so I have to pay myself every month. But that is rolled into my overhead so it isn't that big of a deal. I pay fees, they make up the difference due to fines.

rent-to-own you need to put as much as you can on the renter so they know what they are getting into when that rental turns into a own. That includes the fees that are associated with the property. Plus when they go for financing they have to include HOA into those documents, might as well get them use to it ahead of time.

If you look at it like a numbers game you need to ask yourself the following.

First and foremost: 

"Is the appraised value of $125k accurate?" -If it is you have to either a) lower your price b) exclude certain buyers c) fight the appraised value

"How many months can I float this loan (132k or whatever you financed) before I lose out on a potential $7k I would have to eat if I lowered my price?" -Lets pretend it is 7 months. ($1k monthly payment on your finance)

"In 7 months will I get another offer of $132k?" -depends on the market and price point.

"Will that other offer, be able to make up that $7k difference?" - My gut would say no, just because you are at such a low price point already.

So what are your options?

A) Sell for $125k, take your lumps, make a little less money, learn some lessons.

B) Submit documentation to the appraiser and try to get that appraised value raised.

C) Leave it on the market and slowly bleed out that $7k until another offer come along.

D) Set up a lease to own option with the people looking to buy the home.

I am sure more experienced investors can come up with a better idea but as it stands now those seem to be the options I see. And your response might change given how you financed the flip (hard money vs personal funds) and what your long term goals might be.

MD is such a pro-business state I am surprised you would even ask such a question! I mean they are 'open for business'.../endsarcasim

The following 3 links should tell you what you need to do more in depth.

http://taxes.marylandtaxes.gov/Resource_Library/Tax_Publications/Tax_Tips/Business_Tax_Tips/bustip13.pdf

http://dat.maryland.gov/businesses/Pages/Maryland-...

//dat.maryland.gov/businesses/Pages/Non-Maryland-(Foreign)-Business-Entities.aspx

(add http: to the site above, BP auto formatting was messing up link.)

I do not know if any of those links will answer your questions, but it seems you either set up a MD LLC or you pay to get yourself (LLC) registered with SDAT. Hope that is as clear as mud for you.

And 21218 was an area I am looking at investing in here also, so I guess you have 1 vote of, eh why not, in your camp.