All Forum Posts by: Patricia Moore

@Chris Utter Turbo tenant allows you to input your property details and photos and then it blast it out to all the big sites like Facebook marketplace, Zillow, realtor and Zumper. It is free to landlords. It also provides an excellent platform for managing leads, screening applicants and leasing up

@Mikel Kaubfa Use a lease that allows late fees. Check your state’s laws to make sure your late fees are in compliance. On the day after the grace period expires (if you have one), post a notice to quit or pay rent on their door. Most tenants will immediately pay. If they don’t, start the eviction. You either train them to pay rent on time or they train you to accept late rent. Make a practice of collecting all late fees. Use a portal that sends tenants email reminders and collects the rents. Never collect rent in person. Tenants must learn to use the portal or go to your bank to deposit the rent or pay by Western Union. eRentPayment.com is an economical portal that is easy to use.

@Joe Frank I’m a huge fan of Turbo Tenant to market properties, manage leads, screen tenants and lease up. It’s free for landlords. For marketing, you enter property details and photos and they submit to all big sites including FB marketplace, Zillow, Realtor, and Zumper. There’s also an easy way to import the listing to craigslist. There are lots of helpful tools like a customizable pre-screening questionnaire, text/email interface to communicate with leads, and a database to keep leads organized. For tenant screening, applicants complete an online application, upload dox to verify their identity and pay a $45 screening fee (This is how turbo tenant monetizes). Leases are simple to upload and get signed electronically for $9 fee for DocuSign. A very simple platform that saves time, keeps leads organized and makes it easy to lease up.

@Maile Clancy Self-managing is the way to go but don’t do repairs yourself. You’ll get good at it and it should only take a few hours every month. It will make you a better investor and keep you on top

of your properties. It’s worth it to pay an experienced handyman. But you should be in charge ordering materials. You can order materials from Home Depot or Lowes online and send pickup link to handyman. He parks curbside and the store loads him up. Since he’s not going into the store, you don’t have to worry about him throwing a new impact driver, diamond blade for his grinder, tshirts or extras like Monster drinks, snickers bars and M and Ms into the cart. (yes, handymen have tried to get away with adding these items to the cart). Just tell him to check all items from receipt before driving off bc sometimes items are missing.

Home Depot let’s you save lists in Pro account so it’s easy to pull up SKUs for commonly ordered materials and things like fans, smoke detectors, lights, blinds etc. Ordering yourself helps you learn prices which comes in handy when you evaluate a new property. It also helps you make better decisions in repairs.

Rent collection and repair requests are easily managed with a portal. For smaller portfolios, eRentPayment.com is a good option. It’s a lot cheaper than Buildium and easy to use. Some negatives but outweighed by lower price. For example, books require manual entry if you accept cash deposits to your bank acct or Western Union.

As tenants move out, install keyless smart locks for easy access by handymen and showings. I don’t recommend the wifi enabled ones because of potential to get hacked, higher cost and need to have a WiFi account for the property. I like kwikset smartcode 913. Not perfect and you can’t keep changing physical key but good solution for $119

and 4-5 lock changes.

Turbo Tenant is fantastic for advertising vacancies. You enter property details and photos and it blasts everywhere- FB marketplace, Zillow, Realtor, Zumper. It’s free for landlords. Applicant pays $45 for credit and background check. Manage all leads from their site, send electronic lease ($9 for DocuSign)

For showings, tell the applicant to call you when they get to property. When they call, tell them to text front and back of DL and then stand directly in front of keypad and you’ll send code. They will think that the lock/Bldg has a camera. If you screen before showing, you should lease up after 1-2 showings. Knowing your target tenant is essential.

When you get a property ready to rent, check for the usual problems. Its a lot cheaper to change the guts in the toilet tank, replace faucets, corroded valves, and angle stops than to pay a handyman to go out the property to fix leaks or running toilets. Do preventative maintenance. It will save you time, money and make your tenants happier.

As for leases, join the local Apartment Owners Assoc and use their forms. Fair Housing has a lot of rules but basically treat everyone equally and don’t discriminate. Look up issues like ESAs as needed.

Technology has made it easy to manage properties. Use software and systems and it will only take you a few hours every month. Give tenants your handyman’s number for after hour emergencies.

Good luck and build that portfolio!

This post pertains to purchasing property “subject to” an existing mortgage. Investors seem to have strong opinions about the legality of this type of purchase. However, it is not helpful for people to state their unsubstantiated opinion that such a purchase is illegal. Making another investor feel stupid or dishonest has a chilling effect. The purpose of this forum is to share ideas and encourage camaraderie.

