All Forum Posts by: Jennifer T.

You can have an elevation survey done on your property.  They cost around $250-$400 where I live.  But it will generally only help you if the property is higher than the lowest points for the area you are in.

For example, my personal duplex is raised about 2.5' off the ground.  But there was no current elevation certificate for the property when I bought it, so I had to pay the "standard" rate for the area, which was around $1800/year.

I paid to have an elevation survey done and get a fresh certificate.  Being that it is a raised house, it was pretty much a slam dunk that I'd be better off.  But I was shocked by the difference!  My flood insurance went down by over 65%.

That's great!  I always try to buy properties for a good value.  So I feel validated when my appraisals prove me right, lol.

For right now, there probably isn't much you can do with that, other than give yourself a pat on the back.  Down the road, you can do a cash-out refi to pull some of the equity out.  But you usually have to have owned a property for at least 6-12 months to do that, depending on the lender.  In addition, you can typically only pull out 70-75% of the equity value.

I'm going to make up numbers to show you what I mean.  Let's say a year from now, the house is valued at $250K.  Your loan balance is $150K.  $250-$150=$100.  So you have $100K in equity in the house.  You can now do a cash-out refi to get $70K-$75K back into your pocket to potentially use as a down payment elsewhere.  However, keep in mind, you also just made your total loan a larger amount for that property, so the mortgage payment will typically be higher also.

Maybe the extra $35K in appraisal value is nowhere near putting you over the top for a worthwhile cash-out refi?  That's okay, too.  With time, you'll be paying the loan down and hopefully have more appreciation, both/either will be adding more equity to the property.  Now that "bonus" $35K value puts you that much closer to the cash-out refi threshold. 

FWIW, I've had two S8 tenants at two different properties and they paid all their own utility bills. Including water and sewerage. However, one of those rentals was a SFH and the other was a duplex, but each unit of the duplex had it's own meters for both water and electricity.

At any rate, unfortunately, if they are still within their lease period, you may not be able to make any changes until the end of the lease.  But might as well get the ball rolling now.  I know where I live, I have to request a rent increase for S8 a good 3-4 months ahead of time.  I assume it would be the same/similar thing to making a change to the lease where the tenants would be responsible for their own utilities.

To add on to @Account Closed's post.  I had a tenant who was in Tulane's medial school.  I know when he initially rented from me, he emphasized he wanted to stay for all four years.  We still had a one-year lease, but I think he just verbally wanted to make sure I wasn't selling the house anytime soon.  He moved in with his girlfriend and they were great tenants.  Unfortunately, they broke up and gave me a 30-day notice they wouldn't be renewing the lease because of that.  He couldn't afford the place on his own and didn't want to get a roommate.  To give them credit, I don't know when they broke up.  But they still upheld their one-year lease and stayed for the duration!  Whatever they did, they worked it out amongst themselves.

It's fun that the proverbial $5 cup of coffeehouse coffee has become the symbol for wasteful spending in just about every financial article ever.  However, as some of you pointed out, it can make a good point that people who are mindful enough of their spending to not spend an unnecessary $X/day.  Are the same positive habits they are more likely to employ for the bigger decisions that matter even more.

I haven't always been great with my personal finances.  But I was also never terrible.  However, I did make two life-changing decisions that set me up for a better financial future.  I think long/medium range plans for the future are another key to financial success.

1) I was born in, grew up, and went to college (and graduated) in Southern CA.  After I graduated, I faced two choices.  I could stay in the familiar place with the culture I knew and where all my friends and family were.  But had an insanely HCOL and I'd probably have to have a roommate until I was 30, lol.  Maybe never be able to buy a house.  I was also young and in a new chapter in my life anyway.  So why not move to a lower COL area?  And that was exactly what I did.  I moved to New Orleans 20 years ago.  The wages aren't as high here, but the cheaper housing way more than makes up for it.  I was able to comfortably afford my own apartment from Day One, even as a fresh college graduate.

I often hear people giving the excuse that they live in a HCOL area and that is why their finances are so difficult.  My first question is, what is stopping you from moving to a lower COL area?  The reaction is often like I suggested they murder a puppy.  And I'm certainly not saying there aren't a lot of good reasons for people to stay where they are.  But I think there are also a lot of people who never get past that knee jerk reaction.  When, it at least deserves some thought.  Which leads me to point 2...

2) With lower housing costs and lower property prices, I started with not just buying my first house, but being able to buy enough of a first home that it is a duplex.  I sacrificed my own comfort to do that.  I could have bought a bigger, nicer house if it was just for me.  But collecting rent that covered my whole mortgage PLUS a few hundred extra was well worth the sacrifice.  However, that is a different mindset to see past the initial sacrifice and "scariness" of being a first-time landlady. 

