All Forum Posts by: Richard C.

 No.  There is no legal argument to be made there.  The state can offer whatever legal protections it likes in return for whatever filing fee it likes.

Think about it from the other side. You're injured due to the provable neglegance of your landlord. Would you be OK with it if he could say, "Hey, I paid $300 and filed for an LLC, so I can be as negligent as I like! Sucks to be you!"

I don't think you would be OK with that.

You're attempting to conflate two issues.

1.  The utilities not being on is one thing.  As noted, that in theory is OK.

2.  The bathrooms not being functional, EVEN IF the utilities are on (as by not having toilets and having broken water supply lines) is something very different.

You asked the lender about #1 and were told it was not a problem.  You don't have grounds to be upset that they won't make the loan now that the issue is #2, something they weren't asked about.

A better headline for your post would have been, "Home must have toilets for Fannie Mae to back loan?"  

Your best bet it so do as David suggests above, and ask for a portfolio loan. Almost all small banks and credit unions offer them, as well as many larger banks. It will probably be a 3/1 ARM.

This comes up from time to time.  Despite massive piles of research, backed by real-world experience, that positive reinforcement is more effective than negative reinforcement, the vast, overwhelming number of landlords will only entertain negative reinforcement techniques.  I expect that is the response you will get from this thread.

Hi Jonathon,

We have talked appliances before!

I don't think this is really a Cafe vs Profile issue.  Both are a step above the standard grade, neither is in the luxury class.  I don't see one adding a lot of value compared to the other.

But your linked examples aren't just in different ranges, they are different styles.  Is a french door fridge going to be more attractive to a lot of buyers than a side-by-side?  Yes, absolutely.  You are comparing a Cafe french door fridge to a Profile side-by-side.  But they have a Profile french door fridge as well.

So it is important to compare apples-to-apples.  But if you do that, I doubt the range will make much difference.

Good tenants are gold.  Gold that is derived from good applicants.  Way too often, I am seeing advice on these forums that, if followed, will result in landlords losing some of their strongest applicants.

Probably the best known example, and one discussed on here frequently, is in setting the rent.  Not uncommonly, you will see people thinking that by setting the rent high compared to the market, they will get better tenants.  Fortunately, there are experienced people here who will correct that thinking.  The only people who will willingly pay over market rent are those people who don't have a lot of choices, those who know that there is some weakness in their application.  Setting the rent over market results in a worse applicant pool, not a better one.

That advice is pretty common on BP.  But people generally fail to extend the logic in obvious directions.

Just as people won't PAY more unless they have to, people won't PUT UP with more unless they have to.  You need to keep that in mind when deciding how onerous to make your application process.  There have been recent threads suggesting surprise visits to the applicants current home, and in-person visits to their listed place of employment.  When I was a tenant, I would never have accepted this.  I didn't have to; I was an excellent prospect with a good job, good credit, and a solid history.  The only people who will put up with an onerous process are those who HAVE TO, because they don't have any choices.

Just something to keep in mind.

You would need a very small grouping of houses, with some clear definition/divide from surrounding blighted areas, and some sort of draw.  Riverfront, transport link, something.

And the buildings themselves would need to be both interesting and not too large.  Families aren't going to move in as long as the schools are awful, so you would be targeting young professionals.

Silestone comes in different price levels just like granite. The cheapest grade is about the price of the second-cheapest grade of granite, and so on up the line.

You can get cabinets and look at counters at Home Depot, but do not actually buy the counters there. Shop around.

White cabinets are just fine in a rental. I installed white cabinets, shaker style, from Home Depot. Sort of their mid-range. And silestone quartz counters, which are a little more expensive than granite but virtually indestructible and require no annual sealing and buffing.

$15 an hour is a construction laborer rate, not a finish carpentry rate, even in New Hampshire, never mind San Diego. I think you will need to adjust your expectations.

That said, $1200 is too high. I would have expected to pay half that.

So, this is likely to sound harsh.  It is not meant this way.

If I were the seller, and that offer was presented to me, I would laugh out loud, and instruct my realtor to accept no more offers from you.

You want owner-financing, a very low down-payment, terms very positive to you, AND a very significant discount.

Nice if you can get it, I suppose, but what reason do you have for thinking that the seller would accept?  How long has it been on the market?  Do you have rock-solid comps that indicate that the list price is way too high?