All Forum Posts by: Shannon Allen

I closed on my first investment last month! I was able to find the property by scouring the imls here in Boise.  I found a duplex that had been siting on the market because it had been mislabeled! I spend a lot of time looking for these types of properties and I was excited to secure one for myself!

Two goals:

#1 I want to become the industry expert in my area on helping clients buy homes where they can build wealth by adding an ADU to their property.

#2 I want to start with building an ADU on my property!!

Can I (without getting sued--

Ask what kind disability he has that requires a dog? NO

Ask him to see the doctors note allowing it? YES

Ask if it is an emotional support animal? Doesn't matter if there is a doctor's note emotional support animals and service animals are treated the same and protected

Can I deny his emotional support animal? NO

You also cannot ask for an additional deposit or an additional fee.

After you close I always provide a letter to the tenant outlining their current terms and assuring them that the security deposit has been transferred. The security deposit is usually a concern for tenants and they don't always understand that is transferred.  Then I follow with a second letter letting them know that they will be asked to sign a new lease with a few changes but with the same basic terms as the old lease. My goal when inheriting a new tenant is to establish a good relationship as I have not idea how the past owner or pm company treated them.

I had a similar situation with a tenant.  When asked if they had a "pet" they said no. After they moved in there was a dog on the property. When I inquired about the dog they said it was a service animal.  I met with them and went over our service animal policy and they completed my service animal form (no additional rent, no security deposit just some basic guidelines for the service animal based on the city code). I use the form for emergency purposes should something happen at the rental I can provide a list of all occupants (human and animal).  

I have since updated my application asking if there are pets and if there are any service animals so I know ahead of time how to approach the tenant.

I also had a tenant who had a pet, and was paying an additional pet fee per month.  A few months into their year lease they sent me a letter from the doctor saying the pet was now a service animal. I immediately eliminated the pet fee and had them fill out my service animal form. 

For me it is just not worth a $16,000 fine.

Hopefully this will be a good opportunity to learn from this experience and gain some new knowledge!

I would recommend connecting with a property manager and asking them about the current rental market.  Is your 8% vacancy rate current for that market or a guess? When the vacancy rates dip below 5% you will see rental rates increase.  At an 8% vacancy rate if you property is at market rent it may be harder to increase the rent.  

What Jared said! I would also like to add the best thing you can do for your client is to keep them informed.  When deadlines are approaching that will cost them money (ie. appraisals, inspection, Earnest Money going hard) make sure they know about them.  The worst thing for a Buyer is to be surprised with an outcome and then lose their money! Also keep your mindset in check, it is not "our deal" or "our inspection" it is your clients and keep that measure of distance.  

Doing a little bit of searching on the Airbnb website I saw several listings with 55+ listed and several listings for RV pads.  Airbnb does a great job answering questions so I would start there and make sure that listing as 55+ and RV age limit are allowed.  Full disclosure I have not personally rented an RV pad but it has been something I have been researching and planning to add to my investment portfolio.

Here are a couple of other sites you could also try.

Roverpass.com

RVwithME.com

I would definitely rely on the BPO from a Broker, an appraisal that you received in February may not be relevant today.  I would tell the agent about the appraisal if they are a good agent they won't need it to complete their own evaluations and this may help you decide between the two agents

Have you looked into using your IRA to purchase the property? There's a few stipulations on how the IRA can be used to purchase a property but it may be worth investigating. Good Luck.