All Forum Posts by: Ronald Perich

I am with Greg S on this one (wish Android would work with the @ symbol). I have no problem with trying to figure out a solution that works for everyone, but my experience tells me that you will end up with a new resident sooner or later. 

And are you doing this current tenant a favor by constantly stressing her out with this possibility and that possibility? She's already in a very tough spot and the continual back and forth between you will just add to it IMHO.

Give her everything you can to help, but don't delay the inevitable. It adds to your stress levels and theirs.

@Nicholas Misch, it's a great book that is well worth the funds. If anything, it gives you an idea of how much you'll pay for turnover costs and the like.

This is the challenge of buying a distressed asset. And poor bookkeeping makes it a distressed sale. In my opinion, it's buyer beware. 

Let's pretend for a second that you were just buying a SFH from an inheritance. You wouldn't have any P&L from the previous two years. You wouldn't have past leases to review. You have to do your best due diligence on expected repairs and CapEx.

Since they are rentals, any and all existing leases must be reviewed along with all ongoing service agreements. But never trust the numbers they are giving to you anyway. 

It's only a letter of intent, which really isn't a legally binding contract unless it's made to look that way. A LOI should be nothing more than a formal way of expressing your opening statement in the negotiation process.

Once you have settled on terms, then you enter into a contract to buy and that's when you can put deadlines on certain things. My concern with adding in a lot of legalese to an LOI is you could accidentally make it a binding contract.

@Logan Allec, I credit you for caring about the well-being of your residents. You should be glad that this caused you to pause for a moment.

Unfortunately, you cannot make the problems of others your problems. Serve the three-day notice. The court systems will work this out, and people in these situations will often find a friend or family member to stay with when push comes to shove. And an eviction is going to take you time anyway.

I also have to ask if you are running a business or a charity? Most likely a business. 

There are others who are in the charity space and will help out this mother and child. If you don't yet have a list of organizations in the area who can help folks with their housing needs, I suggest you put together that list and give it to the mom. What she chooses to do with it is up to her.

But don't make it your responsibility to fix her problems. You'll drive yourself crazy if you do this every time someone has a reason for not paying on time.

My title company takes care of all of this and it should be determined on the HUD-1. The only thing you are responsible for is the HUD-1. You should not be receiving anything directly from the previous owner after the closing.

It's critical that you review the HUD-1 for accuracy. If it wasn't spelled out in the closing statement, then you may not have any recourse but small claims. I agree with others that anything purchased before the closing date is not your responsibility.

I did have one issue with a property I closed on where an existing resident had moved out the day before closing. (Note to self: Never close on the end of the month if you can avoid it) So that lease, and the deposit, wasn't included on the HUD-1 settlement. But I had established enough of a relationship with the previous owner that they sent me the deposit separately and asked me to return the deposit. It worked out for everybody.

Lots of them. Cozy, rentapplication.net, and ISC all have the ability to do this. If you use Podio, you can create an Application App and give your prospect a link that allows them to fill it in directly, but you won't be able to collect the fee without finding some kind of plugin.

It does add a small amount of extra work. Cozy dies not have a great interface for seeing payment info all in one place. It would be nice to have everything integrated in Rented, and I will likely go that way when we get our assistant on board. The simple way is often a better way for most of this.  

I've cobbled together a bunch of different services to make our property management easier, and Rentec Direct is one of them. I like Rentec just fine and i does what I need.

But it is not flashy by any means. The user interface is clunky, the property advertisement page is very basic, and the ability to do "unique" things is tough.

Some of the other services I use are Podio, ISC (for resident screening), Cozy for electronic payments, and rentalapplication.net for online applications (as it was free, but soon to charge). 

For one property, Rentec should be more than adequate. 

I've tried to rent in December... Tough. Very tough. 

My biggest concern is not with the renting in December. It's with the fact she has several other people living in your property. That's a clear violation of the lease (I would assume) and I'd make it perfectly clear to her (with a proper notice) that they need to go.

I don't know Michigan law, and I don't know the judges in your county. But there are some jurisdictions and some judges who won't allow you to evict during the winter months. 

Sorry, but I think this relationship has run its course.

You get what you pay for with this type of flooring. Most of the thicker stuff will not telegraph imperfections with the flooring below. I put Crown Lake down (5.5mm) right over some rolled vinyl flooring that had chipped up. You couldn't even tell where those chips were after installation. We ran right from the kitchen (with rolled vinyl) into the living space (with just a subfloor) and the threshold dip is not noticeable to the eye (but you can feel it if you stand on the threshold area). Spend the extra money for a quality product. It will last longer and show less.