All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

No problem.  And to be clear, I don't know for sure that buy distressed + fix up will prevent this sort of increase from happening.  It will just hand them one less piece of evidence to use against you immediately.  If you rehab the property they may still go for a big increase in the regular course of drive-by assessments they do every now and then.

I also just now learned you can get banned from the invite system for "spamming" sending connection invites to people replying to your own thread.  heh.  I sort of think that's a situation that should be white listed as OK.

@Mindy Jensen

@Bob Prisco

I honestly was not aware that I could log in online and see the water usage on a daily basis.  After years of investing there, I learned something new today!  Awesome!

Question:  How many gallons per unit is your daily average?  What is your "there is a problem" usage level?

Thanks for all the feedback @Bob Prisco.  I have most of my bills on bank draft, I hadn't really thought about getting a CC just for paying regular rental property bills.  Might have to look into a travel points card or an amazon card (which is more likely to get use from me hehe.)

This is one of the stronger arguments for buying distressed and fixing up after close instead of buying already fixed up.  The county/schools have a much easier time raising the hell out of your taxes if you buy with rent-ready condition priced into the purchase instead of doing it later.

In 2017 I bought a couple 4-plex buildings in the 120's because they had a ton of deferred maintenance and work needed.  But because of buying distressed, their tax values aren't too crazy at this time.

Compared to a 6-unit building I bought in 2018 that was basically in really good shape, so it was a bit more of a full price purchase.  The school district is doing the same thing to me, taking my tax value from $205k -> $320k.  And what do I have to argue against it, after all, I did just buy it for $320k.  I'm going to be murdered by the tax bill once that goes into effect (and is retroactively applied to the previous year's worth of taxes I already paid, which they love to do.)

Following up from last week, I think it's fair to say my properties have mostly all turned over in 2 years.  I do still have at least one inherited tenant in a 2+ year building, but given that I'm currently turning over 4 units and all 4 were inherited, my % inherited tenants has suddenly gone down.  Aside from the one dude, I think my remaining ones are in my newest building.

Also one other thing I forgot to mention in the Cleveland post, is most of the areas that I invest in also require you to get an annual city property permit for your rentals.  It's usually in the $150-$200 range, per building, per year.  So it's not a trivial expense once it starts to add up.

@Chris C. - With money.  If you know a different way let me know because I'd love to try it.  :)  Do you mean what kind of financing?

That's a good point.  :)

@James Wise - You should add "Landlord Friendliness in court" ratings to your ultimate guide to go along with the neighborhood and tax rate info.

I still will update this with the info I was asked about earlier (time to turnover my units, perhaps some more info on cost breakdowns in Cleveland.)  Work is crazy so I won't get a chance until this weekend sometime.  If anyone has more Cleveland thoughts to add, let's keep it going!