All Forum Posts by: Sergey A. Petrov

I’ve worked with plenty of architects, contractors, project managers and other trades. I am with @Eric Teran here. Your architect will give you a general ballpark (maybe even a ROM estimate) but the numbers won’t be firmed up until the plans are complete and even then you’ll have a bunch of contingency line items and change orders. The more complicated the project the more variables you’ll have throughout the project

How big is the complex (you said you have one apartment vacant)? Generally, agree with what everyone else said. If you have 20-30+ units in that apartment, it is called a resident / on-site manager. Either salary or reduced rent or the combination of the two. Check with your CPA and your labor attorney. Reduced (or free) rent is taxable income to the resident manager and reporting and related taxation can get tricky…

I say go pay a real estate attorney a few hundred bucks for an hour of their time before you jump to small claims or some other form of legal action 

You get to keep only what the lease says you get to keep. If you don’t like what the lease says or what your tenant is doing with their payments, clarify with tenant so the behavior adheres to the existing lease or change the lease so the new lease adheres to the existing behavior. You are in the driver’s seat.

Or maybe it is not that you need to “pester” but change your messaging. 

Instead of “hey fellow BP member, i see that you are a lender. I have a house that I cannot buy insurance for due its condition but i cant fix it without a loan (because I don't have enough money saved up) and getting a loan will require insurance. Can you lend me some money?”

Try “I currently own an investment property (single family home) free and clear. It is currently rented below market rate. I am looking to do a cash out refi. My credit is good / fair and my W2 income is $170k. I would like to use some of the loan proceeds for some repairs and capital improvements which will significantly increase the value of the property. What lending product would you recommend? If it is not something you offer, do you know someone who might?”

now you imagine being on the receiving end. Which one would you respond to? And how many times would you let yourself be “pestered” before you blocking the sender of the first message?

+1 on that one! The additional info and replies after the initial post paint a very different picture. You are a million steps ahead of the majority of the population. Hesitant to make decisions and actually pull the trigger? You can’t learn to walk without taking that first step as a baby. And you can’t learn to ride a bike without actually getting on one (and falling off a few times). Go for it. Just make a step whatever it might be. A great one would be great but you might also trip and fall on the first one. It gets better after!

Those are a good starting point but there is more. See my reply in this thread

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Asking if you could be confident that rentals will never be banned (or more regulated than they currently are) is like asking the IRS if you could be confident that taxes will never change. You’ll get a set of disclosures that are in effect today. Read them (you might even find some clues as to how the community feels about rentals overall by reading minutes, existing rules, community newsletters if you are lucky to get them as part of that 500+ page set of disclosures). Once you buy, you are a member of the community that self governs many things. Your level of involvement in that is up to you. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to participate, provide feedback and, yes, vote. If the community you are a part of decides to change rental rules there will be due process (you’ll be welcome to participate; whether or not you choose to do so is up to you).

and nothing is ever guaranteed. Even if "the HOA" changes nothing, you are still subject to city, county, state, and federal regulations and we've all seen plenty of changes at all of those levels over years across the country (more so with short term rentals but plenty with long term rentals as well). Good luck on your journey - the best advice I can offer is stay involved and up to date with the ever changing landscape no matter what business you are in, I might add, whether it is operating rentals or a gas station around the corner :)

@Gary Fritz - did you get your Tesla yet?

cash for keys is a "come to jesus" moment. I give you X dollars in exchange for you leaving on Y date. That Y date concludes our relationship and nobody owes anybody anything. Yes, I really will give you X more dollars, not ask you to pay the rent that is past due nor fix whatever damages may be there as a result of your occupancy, and yes I also keep the deposit because that X is the final departing figure and you no longer have to worry about anything. And yes, you promise to leave on the Y date and give me the keys otherwise all bets are off, you are not getting the extra X dollars, and i'll want the unpaid rent and the damages. If you give me the keys but leave stuff inside, i'll assume it is garbage so get whatever stuff you want out before the Y date. write all that up in a simple doc, have it signed by yourself and your tenant, and move on.

but yes, do all of the above after your 10 days....call them and tell them we are on day 11 and can do one of two things - we part ways making it easy for both of us while you get some extra cash and I find a new tenant or making it difficult with attorneys involved where nobody wins. Pick one by tomorrow and if you don't I will and it'll be the latter.

I am almost with Patricia with a caveat.... what DID cause the huge sewer backup? was it the repair itself that was being done? did you ask if / they warn you that a backup is possible? if so, one would expect someone (likely the owner) to take whatever steps needed to minimize the risk of damages. or did the sewer repair company disconnect the sewer and you / your tenants / other occupants of the house started the dishwasher, ran a load of laundry, went to the bathroom, and took a shower? all that would most certainly create a huge backup if the main sewer line was disconnected while the repairs were taking place. i have a hard time imagining how a sewer line repair would cause a backup without someone using some plumbing related fixture and putting something down the sewer lines. it could have been your neighbors if you are on a shared sewer line but if that is the case, someone (again likely you as the owner unless you had a general contractor managing the sewer repair company - an unlikely scenario) should have asked the neighbors not to use their plumbing while the repairs were under way...