All Forum Posts by: Russ B.

I'd probably be more irritated with the PM than the tenant.. But I think you're probably sick with the bill unless the lease has a section about service calls. 

Lots of people are clueless about stuff like this, but I'd think a property manager should be able to figure out the most basic issues on at least the same level as an average homeowner?

On the other hand, I haven't actually worked with one myself, so maybe my expectations are off. 

I saw an article a while back about a blind girl that can't get taxi drivers to pick her up. They see a dog with a vest, assume it's yet another person who ordered one of those phony kits online, and keep driving.

As a landlord, a sometimes-renter, and someone with a family member that actually qualifies for an ESA (a real one with all the special training), it annoys me to no end to see people abusing the system like that. 

Those who actually need these accommodations tend to have severe anxiety / panic disorders. They aren't exactly the best equipped to deal with the stress of pulling out a doctor's note, knowing that it'll be viewed with instant suspicion, and I'm sure a lot of them just go without instead of dealing with that. 

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to commercial real estate in general (I've really only done residential stuff before), so I'm wondering if someone here might be able to make a suggestion, on who to reach out to for commercial financing?

My wife and I have a deal we've been working on for a couple years now, to take over a large daycare center. It's a long story, but we basically saved a very young business from dying in its first year, and took over the business side of management. It has been running strong for about two years now, and most of its startup debts are paid. 

A majority share in the business will transfer to us (per a contract that's literally as thick as a phone book - apologies in advance to anybody that has to review it... 😅) as soon as we meet the last condition - get the 190k debt on the building out of the outgoing owner's name. 

We would still have a couple years to do that before the balloon payment.. but there's a development of new condos about to open adjacent to our building, and we already have a waiting list a mile long. So, we are really interested in getting this refi / transfer done, so we can shift our focus to expanding. 

I'm not getting a whole lot of interest from regular lenders in financing this due to the low amount, and some that will go that small want all owners to have solid credit scores (my credit is excellent, but the remaining original partner went broke getting the place open, and still has poor credit as a result). 

I would really like to avoid having to do something like buy the building myself and rent it back, although I could if that was really the only option. I'm hoping we can keep it simpler than that - and avoid shifting the balance between the partners.

The business is doing very well, its gross revenue for 2019 will be more than double the note amount, and the LTV should easily be below 70%. Surely there must be some kind of lender out there somewhere that could do something with this?

Do they have more specifics on exactly what in the dryer got "burned up"?

While it's possible for a motor or an electronic power supply to get damaged by an undervoltage condition, the voltage would have to drop very low. How long a run of wire are we talking? Was it 14 gauge? It's hard to believe it could drop that much unless it was a very long run.

It's also possible that it lost one phase and that did something, but the dryer would have to be susceptible to it... Seems like kind of a stretch but might be possible.

An electrician is going to have no idea what happened to the dryer unless he took it apart and looked (and even then, he'd have to know a lot of stuff that's outside his field). He sees something that needs corrected, and a dead appliance, and assumes they're related. They may not be.

The "rent was lost in the mail" excuse is extremely common - and almost always is BS (although there are rare cases that it really does happen). The history of late payments is telling. Has this person been mailing you cash or something? It's kinda humorous that he expected you to just not get paid at all...  

This is one of the reasons why the various online rent-payment services are getting popular.

The non renewal / retaliation thing might be the angle this person is actually trying to play - if he knows he's about to get the boot, he could have filed a frivolous complaint in the hopes that things would somehow play out in his favor.

It doesn't sound like a problem that would be hard to fix (even if it should not have been your problem). If they just recently fixed some drips under the sinks, I bet that clears up lot of it.

Roaches are kinda tough to get rid of.. But moving again doesn't sound that easy either!

For ants, those liquid ant baits are really effective.

Sounds like you're on the right track.. You just have to (like you said) keep moving - look for properties, set up showings, try to find one that works.

You can also get a realtor looking for properties for you. Not everything they'll send you will be what you want / there can be a lot of uninteresting ones mixed in, but a realtor should be able to send you listings all day, that are more or less related to what you asked for.

Edit: We must have been typing at the same time! But, it sounds like you're on the right track.

(again, not a lawyer, and I live in a different state)

If it's some "certificate" they purchased online, it's meaningless. Maybe Google the place that supposedly issued it.. I bet you get advertisements about how they can help get your pet in places. What they need is a note from a licensed medical / mental health professional (who is actually treating them), dated within the past year, attesting that one of them has a disability that the dog helps with.

I hate to add another "lawyer" reply, but it's advisable. Check with a lawyer, make sure you're protected, then offer their money back and advise them that it will be a waste of their time to continue unpacking. I am 100% sure that you don't want these guys staying.

The law requires that you give due consideration to a reasonable request for accommodation - it doesn't say they get to sneak in a dog and then inform you that they have accommodated themselves.

Just a heads up.. I'm not a lawyer, but I'd be a little concerned that this post (expressing a preference on a tenant's age or gender) could put you at risk for a fair housing claim.