And back to the proverbial $5 cup of coffee.  Do I buy those on occasion?  Yes.  Do I buy those regularly?  No.  Could I buy those regularly and hardly notice?  Yes.  But I don't because it is normally a waste of both my time and money, so it isn't a value to me.  A "win" for me isn't necessarily a low cost.  It's a high value as compared to the price I'm paying.  And that's true whether it is coffee.  Or an investment property.  Though certainly the higher the stakes are, the more exciting a good value is!   

I have been so tempted to buy a vacation rental on the Gulf Coast of FL or AL, when I retire from my W-2 job!  It's one of my favorite places to vacation and is only a 4-5 hour drive away.  But then I remind myself, STOP IT!  Expand my real estate holdings to cities that are NOT part of Hurricane Alley. 

I'm a landlady in NOLA.  Like @Mike Wood mentioned, I have a clause in my leases that limits the amount of time someone who isn't on the lease can stay there.  But, with that said, I'd be open to a tenant who can meet my qualifications on their own.  However, I would usually want to vet and approve their potential roommates.  Definitely if it was a multi-family dwelling.

In fact, the person who rents the other side of my personal duplex lives in it sometimes.  But also rents it out on Airbnb.  That was always the arrangement, even before we signed the lease.

I had a different situation where I rented the 2 bd/1ba side of a duplex to a couple.  They were moving in first, but their friend was moving in 1-2 months later.  They all signed and were on the lease, but the couple qualified on their own.  Except, their friend moved in for one month and then moved out again because her sister was giving her a free place to live (something like that).  I offered to the couple that, if they wanted to move someone else in, that was fine as long as I could vet the person.  They laughed and said, "Nope!  That was a frustrating experience and we're done with roommates."  Fair enough, but I did offer, lol!

Being from New Orleans, I will tell you some of the longer term effects of a major hurricane.  Hurricane Katrina hit the MS Gulf Coast 14 years ago.  The hurricane itself wasn't too bad for NOLA and the surrounding areas.  But then some of the levees broke.  Cue massive flooding.

People moved away permanently.  Our population numbers are still down from what they were before Katrina.  However, the suburbs...which largely didn't have any flooding...have increased in population.

The first 1-2 years.  Businesses in the rental, auto, appliances, furniture, and construction industries were ROLLING in money!  But had a really hard time finding employees.  Lots of businesses closed permanently...there are still empty strip malls.  But employees were hard to come by for most companies.

However, once things settled down to the new normal, those same industries were pretty much stopped in their tracks for a few years.  Everyone had new places to live, new vehicles, new appliances, new furniture.  It was especially sad for the furniture stores.  There were a few family-owned ones that had been in business for decades, that went out of business.

Real estate-wise, we also had a lot of OOT investors snatching up distressed properties on the cheap.  Some of them should have partnered with a local ;).  I saw quite a few higher end looking houses being built in shady neighborhoods.  I strongly suspect for some of them, spent more in construction than what the house was worth.  The fast movers might have been okay because rental prices and home prices skyrocketed for a brief period of time.  But then it stopped cold for quite awhile.  I remember seeing signs and listings where owners were begging for a seller OR a renter.  Anyone. 

My first REA (also a causal friend), who had weathered many economic downturns with no problems thanks to her long list of clients and experience, said it was the first time she was hurting and hurting bad.  She'd been an REA for over 25 years.  Her whole career.  And started looking for other work.  The 2008 housing crisis hit us a little later down here, but that was a factor also.  The real estate market, especially for property sales, was stagnant here and didn't start picking up again until around 2011-2012.

My opinion. It's so much easier to buy in my backyard. Especially because there is a decent ROI here for buy and hold anyway. So I keep doing it. But I know I need to STOP IT. Too many eggs in my hurricane-prone basket. With rising temps and ocean levels, major hurricanes are becoming even more likely. Just like we saw in 2017.

I think you are totally misunderstanding what @Russell Brazil is pointing out.  In a nutshell, lodging (hotels/motels and rentals) is STRICTER than the ADA.  In that both service animals AND ESAs need to be accepted, with no additional pet rent/fee/SD.  There are exceptions, but that is the gist.  Whereas in public settings, ie restaurants and stores, it is at the owner/manager's discretion if they want to allow ESAs.  But they have to allow service animals (dog or small horse only) that helps someone with a physical disability.

And ESAs, unfortunately, don't have to have any special training.  They don't even have to be dogs.  And the person may not feel they need them for emotional support all the time.

For some other points that have been brought up.  I also have a service animal for a physical disability.  However, I trained her myself for a very specific task and only need her when I'm sleeping.  And even that is only on rare occasions.  So, no, I don't cart her around everywhere.  Because, when I'm awake, I can sense potential danger signs (thankfully rare) myself.

I would never give someone a discount because they are X.  I feel that can start getting into the murky world of discrimination, even if it is not intentional discrimination.  Because not everyone has equal opportunities within protected groups to be in whatever X is.  In this case, law enforcement.

But if I'm open to negotiation (I'm usually not) anyway, I might phrase it like, "I don't give law enforcement discounts.  But, as long as you pass my screening requirements with flying colors, I can work with offering the house to you for $Y, instead of $Z."