All Forum Posts by: Sergey A. Petrov

@David M. - correct. This is not a lender. Some lenders do require personal notarized signatures from the actual person vs. a POA. But even then, they don't require you to come to their office in person so they can see your pretty face (and probably sell you something else or have you sign some other waiver of some liability or whatever else that sales team might have in mind).

This is a real estate transaction. Not a sales gimmick or a marketing ploy. What is in the docs you signed? Is there a requirement for an in-person orientation as a contingency to the sale? I've seen all sorts of weird clauses over the years but "you must show up at our sales office in person for an orientation or the purchase contract is cancelled" would be a new one for me!

Quote from @Dawn Maust:

What would be a reasonable amount to expect in reserve account? Assume it’s based on location and size of complex in addition to amenities, etc. With so many factors, is there a good way to analyze that?

There is no “amount”. There are too many variables and you need to look for a reserve study on that association. The elevator may be newly modernized and has 50 years left in useful life. Or it may be on its last leg and needs $300k worth of work. Same goes for roofs, parking lots, fences, fire alarms, pools, interior common area carpets, paint, siding, windows, etc etc etc. Most reserve studies will show you “percent funded”. 70% is the golden rule. Under 30% or so means you are nearly guaranteed to have a special assessment in the next 5 years

@Bryce Jamison - do you own your home and do you have insurance for your personal belongings as part of your homeowners insurance? When there is a flood and all of their furniture and clothes get damaged, who are they going to look to for reimbursement? You can say a hard no and them they’ll have to make a decision - replace damaged furniture and belongings out of pocket and skip a month of rent or pay rent and eat on the floor? Guess which will cause you less headaches? Renter’s policy is $500/yr. If your concern is that they won’t be able to afford it, you need better tenants. Outside of that, there is a million reasons people buy insurance and business owners, such as yourself, require their customers to carry insurance. Many don’t believe in insurance. I take it that is not your philosophy since you are buying insurance on the property you own

You may or may not need a business plan. How big are you going? If renting a smaller space, signing a personal guarantee and not asking for the landlord to foot the bill for $300k in TIs, you should be ok

There has to be some language in there. Most standard templates will have at least something that describes what happens at / before renewal. Entirely possible it just goes month to month. If YOU plan on non renewing for any other reason, there are some restrictions and specific things you need to do.

What does the lease say you or your tenant have to do in terms of renewal? Does doing nothing by either party automatically renew it?

Whoever inherits the property and it might be stuck in probate for some time especially if there is not a crystal clear will with a path to clean title

No real aha moment just a confidence boost to my young self with a “I am capable of accomplishing whatever I want to accomplish” attitude 😁. Have fallen on my face plenty of times but you learn from your mistakes, get up, and keep moving forward 

I had zero or maybe even negative. Barely out of college, with a newborn, wife unemployed. Bought a condo using an FHA loan. It needed some work, water heater blew a week after closing. I remember getting my final estimated settlement statement the day before closing and realizing i was twenty or something bucks short for that due from borrower line item. That $20 was stressful!

Lived in and worked on the condo in the evenings and on the weekends, repainted, replaced flooring, appliances, some other outdated fixtures, sold it two years later with a gain nearly equivalent to my gross W2 earnings at the time. That was 20 some years ago