All Forum Posts by: Randy E.

 Yes you did.  My message wasn't directed at you.

But to be fair, your first message doesn't really address the issue of whether she can prohibit firearms via her lease.  To my non-lawyer eyes, your quote seems to address the issue of overall gun ownership/possession, rather than how a lease might address the restriction of firearms by tenants.

Not trying to start an argument with you.  I, for one, am curious about this subject.  Not interested in debating NRA points with anyone.  Just honestly curious about how leases might be used to address the topic of guns in a rental property.

I don't know about NY, but in NC buyers are given a credit from the seller that covers the property taxes from the first of the year through the date of sale.  So, if the property taxes are $12000/yr (to use a number close to your example) that would work out to $1000/month -- if the sale occurred on April 1, the buyer would receive a credit for the first three months of taxes, which would be $3000.  The taxes aren't actually due until the end of the calendar year, but the buyer is given/credited that money at closing.

If you were that buyer, and you owned the house for five more months while you rehabbed it and sold it on September 1, you would then owe the new buyer a credit for $8000, which would cover the first three months of the year in which you did not own the house but were compensated for by the first seller, and the five months that you actually did own the house.  

In NC, that credit is deducted from the sale price during closing so you don't have to come out of your pocket with cash.

I want to stress that I am not a lawyer and I have no idea if NC real estate law approximates NY real estate law in this matter.

C'mon guys, lay off her.  Stern admonishments about the virtues of gun ownership are not pertinent to her original post.  What would be pertinent would be to provide some thoughtful and/or knowledgeable information regarding her specific question.  Save the pro-gun lobbying for another site. 

Cheers.

@Sarah Jones , geez, mention guns and watch the OT posts multiply.

On topic, I am not a lawyer, nor do I live in California.  But, I did find this:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-01/clas...

"Can landlord prohibit firearms on property?"

Understand, the article is from a Chicago newspaper, which is obviously not California.  Also, it is from two years ago and laws/statutes/etc may have changed since then. 

Still, it says private (as opposed to municipal/gov't) landlords CAN prohibit firearms, just as landlords prohibit pets, smoking, and many other things.

I don't place full trust in any web sites for comps ... but I check out rentometer.com to help me guage rents in the neighborhoods of my properties.  There is also at least one web site specific to my city that lists rents, though it's not as location comprehensive as I would like.  I've also called the numbers on rent signs near my houses to see what those landlords were charging.

Basically, the more rent resources you can use, the better you can guage what you should charge.

Looks like I made a good choice switching.  I did it mainly for cost (AMIG) is less than 25% of my previous policy) but it's nice to hear they handle their claims quickly and fairly.  Sounds like the best of both worlds.

Thanks for all the replies to @Tia Rubadeau's question everyone.

 Here's a Zillow map of houses for rent near Temple University:

http://www.zillow.com/temple-university-philadelph...

Looks like 3 BR houses/townhomes rent for $900-$1700.  4BRs go up to and over $2000, so if you could convert an extra room to a BR, you could potentially charge up to that amount.  Not knowing the exact address nor the exact shape it will be in after you have rehabbed it, it's hard to say exactly what price this place might command.  But, you know the address and can narrow the comps to your exact location.

Depending on the cost of rehab and the property taxes (is Philly a high prop tax state?) this looks like it might have potential to cash flow well enough.  But definitely see if you can get inside.  At the least, visit the property and look around as much as you can.

Good luck!

One fee I've heard of (but haven't experience firsthand, as I manage my own properties to date) is the New Tenant fee.  Some PMs charge as much as one month's rent to sign a new tenant to a lease.  When the day comes that I have more properties than I can self-manage, I'll be looking for a PM that doesn't have that particular fee.

I believe most states require new permanent residents to get a license in that state within a reasonable time.  I also believe many people might find it more convenient to wait until their current out-of-state license expires before enduring the fun and joy that is to be had at the Division Of Motor Vehicles.

If everything else checks out, it wouldn't raise a red flag for me.

Zech, check with your state and municipality landlord laws.  In NC, there is a cap on how much landlords can legally charge for a late fee.  That is 5% of the monthly rent.  So, even if a lease states a late fee of $10 per day, you couldn't legally collect more than 5% of the monthly rent as a late fee.

Also, in NC, a landlord cannot receive the full rent amount (minus the added late fee) but deduct the late fee from the rent amount and claim the full month's rent was not paid the following month and assess another late fee as a result.  Legally, all the landlord can do is allow the late fee to hang around until finally paid.  I guess a landlord could move to evict for unpaid fees (lease allowing, of course,) but in NC a single unpaid late fee cannot be used as a trigger for subsequent late fees.

I charge the entire 5% after the 5th of the month.  I don't see the need to string it out day by day.