All Forum Posts by: Nathan Gesner

He who maintains the grass dictates what goes on it. If the city maintains that section of grass, tell him to talk to the city. If the neighbor maintains the grass, don't mess with it.

A lot of people are too stubborn or embarrassed.

An owner asked me to manage his property. It had a 1bed/1bath guest house and a very nice 4bed/4bath main home. I rented the guest house while the owner cleaned out the main house. I started advertising the main house and a week later the tenant in the guest house contacted me to say she received a letter about a foreclosure. I picked up the letter and confirmed the owner was facing foreclosure. It was in the early stages so I told him I could help him sell the property and avoid the foreclosure. He claimed it was just a misunderstanding.

A few months later, the foreclosure notice was in the paper. I again offered to help him sell it but he continued to tell me it was a misunderstanding and he would be caught up on the mortgage. More time passed and he snuck into the house to strip out all the appliances, ceiling fans, chandeliers, etc.

The house foreclosed and he lost it all. It was worth over $600,000 and sold at auction for $450,000. 

Getting a license is a great way to learn the ropes, but odds are you will fail at it. 

87% of agents quit within five years

Unless you plan to dig in and hustle, it's not worth the money, time, or effort. If you plan to succeed, it's a great option.

@Steve K. I understand the OP is not buying or leasing the equipment. The company owns the equipment and rents roof space from the OP.

My poorly worded question is: how much money can they possibly make after paying to purchase the equipment and lease his roof? It's my understanding that a typical system will produce $150 a month in that area. A larger system might produce $300 a month.

It just seems like awfully thin margins. I would also point out that the OP would be signing up to a 20-year lease. That's a long time to commit just to earn a little cash.

I do not recommend a home warranty. They don't cover everything and they don't approve every request. Also, when you submit a request you often have to wait for their approval then hire their vendor. The vendors they use tend to be cheap and unreliable. I know many property managers will not manage a home that has a home warranty on it because they are so difficult to deal with.

The purpose of screening is to determine the level of risk and see if it's acceptable. He would be paying about 40% of his income towards rent. He still has utilities, student loans (probably), car payment, etc. That's risky.

However, you said he is an engineer. Those are usually lower-risk people.

You also said he has "significant savings" so maybe he can pay a triple deposit (if your state allows) or the first few months in advance.

You've created a monster.

You say he doesn't want an eviction because his credit is already "completely shot." Actually, if his credit is shot he won't care about another red mark on it. And he's probably not worried about finding a Landlord willing to accept him. He fooled you, so he can probably fool someone else.

You allowed him to pay rent late and the only ramification was a notice of non-renewal. You allowed him to smoke "a lot" of dope in his room (an illegal act in your state) and failed to do anything about it. Pretty much everything you've done to this point has told him he can do what he wants and the only thing you'll do is threaten him.

You can offer him cash-for-keys and buy your way out of this mess but it also rewards the tenant's bad behavior and sets up the next Landlord for failure. My recommendation is that you grow a pair and put your foot down. if you can't do it with this guy, how are you going to do it with the next one?

I think more than 1oz of weed is a felony in your state. If he's smoking as much as you say, call the cops the next time it happens and hope he gets rolled up for a felony. At a minimum, he will be cited for a misdemeanor and that might scare him enough to move out. If he pays rent late, hire an attorney and start the eviction process.

Just search for "property management TOWN" and you'll get tons of examples. I usually search for property management companies on Google and then go to the sites of the ones with top reviews.

I would love to hear specific details because this doesn't make sense. You're in DC so I have to assume there are larger buildings that could provide a lot more space for solar. Solar typically takes 15+ years just to break even so how are they producing enough income to pay you for renting the roof?

I agree with @Scott Weaner. If you buy a single-family home to occupy as your personal home, it probably won't translate to a good rental down the road. You're better off buying a multifamily. Live in one unit while renting the others out. When you move, rent our your unit.

There are nicer multi-family with 2-4 units so you can still live comfortably.