All Forum Posts by: Randy Gutierrez

Tough lessons to be learned here unfortunately. Definitely don't gloss over the capital expenses such as foundation, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and roof. If there is even a mention of these issues just assume the worst because the mere fact that they are even being mentioned should be a red flag. If the ARV is 190k, to me it seems there is still a lot of meat left on this bone. Running my Home Flipping calculator (DealCheck) with the information you provided 110k PP, 190k ARV, 55k rehab (financed) you can walk away breaking pretty much even. Not ideal especially given the overall market conditions but at least you can reset if it pans out. HELOC, Private money from friends/families, or even a personal loan can help you acquire the needed capital. Also not ideal but the sale proceeds will cover the original loan amount and the rehab loan. Definitely try to unload the property first with a wholesaler or agent prior to going this route.

Can you potentially flip it? What's the ARV for the area? Start networking with wholesalers in the area and reach out to every investor friendly real estate agent in the area to get you a potential buyer.

Why weren't these issues found during the inspection?

Yes, you have the ability to make more money. Just make sure to add a pet addendum in your lease. You can also use petscreening.com for an added peace of mind. Be sure to know the difference between pet deposit, pet fee and pet rent within your state. They are used interchangeably a lot and mean three different things. In Pennsylvania, pet deposits are prohibited, so instead a pet fee is used which is non-refundable.

@David Ribardo runs a property management company in the area, reach out to him!

I typically do a pre-screening and not make the application link publicly available, you will get bombarded with bad applications. Sites such as Zillow allow prospective tenants to apply as much as they want within a 30 day period for a fixed price, so they essentially have nothing to lose by applying limitlessly. I let them reach out via message and ask them directly if they meet requirement x, y, and z- this is usually just a copy and paste. If they do I then send them a link to apply. This will help you hone in on potential good applicants and cuts down the bad ones significantly. You will sort through less useless applications which in turn saves you time and makes your screening more efficient.

I agree that tenant screening is probably one of the most important aspects of real estate and there is definitely an art to it. A tenant can make or break your investment within a property. Good tenants will seldom reach out to you and most issues, typically nuisances, they will just fix on their own. In a portfolio you can have just one bad tenant that is responsible for 90% of the issues within your portfolio.

Since you mentioned it is a Class A property, this is 100% a pass. Do not put a Class C tenant in a Class A property. You are looking for a tenant where it is not even debatable. 

In the lower class properties you obviously have to lower the requirements and at times one has to look at the things collectively. There is definitely more to debate as it will be very rare for tenants to hit all requirements out of the park. 

Hey everyone,

Purchased a SFH where the bathroom has a shower/whirlpool combo instead of your typical shower/tub. We are in the middle of rehabbing the property and wondering if for liability reasons we should remove it completely and put in a standard tub? Not familiar with whirlpools but it seems to me that they can potentially leak from more places and the entry height is about double that of a typical tub measuring 24". The previous owner (owner occupied) had a handle suctioned to the shower wall to enter it safely. My obvious concern is a tenant slipping, tripping, or falling as a result of the whirlpool height as this will be used as a long term rental. The whirlpool is technically legal and up to code.

Ideally we like to leave it in place and see if there is way we can make it safer as this option hardly requires any capital. Replacing the whirlpool and framing it to fit a tub wouldn't be ideal since it would cost a good chunk of change and won't exactly bring a whole ton of value, especially it being a Class C-/D neighborhood. Curious to hear your thoughts! Thank you in advance

Hey everyone,

Purchased a SFH where the bathroom has a shower/whirlpool combo instead of your typical shower/tub. We are in the middle of rehabbing the property and wondering if for liability reasons we should remove it completely and put in a standard tub? Not familiar with whirlpools but it seems to me that they can potentially leak from more places and the entry height is about double that of a typical tub measuring 24". The previous owner (owner occupied) had a handle suctioned to the shower wall to enter it safely. My obvious concern is a tenant slipping, tripping, or falling as a result of the whirlpool height as this will be used as a long term rental. The whirlpool is technically legal and up to code.

Ideally we like to leave it in place and see if there is way we can make it safer as this option hardly requires any capital. Replacing the whirlpool and framing it to fit a tub wouldn't be ideal since it would cost a good chunk of change and won't exactly bring a whole ton of value, especially it being a Class C-/D neighborhood. Curious to hear your thoughts! Thank you in advance

Seems pretty straight forward and typical to me. Yes, long term tenants will most likely mean an outdated unit but on the flip side that gives you an opportunity to add value to the property. Low maintenance just appears to be sales jargon, MF's tend to have a bit more maintenance than SFH's. As previously mentioned, look at the big ticket items, it's possible these haven't been updated in a while. Also do your due diligence on the "45%" figure, agents at times can inflate numbers to make it look like a more lucrative deal.