All Forum Posts by: Richard Balsam

Welcome to BP! Having moved away from Boca, Coral Springs, & Parkland 17 years ago- I've had the opportunity to work there as a residential agent, a franchise consultant, and business broker - back in the late 80's-early 90's. I'm sure you'll find lots of opportunities down there.  It's a bit different than RE up north! Even different than my market in Atlanta. Good luck!

Anybody going after the "seller"? Sounds like check fraud at a minimum - if cashing a check payable to her husband or other. More like fraud - as in stealing. Good thing you opted for title insurance at closing. I know of many investors that take chances to save a few hundred dollars. 

I've had many evictions - and one that was pretty serious. Had four Sheriff officers ( one was the top Sherrif for evictions for Gwinnett County). Had hands on their guns, and the spread out across the front yard - like what you would see in a movie. Knocked on the door- took 2-3 tries, and the son opened the door. The one Sheriff at the door literally grabbed him by his shirt and placed in on the sidewalk outside the front door and he stepped inside. 30 seconds later, saw four adults leave the house - nothing was packed - after 5 months of hell from these people. Took 7 guys ALL DAY LONG - forget the 1.5 hour limit - two Sherriff officers stayed all 7 hours. They were also pack rats- the basement took the longest - completely full. The yard and long driveway wasn't big enough - items were placed on the sidewalk and side of the house! I took pictures during this event- knowing this was one for the record books.

This was a special case though- even the judge OK'd the eviction that morning told them to remain until they are removed completely. Case involved someone clogging three courts with garbage - (Magistrate court 3 times, Federal court, and bankruptcy court). They claimed I violated their amendments ( they chose 2-3 of them), multiple acronym statute violations I've never heard of - (my lawyer even said they contradicted themselves too!) even though they haven't paid anything for 8-9 months at that point. Took that long to get them out. I believe I've seen almost every kind of eviction by now. Most will never get to this point! 

If it didn't cost me so much - I would have almost felt sorry for them - but after the garbage I had to go through - and knowing that Karma will eventually get the best of them - I really didn't care any longer - I was numb after the ordeal. But...after a ton of cleanup- found a great family that wants to buy the home soon. So- it ended well!

You need to continue searching for tenants meeting the 3x rule- or you will be asking us for eviction rules next! I'm serious...

What I did in the past that I will no longer do regarding tenants (please pay attention): 

Drop my requirement of mid-high 500's credit score to accommodate these nice people that met me at the house. They "almost" make it...a 500 and 525 score. So- I bent the rules - multiple times for multiple houses. Try and guess who is still in those houses. Hint: none of them. All evicted. All played the fuzzy math game of almost paying on time, a few bounced checks here and there, a missed half month payment (since they couldn't quite pay in full each month, after a few months in the house), and my the favorite excuse: "I just switched jobs - first check arrives in two weeks"... after being behind for the past month.

Unfortunately, I made my mistakes and had to learn from them, once I figured out the pattern. Here on BP- you find out immediately from those that can tell you the truth - they lived through it. It's really not that difficult to find tenants. It is your job to filter them down. A good tenant will make your life much easier - a poor one, makes your life difficult. 

One more piece of advise: Watch out for those renters that must move by the end of the week. Usually leases run monthly, (even those that are month-to-month) and they should wait until their lease ends (or close to it) before moving. If they are available to rent now- why? Don't they know when their lease expires? Or...maybe they were evicted for non payment and need a roof asap. I always listen for the phrase "I can move at the end of my lease in ___ weeks" - it gives me more faith in selecting them as tenants. 

Also - they will give you the name of their landlord - double check this. Many times - it's a friend, uncle, or someone else pretending to be their landlord. Ask me how I know! Good luck.

@Matt Sicignano

You are correct that the sheriff will give the occupants a few minutes to gather their immediate property- such as jewelry, computers, etc - while the Sheriff is waiting on the doorstep for all occupants to leave the premises. I have never seen, or have had any eviction where after this few minute period, the "owner of possession" is allowed anywhere on the property while the personal belongings are removed from the house. In fact- the Sheriff will tell you to remain off the property and tell you when you are allowed to step foot onto the property. 

I have had too many evictions to count in Gwinnett county - always the same procedure. I must wait on the sidewalk -until all belongings are removed, and the Sheriff does another quick search to make sure all belongings are outside, signs off on this removal, and then instructs me ( or anybody else) to have complete access to the house - where I can change the locks, etc..

The reason for the "professional" eviction company is for expediency...the county is usually weeks behind to witness the eviction. You can certainly have 5-6 guys ready for the day they tell you they can oversee the eviction. But - an eviction company that has a sheriff witnessing their crew doing the eviction usually has a 1-2 week backlog - and does the removal and discarding (if you want) all in one easy job, and invoice. Otherwise - a 30 yard dumpster is needed, and someone to help you toss out everything after the 24 hour wait period. I've done too many dumpsters in the past- and now just pay them to do the task - more expensive this way, but much easier on my time.

You must have enough people to do the trashout to completely empty a house within 90 minutes. This is defined as 5-6 guys in the law- but you may need more if nothing is removed and they are a packrat. Do not second guess the law here in Georgia. The laws are landlord friendly- until you don't follow the law.

