All Forum Posts by: Peter M.

@Pratish SHah You need to ask a CPA but my gut says no because you are making the trip before the tenant moves in.

@Albert H Shin Looks like press board which is just sawdust and wood chips glued into a cheap "board". Like MDF but crappier. Its garbage and worthless when it gets wet.

As for Airbnb vs rental, it's way more upfront cost and work with bookings and cleaning for Airbnb. Unless it's a place with high quality finishes or a great vacation destination long term is just less hassle. Just my opinion but I have both. PM companies that do STR usually charge about 30% where as regular PM is 8-10% so that should give you a good idea of the extra work needed for short term stuff

@Christopher Wall I'll probably be in the minority but I like longer leases because turnover is your biggest expense. Eviction really isnt much different regardless of lease length. Just do regular inspections

@Samantha P. Wow this is a tough situation and you are going to look like the bad guy here but you have to file. The court may not let you evict because of the situation and because you are in a tenant friendlier state but the longer you wait the longer it's going to take. Try to contact the son and work out an agreement and document it, then if they dont pay you file. At minimum that way you will be able to tell the judge you were sympathetic to the situation and you tried. Good luck

@Luis Rodriguez To answer your question, no you dont have to let them have it. Security cameras are not a protected class and even if they were HUD rules dont apply if you own and live there. Now that being said, I would let them have it unless this is a hill you want to die on. The problem is if it isnt in your lease now, there is the possibility they could win in court (well regardless if it's in the lease, a judge could rule against you). But I would tell them no, but let them out of their lease if they are going to make a stink about it then add it into your lease before the next tenant. I modify my lease all the time because tenants are constantly teaching me new ways people can damage property :-)

@James De Stefano Find out who owns the street and hound them. It may be the city, or HOA, or county, or you may own it. This happened to me in DFW. The alley was on my property with an easement for the alley. City refused to fix it because it was my property then code enforcement started citing me for it so I had to repair it out of pocket. Probably not the case in this situation so just buy flood insurance. If its 500 year, shouldnt be that expensive.

@Sean Witherspoon Looks like the washing machine or dishwasher drain line backed up and the soapy water pushed back into the house. Should have come up from the tub before the toilet though. Plumber might be able to find a smoking gun when he snakes the line but otherwise it might be hard to prove tenant caused it and you'll just have to eat the repair cost. Plumbing gets expensive quick though. Good luck

@Latisha Grady

In the past I used Zillow which was great but havent tried since they started charging. It has always produced the highest quality leads which is why they wised up and started charging. I used facebook recently and was shocked at the responses (300+ in the first couple days) but found that very few were serious. But I did get a couple leases from it without doing the paid ads. And you can use it to some degree for screening i.e. no pets but their profile pic is them and 3 dogs...

Apartments.com and cozy were duds. I stopped doing signs a long time ago because it is just tire kickers in nearby apartments.

@Jonathan Pantages

You are probably too late for July 1 since the letter wouldnt go out until Monday but technically it is 30 days. I would send them a letter saying August 1, rent will be increasing to $xx/mo(market rent). If you want another year lease then put that in the letter. There is also nothing that that says they cant stay on a month to month. Just be aware in California you can't keep jacking it up each month since they recently passed statewide rent control not to mention it's a scummy thing to do. In the letter tell them they have 5 business days to agree, if they dont, send them a letter saying you are terminating the lease and they have 30 days to be out. Also remember, with Covid right now, everything is different so you might not be able to evict them if they dont leave voluntarily. You have to weigh that before you go messing with the status quo.

@Mallika Akkala

If you want a traditional loan you would have to go the route you are mentioning. One thing to note is don't use a quit claim deed. It's the worst type. It will depend on the state but a general or special warranty deed is much better and you wont have the title headaches when you go to sell.

If you get a commercial loan you can title it into the LLC but the note will be personally guaranteed and the interest rate will be higher. Go with the first option and as long as the payments get made, the bank won't call the note.