All Forum Posts by: Jeff Rabinowitz

You don't need a lawyer to do a title search or a closing in Michigan. Send me a private message and I'll be happy to share the name of the title company I use. I would expect the closing and a warranty deed would cost less than $1,200 unless there are clouds on the title or previous liens which must be cleared before a title insurance policy can be issued.

@Kyle Hipp, how long does it typically take you to respond to an issue? Do you take phone calls directly or use a portal?

@Ben Oki, how do you demonstrate that you understand the tenant's point of view? Do you ever offer compensation for inconveniences? (I recently had the pipes freeze in one of my homes which was repaired promptly--the plumber responded within an hour of the call. 5 days later there was another plumbing issue which required the tenant to shut the water off. I offered to pay for a hotel for the family if this couldn't be repaired promptly. It was repaired the same day. This turned out to be fairly minor and unrelated to the frozen pipes. The tenant appreciated the offer of the hotel even though they didn't use it.)

@Dawn Anastasi, do you offer gift cards on holidays, lease signings or just randomly? If it is on holidays, how do you determine which ones? Do you consider whether it is a holiday the tenant celebrates? For multi-year tenants couldn't that backfire and set up an expectation of a reward on the next holiday or disappointment if the reward is not given?

If you purchased the house in an LLC for asset protection or to limit liability a personal guarantee may well be a big deal. It may, in fact, provide an easy means for a lawyer to pierce your LLC in a lawsuit. I am not a lawyer but I would recommend consulting one before giving a personal guarantee on a loan.

Multi-year tenants who pay the rent on time make your rental business much more profitable than changing tenants frequently. Do your tenants think you are a good landlord? What do you do to show them that you are?

Hot markets are hot until they're not.  Make sure you can feed this house every month and that you can afford a loss in case this speculation does not work out.

There is no such thing as standard terms.  The interest rate can be anything you agree on as can the duration of the loan.  Of course, you might agree that there is no prepayment penalty so that you could pay the loan off whenever it is convenient. 

If your friend is supplying money only you may not need a partnership at all.  Your friend can simply lend money to you (or your company) secured by a mortgage on the property.  You simply need to come up with terms and an interest rate which works for both of you.  Getting him out of the deal is then easy.  You simply pay off the loan and he releases his lien.

If you wish to entice people to cash you out early offer them a discount on the payoff if they close within a specified period of time.

Why would you call her? She made it very clear that she doesn't wish to sell and doesn't care for this method of marketing so even if she wished to sell she wouldn't sell to you. Do you enjoy antagonizing people? Just take her off your list and move on.

The program I use allows me the option of accepting partial payments or not.  I am not posting the name of the service as I am never sure what constitutes a violation of BP policy and will prompt the monitors to remove the post.  I will be happy to give you the name if you send me a pm, though I believe there are several rent collection programs that incorporate this feature.  No, I have no financial interest in the service I use.