All Forum Posts by: Dick Stevens

If it had to be cut, I’d dig down 6 inches and make my cut there.  Won’t be much extra work.  6 inches is just a shovel or two.

This deal sounds aweful.  Considering it’s an investment property you’ll likely be putting down about $44k @ $175k purchase price. Your best case scenario of $100 a month profit yields a whopping 2.7% cash on cash return.  You could make that kind of pathetic return in a bank CD!!  Where is your head at?  

By the way, after vacancy and repairs you won’t make that $100 a month anyways, you’ll be losing money.

Highly unlikely that the mortgage can be assumed by you.  They have to sell you the property for the remaining balance on the mortgage.  Then you have a new mortgage for whatever was still owed and property and mortgage are in your name.  Since it was sold to you at the value of the old mortgage, whatever equity there was is now yours too.

You can't move your property into an LLC if you have a conventional mortgage. Property must be held in a personal name or you risk the bank calling the loan.

You can use whatever accounts you want.  A separate checking account for the property can be setup in 20 minutes at the bank.

My smaller units always rent faster than my larger units.  Don’t assume people are looking for a larger more expensive unit.

You bought an income property to make money right?  Choose the option that makes the most money.

Best way to prevent it is to be cautious of who you rent to.

Tying up $400k in cash to profit a lousy $750 a month is a poor return.  If you’re serious about rental properties you could take the $400k and buy multiple properties with multiple units in each property and have a significantly greater monthly net income.

Pickup a copy of the book, ‘Property Management Manual for Massachusetts Rental Owners’ by H. John Fisher.  This book will get you off to a great start.  It also comes with downloadable forms for all the key areas you will need.

I need to have an old foundation in a rental house repaired and repointed. This is the interior foundation from the basement. The height of the foundation wall is about about 5 feet of stone and then 3 feet of brick. The old lime based mortar is deteriorating— stone needs repointing and some of the brick has fallen out and needs to be redone. My research leads me to believe that a specific mortar needs to be used, as the stone and antique brick are not as strong as modern day products/construction. Can anyone with experience chime in and lend some advice? Also if anyone knows a good mason that does this kind of work I’d appreciate the recommendation. Property is in Haverhill, MA. Thanks.