All Forum Posts by: Nancy Roth

$5,000 is what I paid when the lender cancelled at the last minute and I couldn't close, plus doubled my escrow. Scrambled, wound up with three loan proposals, took the best and closed 2 weeks later. If you try to purchase with the same lender again, protect yourself by negotiating a long closing date. Or at least insert a clause in the contract giving you the right to postpone closing for two weeks if lender takes longer than expected. 

What you have here is your tuition in the school of hard knocks.

Sounds like you should get out of there. She is charging you for the utilities without being willing to show the bills? She can get them in a couple of seconds on the utilities website, she doesn't need to order them. This is not rocket science. But if your lease doesn't require her to show the bills, I'm not sure how you can force her to.

But with only three months left on the lease I don't know that it's worthwhile to fight about it, or certainly retaining a lawyer. Start looking for your next place. Be sure to ask the new landlord for a clause in the lease that landlord will present utility bills when requesting your payment. 

@Shane H. 

Sorry this happened to you, man, but you will only hurt yourself in the long run if you let it rip in public.  

If you have landlord colleagues you might give them the word about this guy in private. That's for their protection, they'll appreciate it. And of course if a landlord or property manager ever calls for a reference, you'll know what to do. Also should he ever apply for a security clearance, the investigator will look you up, and the experience you had with him should nix that as well. Hopefully he'll figure out what his behavior cost him, one of these days.

Be well, and good luck on Monday.

@Kerry Baird thank you for sharing those names, I will look them up.

Thought I'd ask something else. I have three 2-unit townhouses under contract from an auction in Baltimore. Two lenders (including Lending One) so far have said the minimum price per townhouse must be $100K even for aggregate loans. Mine are $75-80K each.

Have you run into that? Do you have any thoughts about any lenders that don't have that arbitrary criterion? 

@George Blower 

Absolutely, and I have been looking. The number of SD-IRA custodians has mushroomed since I first invested 5 years ago. Thanks for writing.

I originally posted a very positive review of this custodian (five years ago) but have since become disillusioned. I have stopped planning to invest more assets in MidAtlantic IRA and have begun transferring them out of there.

Why? Because I think that, as the custodian of my investment, their single most important job is to maintain an accurate record of all transactions into and out of the account. That is what the fees they take out of my account pay them to do. But they blew it, and in so doing, lost my trust.

In May 2017 I went into the website to look at the record of transactions in my account, and I saw a failed check fee. I later found out this was a fee they had neglected to record, for a bad check sent in October 2016 by the borrower on a performing note. I regard the fee as regrettable, but I can pass that cost along to the borrower. So I do not object to the fee. 

The big, big problem I have is, it happened in October 2016 but they failed to record it until May 2017. So to someone looking at the record of transactions, it gives the false impression that the faulty check came in much more recently than it did.

This to me is, like, a cardinal sin by the administrator/custodian of my investment account. The one thing I have a right to expect from this organization is, what they show on my record of transactions represents what happened in my account. That is their most fundamental job.

Also, they might have mitigated this error by notifying me  before deducting it from the account in May, several months later, but instead they just entered it in May as nothing irregular had happened on their part.

So think what this means. The W9 they sent me for 2016 is off. The borrower, who is struggling to build a better credit record, gets inaccurately dinged in 2017. And I have to spend a lot of time figuring out what happened, because they didn't proactively notify me. 

I have taken this up with at least three people in the organization over the past year, and they refuse to acknowledge that I have a valid complaint. They keep trying to frame my complaint as an objection to the fee for the faulty check, but it's not. It's a complaint about their record keeping. 

I just don't see them as a reliable partner anymore. I have already moved some of my assets out of there, and the rest will be following soon. 

Best to all, 

Nancy Roth

@Ned Carey Hi, Ned! Howz things? Thanks for writing!

Good points all. 

Last question first. As I understand it, to qualify for FHA loans the condo community must have no more than 49% rentals. The owners have an obvious interest in retaining FHA approval for loans, so that when they sell they can be exposed to the maximum number of buyers. Both of the condos I'm considering are currently owned by investors, not owner-occupants, so I would expect the balance would not be altered if another investor bought in. But would check that before moving forward. My guess is, the condo association would NOT let the sale move forward if if alters the balance.

As for the first and second question about how well-run and well-funded the community is, thanks for making me think about this. The key thing, I guess, is how much in reserves the community association has collected for major repairs, and a record of of repairs made on the structure for the last 15 years. The condo fee includes a master insurance plan that covers damage to the exterior and the common space, for example if a disastrous storm blows off the roof. My understanding is that for coverage of the interior of the unit one needs one's own insurance.

From my perspective it seems not that much different from owning a SFH as a rental, if you are using a property manager, except the management is onsite and so is the custodian.

@Jason Wade Hi Jason, thank you. @Russell Brazil was looking at income of the residents of each place, and commenting that the higher the income, the more cushioning you have in a downturn. In general much of Anne Arundel has higher income than much of Baltimore County, but is that true of these two particular communities? I hadn't thought to look that up, so to me it was an insightful comment.

I think you are talking about the advantage of appreciation, but that is icing on the cake to me. My key consideration at my stage in life (kids raised etc.) is cash coming in regularly so I don't have to work so freaking hard all the time. Also, should I need it, I want to be able to liquidate without a huge struggle. 

So whatd'ya think?  Is the Arundel property near the base is an advantage for cash flow and liquidity? I appreciate your comment, and will look at the rate of growth of home prices in the two markets. 

@Kyle Quaranta Excuse me, I answered your question but forgot to ding you. It's going out toward Owings Mills, past the beltway from Pikesville. 

@Ray Johnson Excellent point, thank you. Condo B in Baltimore County is 27 years old and has up-to-date appliances and fixtures. Condo A is 42 years old. I haven't gone inside yet. Some wear and tear, I believe.