All Forum Posts by: Scott K.

We're looking to find a tenant to rent our property for a single 12-month term. Since it's so short (we're moving in ourselves after a year), we're wondering if it's feasible to avoid paying the 1-month fee to an agency.

Have any of you done this with a property that's a 2h drive away?

 I didn't have a choice in the matter. They refused to pay rent. I plan to sue them in small claims court after they move out on the 30th.

The lease has a late payment clause ($50 for each late day) so I'll minimally ask the court for that amount. I do wonder if them using the security deposit can command additional monies besides that.

Hi all, we have two tenants (I'll call them Jane and Alice ) on a 1-year lease which began in December.

They did several things to violate our lease agreement which included 1) bringing in a 3rd tenant without telling me (let's call him Rick); and 2) Rick dumped garbage bags on another house we own (an Airbnb on the same property).

I wrote them 1.5 weeks ago saying this won't work out, and offered to terminate the agreement and waive any early termination penalties. They agreed to look for another place and we'd settle on a move-out date once they found a new place. At this time they asked that I pay them their security deposit on the date of any final inspection, to which I agreed.

With the rent due on April 1 and not having received payment, I wrote them today. They mentioned they found a place for a May 1 move-in and said they'd not pay April's rent, using their security deposit. They also agreed to let me show the place to new tenants with a 48-hour notice.

When I replied telling them they were in violation of the lease agreement and they'd accrue daily late fees they stood adamant in not paying rent. Moreover, they rescinded their offer to let me show the place.

I'm wondering what my next best moves are. I'm writing my attorney right now, but do I have any additional actions?

We just purchased a home in upstate, NY we plan to move into and house hack (it's two-dwelling property).

The house was underpriced and we can make several substantial improvements, including:

1. Updated flooring.

2. Improved curb appeal.

3. Remodeled kitchen.

4. Converting the living room/dining room/kitchen into a single open space.

5. Remodeled bathroom.

In total these will require a fair amount of capital. These will surely command a higher selling price when we eventually move (10+ years in all likelihood), but I'm wondering if any of this capital could be recoverable until then for investment purposes.

If we looked to do a cash-out refi after the renovation work, for example, would an appraiser recognize and incorporate any of the above improvements into the appraisal?

I'm considering a property with substantial forced improvement potential. I can't afford to pay cash for it, but I'm wondering if it's worth:

- Purchasing the property via conventional loan

- Paying for improvements out of pocket

- Doing a cash out refi to recover the cost of improvements

Does anyone have any context on this?

Hi there, we recently purchased a single-family home in a town in Goshen, New York for the purposes of listing it as a STR.

Just before closing, while we were in contract, the town placed severe restrictions on STRs. With the investment opportunity no longer viable, we're putting it back on the market for sale.

My wife came across this video last night, however:   How To Get Around Short Term Rental Restrictions

I have to say, I'm not quite following her arguments. She's basically saying that if I place the home under an LLC I can get around these restrictions.

I'm very skeptical. Is there any truth to support this?

Moderator note: post edited to show link

NEW Moderator Note: Based on @Joe Splitrock's comment below,  I removed the link again. BP should not be linking to, and thereby promoting such irresponsible Guru crap. - Ned Carey, Moderator.

Do any of you manage your STRs remotely? We're about to embark on this ourselves. We currently manage an Airbnb where we live (2-family home where we reside in one unit and rent the other) so have decent experience there. We intend to find a cleaner, handyman, and contractors for the remote STR, which will be a 1.5 hour drive from where we live. My biggest questions are around packages and parties:

-- How do you manage packages and remote deliveries? Who receives them and opens them? Do you rely on your cleaner or someone else?

-- What about parties? We'll do everything we can to prevent shady bookings, but it's hard to be bulletproof. What if someone ends up inviting additional unaccounted guests? Have you had to cancel a reservation remotely? If so, how did you go about evicting the guests?

Do you run into issues where you have to kick out partiers? If so, is this handled remotely? Also, how do you handle re-stocking supplies? 

I'm looking at a property with two buildings.

The first house is very well kept and reflects its fair market value - no substantial room for improvement there. The second, however, is a very spacious two-floor standalone building. It's basically a garage/storage area, but could be converted into a legal home/livable space.

If we were to purchase the property through a conventional loan and convert the 2nd building, is it fair to assume we could then refi at a higher property value?