All Forum Posts by: Sergey A. Petrov

this is not "warranty". this is buying and closing on an unfinished piece of construction which I imagine is "accepted" as-is at closing. warranty is when the roof that was installed leaks or get blown off by the wind because the shingles weren't nailed down properly. A real estate construction attorney should be consulted but I am not sure where you look for "money" to finish the build... 

let's hope you did your own due diligence, had an inspection and a sewer scope done. What did that tell you? You obviously chose to proceed with the purchase. Or let's assume you did absolutely no due diligence and still decided to proceed with the purchase. Once you close, you accept it as-is having performed as much or as little due diligence as you wanted. Having repairs and maintenance done during property ownership is nothing unusual whether it is calling someone to snake the sewer line, have gutters cleaned, or chimneys inspected. What do you believe the seller had to "disclose"? My personal "household members" have long hair and I clean out the drains once a month or so. A professional with better equipment needs to come in every once in a while as well. If I sell, do I need to disclose it as a "sewer issue"?

 Why worry about the client's best interests if I can put more money in my own pocket? Sarcastic, obviously....

who owns the property? you, personally, or the LLC? if you own it personally, how would the LLC collect rent? Is LLC the property manager then? Properly licensed, bonded and insured as a property management company? Or is the LLC renting the house from you personally and then subleasing it to someone else? Sounds like it could be a mix and match of things... Talk to your CPA, attorney, and insurance broker before you go down this path.

unless you are in a rent controlled area or subject to other limitations, your rent should be at market. if someone has been there 15 years, be prepared to put some money into it but it'll more than pay for itself over the long term once you are at market.

if you know the market, it takes less than a minute to see if it makes sense. If it does, you dive in. Diving in means looking at comps - sale price, average rental value, typical expenses, pulling actual taxes, figuring insurance in before you call the broker (again, if you know the market you know what insurance should be), trying to "guestimate" the age of major components such as roofs, plumbing, boilers, HVAC, parking lots, etc. etc. etc. Once you do that, you decide if it still makes sense. If it does, you make an offer and your feasibility / due diligence period begins once the offer is accepted. That's when you really dive into it, present it to a lender, and go from there!

"unreasonable landlord laws" are an opportunity as far as I am concerned. Things change, regulations evolve, life advances in some direction. If you keep up, you become an expert in a narrowing field because people don't like change. So, they end up going to a place where "regulations are reasonable" (translated to "something I am used to and have done for a long time") and stay there for a bit until those "regulations" catch up with that area. I remain active in Seattle and can navigate the ever-changing guidelines in my sleep. Some of my clients and friends sold their holdings, bought elsewhere, and are now realizing the return just isn't the same whether it is less cash flow or lack of meaningful appreciation.

@Michael Smythies - ping me if you are interested in short term rentals around downtown / Cap Hill (and/or Bellevue). I have a very short list of condos that are short term rental friendly and know those associations inside and out from the financials, reserves, special assessments and regulations perspective. We also do resale certificate reviews for buyers and take those 300+ pages of docs you get as part of the disclosure to a 2 page summary of the most important things either an investor or an owner occupant would want to know about.

A finished basement with water is not a finished a basement in my mind. It is like renting a house to someone saying the roof leaks in these 7 spots every time it rains, would you sign a waiver of liability? You should find and cure the source of the leak. It is not just the slip and fall liability. If it is finished, there is drywall, insulation, and electrical in there. Neither one plays well with water

Great tenant, single family home, only asking for a partial reduction sounds reasonable. Legally, you are probably not obligated to (did your mortgage company give you a discount?). Insurance wise, depending on the severity of the damages, you may have loss of rents coverage. I’d approve their request making it crystal clear that it is a show of good faith because they are so great and a one time thing only