All Forum Posts by: Rusty Scott

Would anyone lease to someone if they didn't meet the 3x income requirement, if there were valid life reasons and expectation that a new job would easily put the tenant well beyond the minimum? And if so, what would you ask for as additional security (much higher deposit, pre-paid rent, bank statements showing reserves, income tax returns, etc.....)?

This assumes that all other screens come up solid.

Plenty insurers write for knob and tube. Knob and tube by itself is not a safety hazard. It becomes one when people start modifying it. Just had a policy written by Allstate this week on one.

Every home inspector I've dealt with in Indiana makes you sign something basically stating they aren't liable for missing anything. Don't really think there is much recourse ever on home inspectors...that's why it's just important to find a good one. Realtors in the Ft Wayne Market should be able to point you to a good one.

Thanks @Jordan Thibodeau Do you like to put the full address in the ad, or just the general area?? Knowing that the house will still be vacant for the next 2-3 weeks?

Just curious what other investors do about advertising their SFH rentals. I'm closing on the property this week, and it will need some rehab work done prior to being shown/rented. I'm guessing it will be about 2 weeks before it's ready to go.

Should I go ahead and start running ads now? I don't really want to put the full address out there while the home is vacant, and can't really take interior shots yet...

Also, do you put your pre-qualification requirements (income, etc...) right in the online ad? Or wait until after they make contact? Seems putting it out there up front would save a lot of tire-kickers.

There is no single answer to this, just like any real estate question. It's 1000% different from one market to the next. I buy SFH because in my market because they are cheap and command higher rents...but more importantly to me, I have a reliable exit strategy from SFH in this market. Your resale market of a SFH vs MF is exponentially larger if you decide the property isn't working out as you expected. I've seen some of the nastiest baths taken by people on MFs, but pretty rare around here for SFH.

But where you are may be 180 degrees different. There's no right answer.

Hey everyone,

Here's my current siutation. Received the FNMA Addendum on the 16th of April, standard 10 day inspection period. The regular purchase contract stated that all utilites would be on to allow for inspection.

Scheduled inspection for April 21. That weekend was told by my buyer's agent that utilities had not been turned on, it would be sometime the following week. Went through that entire week, and nothing. My agent followed up several times and got the run-around. Finally went up the chain with the broker, and come to find out there was a delay in turning water on because it couldn't pass pressure test and they were waiting on repairs.

Finally get the green light on April 30th....14 days after offer accpetanace. Had insepction this morning.

There are some plumbing leaks still but not terribly concerned, but one of the leaks had long-term dripped into furnace and rusted out the unit and soaked the electornics. Inspector believes unit will need replaced.

Anybody have similar issues with FNMA not providing property for inspection during 10 day window? My thought is they violated contract on their end first, are they going to allow me to come back to negotiate reparis/cost reduction on the bad HVAC?

Also, have any of you had any luck with getting FNMA to do major item repairs on an inspection report?

Conventional lender, but out of state and a small loan that they will portfolio.

Any recommendations for an appraiser in Indianapolis area? My lender basically told me to find an appraiser I want to use for this new rental I'm purchasing. Have never had to pick one before, any referrals on BP??

Thanks!

So I have an accepted offer on what will be my third rental property. But this is the first I've purchased with the explicit plan to keep as a rental.

Background: The first rental was purchased back in 2006 and was intended to be a flip. Completed the rehab with that in mind, couldn't sell it, and converted it to a rental. It's been a solid rental over these last 7 years. 3 tenants over that time, and the most recent has been there 4+ years and I don't expect them to move anytime.

2nd rental was my own home that I kept as a rental. I did updates/rehabs on that home for myself, and have had the same renter there for 3 years now, and they also want to stay long-term.

This 3rd property is not far from the first one, it's an REO but really is in very solid condition and just needs some cosmetic work. My biggest question is how much do BPs members rehab their long term rentals? Obviously I plan to do some plaster repairs and paint the entire interior. The appliances are ancient and I'll replace those. Also do some updating in the bathroom.

The biggest questions for me is what how far to go in the 1) Kitchen and 2) refinishing the hardwood floors. Neither are what I would consider poor, I'd rate both average. The kitchen cabinets aren't laid out very great and they are dated, but they are solid wood, painted white, and certainly not a total eyesore. The sink and countertops are totally functional, just a bit dated and some loud/odd color (purple) for the countertops.

The hardwoods don't have any damage, but have a decent amount of wear. I refinished them in my 1st rental and they came out nice, but again that was when planning to flip. Not sure if it's really worth it or not.

On the other side, I love the good quality long-term tenants I've managed in my other 2 properties. They treat the homes like their own and even do their own updates and improvements (landscaping, painting, etc...) I'd love to land the same mentality tenant this time around, so maybe it's worth sinking a few extra $k's now?

Thoughts?