All Forum Posts by: Robert Melcher

Also, "normal wear and tear" is based on depreciation over the life of the item.  If you just painted before they moved in, and they stayed one year, a reasonable "wear and tear" is one sixth of the paint cost.  The remaining cost of the paint would be their responsibility because they ruined the remaining five years expected life.  Walls are for holding up the ceiling, not for touching, scribbling, knocking holes in, etc.  Same for carpets.  Life expectancy should be 6 years.

One word:  Inspect.

If you do TK, get an option and pay the fee (typically $100) and during the option period (10 days?) have the property inspected by a reputable state-licensed inspector ($300 or so), and don't be afraid to walk away.  I have a great guy in San Antonio, and the seller's agents all hate him...

I don't use the services but they are easy enough to find on the web. I put "Eviction Services" into Google and came up with a dozen just now.

Also, you may not be able to collect but, you can do JP court for the rent and complete the eviction.

Per TX Property Code, you can also sue in small claims for damages and three times unpaid rent for the last month, if they expected the deposit to pay for the last month (egregious default).

The eviction shows up whenever they are back-grounded for a job, rental application, home purchase, etc.  

I've had many come back a year later to clear the judgement so they can get a new place, for which I require the account to be paid, plus $50 for writing the court.

Welcome to BP!  I'm in San Antonio, and we have an office in Austin as well, so there's coverage from Georgetown all the way to west San Antonio on the Medina County line.  Maybe I can help with these.

I spent a week in Hawaii last November, Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the big Island.  Sheesh!  Prices are like Silicon Valley!  Good luck!

There are services you can contract for evictions, inspections, and serving hard-copy notices for a reasonable fee.  Texas Property Code section 92 is many pages but it tells you everything you need to know about your obligations and powers under the law.  It's great if you're sleepy, but veeeeery necessary.

It helps to be clear, so let me be blunt: you are offering manpower and general contracting for an opertunity to partner with an investor, for a negotiated percentage of a partnership.  If I'm wrong, I apologize.  This is a great forum to find like-minded people with the other half of your equation for success.

Be sure of your position and value as a partner and talk to as many investors as you can.  You'll find one.

If it smells, walk away.  Take your money and leave.

Welcome Rim!  Corpus is my next target.  A place far the sailboat, when I can get one.

Good luck!

For me it was prepping (bulletproofing) my home while I found and made an offer on a new residence. I bought the second and the first became my first rental.  I prefer to live in them and do the work myself while keeping my day job.

Its slower than hard money/contractor approach but I'm not doing fix and flip.  I'm doing buy and hold and I'm currently on my 4th in 10 years.

There are no surprises, the houses are fully ready when I move up, and there's sweat equity and appreciation in each of them.  I haven't put the equity to use yet, but at this stage in my life 30-year fixed at the low rates I secured makes more sense than anything with a balloon an refi-requirement.

It seems you might be looking for a reason to agree with them.

I'd say the house was rented AS-IS and leave it there.

I learned my lesson doing "nice things" in the hope the house would sell to residents, but this list got longer before their intent became clear.  They couldn't qualify and I burned several year's worth of cash flow on unnecessary improvements.