All Forum Posts by: Nancy P.

So,  "men are just naturally going to do stalk women,  jerk off in their windows,  invade their privacy, and make them feel unsafe in their own homes---because of DNA.  It's up to women to protects themselves!"   Holy ****ing ****, it's not 1952.  Wise the **** up.

We literally just closed on a place with the same scenario.  Inspection found horrible mold issue in attic.  $4K fix.  In Illinois they don't have to disclose mold anymore,  but they KNEW every inspection was going to reveal it.  Still, tried  to give us only $500 for it.  We already had a short (3 week) closing and they balked and balked before offering the $500.  We said "Nope, EM back please".  The next day they came back with the $4K.  But then we demanded two more weeks to close as they had hemmed and hawed for 9 days.   They acquiesced immediately.  And we totally would have been fine with walking if they hadn't caved.  It's all a giant game of chicken.  And our Realtor,  who is about to lose her job as our Realtor for this crap, tried the same thing. "It's as/is!  Don't walk away because you will lose your $400 inspection fee!"  Like we are stupid enough to swallow a $4k repair because we've sunk $400 in?  Laughable.  She's having personal problems which have kept her from earning well,  but that's no reason to pull this crap on her best clients.

Although I absolutely believe some ask because they hope to hustle the "inexperienced" landlord,  I know for a FACT that some want to know that you actually own the place and they are not being scammed .  Some have gone so far as to ask me for ID and compare my name to the tax roll on the County website. (I demand ID from applicants before they apply.)  Because it's a real problem, especially where housing is tight people gaining access to a vacant property,  or just showing photos and suddenly having to "be out of town, but you can put down a deposit and look in the windows".  Collecting the deposit on a place that do NOT own or manage,  and disappearing.  A smart tenant makes sure he's dealing with someone who actually owns or manages the place.

LVP that is at least 5 mm.  Agree about the felt pads although we've lucked out so far.  Have wood look tile in one place,  but tenants have left the grout looking stupid by bleaching it repeatedly.  We do medium browns with a hint of gray.

Seems rare on here,  to treat tenants as fellow human beings who have the right to quiet enjoyment of their home.  We do the same as Grayson to the extent possible,  and we have low turnover.  Currently living in Germany for the W-2 job and the law everywhere here is:  No noise except between 7 am to 7 pm,  no noise at all between 1-3 p.m.,  and none AT ALL on Sundays. That's music, tools, lawn equipment, etc, but not kids.    Most people live in MF and homes are built so that you don't hear neighbors' children, etc within the building.  It's nice.

Life IS short---unless you spend it in prison.  Which it looks like what your end goal is.  Do the right thing, FFS.

Not only do we do an open house,  we just do one hour open houses.  There will always be people waiting,  and someone walking up right when you are locking the door to leave.  More likely they will see other prospects and know they need to decide,  Those who ask to see it early are politely declined,  if no applications made at open house,  we will show it to others at our convenience.  Has happened twice.

Revere Pewter only mixed by Behr at HD.  We don't store gallons and gallons though,  tastes DO change.  When we started in 2009 we did a yellowish beige....and then one day those wouldn't rent.  Gotta watch a HGTV show once a month to see trends.  (Fast forward to the end of the show for the "reveal",  that is all you need to see.)

We are about to add two properties to our eleven,  all but three are condos (the three are duplex halves).  We did well buying several foreclosures ten years ago,  nowadays we are making maybe $100 per door on new places,  but my husband is very bullish on Naperville appreciation. (We also don't automatically raise the rents each year like so many on here advise.)   We like condos because we don't want to fuss with exterior stuff,  and even Naperville tenants are not great at maintaining yards and exteriors.   Look along the 59 corridor,  just to the west of 59,  around White Eagle.  Those are legally in Aurora despite having a Naperville mailing address. (Some shenanigans cooked up by White Eagle developers as Naperville is snootier that Aurora).  The dues are usually $100-$200 a month less than comparable places in "true" Naperville.  Beau Monde in Lisle can be had pretty cheap,  and apparently not hard to find renters,  although it's far too close to I-88 for me.

As a Midwestern investor we're sort of assuming climate change/water issues are going to make the coasts and the southern states far less attractive in our lifetime. Who knows. That's why there is some risk in REI.