The legality of a “subject to” purchase depends upon state law. However, the law is not static and subject to interpretation. On more than one occasion, I have been surprised by a court’s interpretation of a seemingly clear statute or case. Moreover, it is not uncommon to have a split in authority among appellate courts in the same state.

If you want to know how to get a deal done with creative financing, then contact an experienced real estate attorney in the state where the property is located. There are ways to structure deals that accomplish your financing goals and comply with state law. As an investor, I have paid thousands of dollars to real estate attorneys to help me structure deals in their states.

I find there are many benefits to purchasing property "subject to" the existing mortgage. It allows me to leverage my IRA investments, does not require an invasive review of my finances for loan qualification and does not appear on my credit report. My goal is always to pay the mortgage thereby improving the sellers' credit rating. However, I cannot predict the future and managing risk is an important consideration for a real estate investor.

First, I have never had a lender enforce the due on sale clause. Enforcement of a due on sale clause is a right and not an obligation. Second, as a purchaser of defaulted mortgages, I have never enforced a due on sale clause. When a local investor brings my loan current, I am thrilled. I recently had a borrower pay $37,000 to come current on a defaulted mortgage a few days before the foreclosure auction. I checked title and the property had been sold to Lazy Day LLC in Texas. The investor kept the mortgage current for a few months did a beautiful rehab and paid off the loan. A win-win for both of us.

Now, for the real reason that I wrote this post. Insurance. I agree that an insurance policy in the seller’s name does not protect the “subject to” buyer. The policy protects the lender but it no longer protects the seller because the seller sold the property and does not have an insurable interest. Since the policy no longer protects the seller, I cannot be added as an additional insured or loss payee.

My solution is to buy insurance to cover my interest in the property. In Florida, Citizens Property Insurance will insure the buyer’s interest in the property. Yes, this requires me to pay for two policies. I have to keep the seller’s policy in force because it protects the lender. But I need the new policy to protect me.

Citizens is an admitted carrier and will write the policy in an individual's name in Florida. It will not write a policy for an LLC but will write a policy for an individual trustee and name the LLC (beneficiary) as an additional insured. If you want the LLC to own the policy directly, then Lloyds will write the policy. On a $180,000 house, Citizens quoted me $1,600 for an individual (trustee) policy and Lloyds quoted $2,300 for my LLC.

I’m not giving anyone legal advice. Only sharing information.

@Mike Dymski It took me 10 long years to buy my first deal. The game changer was finding out that I could buy properties in TX that cash flowed. It was 2007 and credit was easy to get. I got a HELOC on my house and bought a vacant 4-plex in Fort Worth for $130k. Rather than counting on big gains, I focused on the downside. If I could rent 1 unit for $550 then it would pay the monthly HELOC interest and I would get a tax write off for depreciation. A lot of things went wrong and I don't recommend buying a vacant 4 plex in another state as a first investment. But focusing on whether I could afford to carry the building for 10 years with only 1 tenant got me in the game.

@Brittany King If the scope of work is limited and from a single trade, then it’s pretty easy to use the first guy’s quote to get other quotes. Always ask for a detailed written quote. Once you get the quote, call other contractors and ask if they can do better.

@Brandon Phillips The census data breaks down owners and renters. The data is available on many sites like http://www.city-data.com/

@Alexandra Hansil

Transferring the property to an LLC would not avoid liability for the claim. If your tenant sues you for personal injuries due to mold exposure, your insurance carrier probably has a duty to defend you in the lawsuit. Your state probably allows you to assert a comparative negligence claim against the tenant for not realizing that her basement was flooded.

Insurance companies often deny claims on improper grounds. Get a copy of your ins policy and ask your ins agent to explain your relevant coverages. Verify the info with a public adjuster and or atty who specializes in insurance coverage/claims. Don’t assume your coverage is limited to $10k.

Did your lease include a mold addendum? This is a common addendum that obligates the tenant to promptly report water and mold issues and limits their rights.

Also, does the lease require your tenant to carry renters insurance? If so, get a copy of their policy. Personal injury claims for mold exposure often include damage to personal property (couches, clothes etc). Renters ins covers the tenant’s personal property.

Get the water damage repaired and make sure you follow proper protocols for the mold remediation. Try to keep your communications with the tenant civil. Assume every phone message, text and email will be an exhibit in a lawsuit.

Contact a local insurance attorney for a consultation. If you have to pay for 1 hour of the atty’s time, then pay for it. It will give you some peace of mind knowing your rights.

This is not the end of the world.

@Dan Forguson I agree with Bob that it depends upon your property. In nicer areas, you might have to include them to be competitive. I either charge extra for them every month or include a clause in the lease that obligates the tenant to make all repairs to w/d, fridge, stove, dw