All Forum Posts by: Thomas S.

I would sell also due to the low returns. The rent is a little low for a 200K property. HOWEVER having said that if your intention is only to pay down mortgages you may as well keep the property. Selling a property only to pay down another has no benefit financially. If you were to sell and use the money to generate a higher return that would be worthwhile.

Jason D hit the nail on the head. Anyone wishing to invest with no money means they have zero financial knowledge or discipline. With out the financial discipline to save for a DP the chances of failure trying to do it with zero down is approximately 99.99%. That is a rough estimate.

I would install a 2nd meter and have tenants pay the water. I intentionally avoid investing in any multi unit that does not have all separate utilities.

My FP has about 50% of my net worth invested through him. He is fully aware of my real estate holdings and factors it in knowing that at some point (soon) I will liquidate it all and turn it over to him. He always wants to be updated on the net worth of my real estate holdings. No surprise there. The difference between me and most real estate investors is that I have known, and informed him from the beginning, that I will liquidate all my real estate investments to retire.

I would simply be putting the money aside to save for the next purchase. Assuming the rent from the rentals is covering all costs and debt repayment, hopefully with some positive cash flow, it would be counter investing to pay either of them down. Paying down a rental is a waste of good money. If you were a ultra conservative individual you would not be asking, you would be paying them off to hoard your cash. That does not sound like your plan. Your other option would be to pay down your primary and use a HELOC from it to invest. However with the interest on it at only 3.6 % parking your cash there, as with the rentals, is a very poor return.

There is no need. Assuming the stairs and decks are structurally sound and safe you have no liability. If they are built to code there are no concerns. If they are not safe or not built to code no lease language will protect you from a law suite. If you are trying to protect yourself from stupid just operate a safe business.

I do not rent to unmarried couples/friends/room mates. It seldom works out well for the landlord. When I did rent to unrelated room mates I made sure each qualified independently, 3X rent and minimum 650 credit score. It was very rare that they qualified with this criteria making it easy to reject their applications. Making each jointly responsible for the entire rent makes it mandatory that each quality independently. Time and experience has taught me to simply not rent to unrelated individuals. Not worth the troubles.

You can not screen a applicant unless you have criteria. Without criteria all the information you are gathering has no relevance. You need to study/read how to screen tenants and set standards. As a example a 650 credit score may be stellar for a C class property but only average for a B class. Their income is high, revolving debt very high and based on their income their credit scores are extremely low. I would prefer to see their scores in the mid to high 7s. My guess is that they will be late rent payers. Personally I don't like the looks of them but that's just me, something isn't right. Chances are you have not thoroughly screened and there is much more info you do not have. Did you contact their previous landlord for a reference and rent payment history. Do you know why they are moving, how soon do they need to move. How long have they been with their present employers. What vehicles do they own. What is their debt payment history...30, 60, 90 day. Plenty you don't know.

Way too much personal information about you and your tenant. None of it is relevant or important. There is absolutely no place in this business for any form of emotions, which seems to be your primary disability. No point in pouring out any more emotions they serve no purpose. You have not yet said that you intend to proceed with an eviction. If you are not going to hire a lawyer to evict this tenant there is nothing more we can add in the form of advice. Either evict her or live with your mistakes.

Your utility company should have records of your previous years usage if you do not. Average it out over 12 months and increase the rent plus 10% as "utilities included". It is preferred to spend the money to split the utilities and add second meters (hydro, water, gas) to be able to put utilities in the tenants names.