There have been cases where the evicted tenant sues the landlord up to the maximum allowed under small claims court. Here it is $15K. Want to pretend they won't do it? Just do as you wish- and don't have 5-6 guys there with the Sheriff signing off on the trashout. 

Remember...Georgia separates "possession" from "title" in the property. You are looking for possession of the property with the eviction. When the Sheriff signs off, the county is giving you possession back-  although most wait 24 hours before throwing out anything. They have every right under the law to sue based on you not following the law- and they can claim they had $15K in cash, diamond ring etc - missing due to your money saving trashout - done improperly                ( remember that "possession" thing just mentioned?). The judge must rule - the poor evicted tenant with possession of his property vs the "rich" landlord - that didn't follow the law...neither have proof of what was missing - and judge must rule...I wouldn't take that bet... I've heard stories from criers at the courthouse steps regarding this.

Yes...there are many times I hire an eviction crew and there is nothing in the house. I have to pay them $250 to stand around and leave once the Sheriff walks through the house and signs off that the eviction was done correctly. Then...you are allowed to step onto the property and change the locks. 

It costs real money to follow the law - even if it seems unfair. I'm in the middle of two foreclosures from owner financed homes. One has to be disclosed 30 days before we advertise the home going to auction (another 30 days)- meaning- he is allowed a minimum of 60-90 days staying in the house free - plus the months he didn't pay - think your eviction is expensive?!!!!!!! The law is the law. I find out unusual things all the time.

Every time you accept a payment - it starts over. If you file a writ and the tenant pays you a partial payment and you accept it- start over. This is a game to them. They know to wait the full 7 days before answering your writ - and they contest the eviction, and a court date is set 1-2 weeks away. Then, they will bring up that you didn't accept their payment - now- you are on the defensive to the judge. You just show the court a repeated late - or missing payments to prove your case. Assuming you win ( and you most likely will) - they get 7 more days to move out. Of course- that means they just don't do it - you have to pick up your judge signed writ of possession and hire an eviction company to toss them out. The eviction company is running 1-2 weeks out on a good month. So...add up the weeks. Easily a month later - without payments.

I can't tell you how many times this has played out with me. I can easily write a book on what goes wrong - and how to fix it. No guru will tell you the problems with tenants. It is just somehow written into the everyday common law that landlords will have to pay mortgages while tossing out a deadbeat - while they   play the system in the meantime. Most of my evictions owe 3 months by the time I get them out. Some owe more...my bad.

Foreclosures can easily run 60-90 days - most do. The funny thing is...Georgia is a pro landlord and bank state. Only four weeks of advertising - if you catch the calendar on the right week to begin the process. Most - either just miss the four week running requirement so it falls into the next month - another 3-4 weeks to wait. I'm in the process of two foreclosures - one hasn't paid us for months. But...he has a military background - 30 days notice. Wait...his interest rate is 9.75% from 5 years ago. Georgia considers this a high interest rate loan - another 30 days waiting period before foreclosure can occur. Absolutely no logic here. Bottom line - evictions and foreclosures, although very fast - usually take an extra month or two longer than expected. It will happen- just lick your wounds and try again. Usually the deposits I receive more than compensate for the previous deadbeat + some repairs.

It's part of AtlReia - run by one of its members. I was planning on going to their meeting tonight for the first time. But I have to pass... 

Since this is your first Georgia deal -I would be cautious. Decatur is one of those towns where a part of the town is doing incredibly well- especially near the hot areas of Atlanta ( but Atlanta has tons of bad areas too- like all big cities). But...there are parts of Decatur where I will not buy in - or visit at night. Depends where the house is of course.

Now for the details: Georgia uses real estate attorneys-forget the above comment that title companies will send you the paperwork - good luck with that here...they don't exist. Secondly - and extremely important: Most attorneys - and I do mean most - will not allow "rolling" the sale  (meaning wholesaling the home) to someone else in a double closing - without you purchasing the home first. 

That means cash at closing - your cash, transactional funding, a rich uncle - someone to help you own the home for an hour - assuming your buyer is in the waiting room set to close. Yes- this is opposite of every guru, book or course you hear about. I've tried too many times and spoke to easily 7-8 attorneys in my area - nobody near me will do the A-B, B-C close with only the end buyer's cash in escrow.  The have all said the same thing: they will not risk the reputation of their firm for a quick sale. They have told me double closings are fine - but cash from each side or they will not close the transaction- and to go find another attorney that will.  That's enough for me to take their advise.

The immediate answer is call Halpern Lyman (an attorney in Atlanta) - that claims to allow this type of double closing - at a slightly higher fee. If they still allow this closing ( I do not use them) - they will be one of the few. Maybe someone else will chime in with another attorney that allows this- but I have not found any. 

@Derrick Lu, @Andy Sturm - Right now- I am using one of their offices in Kennesaw -even though I am in Alpharetta. The office near me is having staffing problems - even though their southeast corporate office is in Alpharetta ( I've been there to pay a bill once). Tim Miller is in the Country Financial Kennesaw office. BP won't allow phone numbers to be posted. Tim is a great guy- spoke to him a few times, and we met once. He does know his stuff. You can mention that I gave you his name. He may or may not remember me- (I spoke with him regarding my roof issue a few moths ago).