All Forum Posts by: Nicole A.

I'll risk it and be the contrarian. :-)

I personally think some people read too deep into Jonathan's thread about "Bro" investors. To me, it was obvious he wasn't talking about all new investors. He was talking about the ones that clearly are full of hot air and don't take the time to actually learn things, but instead take needless risks and/or action without research. There typically tends to be an immaturity about them as well.

Also, to be fair regarding the "no silly questions" statement, we BP moderators even have a canned PM message to send after closing down newly-created threads asking "Do I need a LLC?" because it is asked so often. This is because some people don't stop and consider that they could search for their question. Rather, they choose to be lazy and just ask the question and wait for answers to come in. So, yeah, even BP mods are looking for "silly questions" to shut down. ;-)

While I think most people do not intend to be mean to others, I think anyone would be lying to say they truly would have faith in the future success of someone who is not displaying proactive and generally intelligent qualities.

Why wait to file for eviction? File now if you can. But first sounds like you need to learn your local laws. Google it and see what you find. Also Google for eviction services. There might be some and if so, I highly recommend you call them and hire them to ensure this is done correctly. Don't waste time. Take action now or it'll just take even longer.

You should have got keys from the previous owner at closing. So once you have legal removed them, yeah, I guess you'll have to drill in unless the tenant is there and opens the door.

While I agree you should continue to build your savings and be extremely sure you can afford the home you buy, I want to add/clarify something. FHAs are not the only low-downpayment loans for primary residences. I assume you're buying your own house to live in, right? There are plenty of loans specifically for primary residences that are 3-5% down. You can jump onto most popular mortgage/bank websites and take a look at the general details very easily.

But don't forget, unless you negoiate the seller to pay it, you will also need to pay closing costs, and that's roughly 5% of the purchase price (on top of your downpayment).

While I don't have kids, I do house hack (on and off). Can your current home be rearranged in a way that you could be more seperated once the baby arrives? Perhaps you have a basement you could turn into a rental with a kitchenette, etc? There might be some renovation costs involved to make it work such as probably needing two laundry areas (one for you, and one for tenants in their space).

Otherwise, the suggestions of a multi-unit property might be the answer. Remember you can buy up to a 4-unit property with a primary residence loan. Some lenders might individually not do it, so you might need to shop around.

Or try the live-in flip that was mentioned. I've lived through renovations, and personally I find them awful when done on your own (little to no contractors) because it just takes so long and the house never feels like a home. But that's just me!

I'm not sure if this falls into the same category, but I admit I get a little frustrated when I meet some landlord who's typically been doing it for many years and is 100% DIY. So he will outbid me on a property because he doesn't (have to?) factor in as much repair/reno cost and such. He probably doesn't even factor in much savings and obviously not PM fees. 

Then he takes double or triple the amount of time to renovate the place than my contractor crew. He tends to find shady characters to help out with renovation and it seems to turn into some sort of drama. Then he always seems to get the worst of the worst tenants and is constantly spending time babysitting them and the property. 

All that and he paid more for the property than any sane investor should in my opinion. I know not all DIYers are like this, but there does seem to be a bit of a pattern to the type I described.

What John and Jaron are saying are spot-on advice, and I second (or third?) it. When you lack equity in a property (granted you might be almost done paying off your mortgage, we don't know), there isn't much asset for anyone to sue you for because the mortgage lender comes first if that asset were liquidated no matter what.

Save the money, trouble, and time. Just keep it in your name. Follow your local laws. Make sure you have all required papers the area might require for a rental such as rental license, lead certification, etc. Consider getting an umbrella insurance policy that will cover any incidents that max out your home insurance. Those policies aren't usually too expensive.

In our nicer property, during renovation, we ran the house with CAT-5 so tenants would have a hard-wired option for internet instead of some sloppy job done by a company technician. The house has hardware outside set by the company, but it'd be up to the tenants to actually set up a plan/package.

I have some 2-unit properties and do not include/offer any internet. These are also C-class neighborhoods though. 

You should ask yourself if you are okay with signing yourself up to not only manage your property and manage your tenants, but to now also manage a wifi connection and its security. Speaking of security, that could be a rabbit-hole of trouble. If some tenant decides your wifi is not secure enough, they could cause you all kinds of headahces with their complaints (and depending on their personality, their threats).

There may be businesses that provide eviction services in your area, and I would recommend that you Google "<your property's area> eviction services". If they exist, call them and explain your situation. They can help you and you'll know it's done right! 

Whatever you do, take action soon. Don't let time just pass. I'm sure with the holidays, evictions will already take longer than normal. So don't extend it even more by waiting.

Most people will tell you that if the repair is not several thousand dollars, you're probably better off just paying out of pocket. What are the repair cost estimates you're getting?

Insurance is known to raise their rates after a claim, but maybe they won't. No one knows 100% for sure.

Yes, but be ready to take action quickly if they do not pay rent to you in time. First impressions count, and if you let them get away with paying late, they always will.