All Forum Posts by: Sheen Jowl

Hello bigger pockets community. I wonder if anyone has suggestions on how to handle a deteriorated lawn of a SFH property, in central Texas without sprinkler systems.

Tenant is maintaining the lawn by hiring a lawn maintenance service, including mowing and weeding. However due to the climate and without sprinkler systems, the lawn naturally deteriorates over the years and I start to get HOA requests to repair it. There are bare spots and dead grass and it is generally not dense at all. (grass type is Bermuda)

What's the best option to handle it? I don't know if I should go all the way to install sprinkler systems and new sod. It's a large corner lot and it could be a 10k investment, and I doubt tenant could water aggressively to keep it in good condition. Another option could be plant seeds but that too require aggressive watering for certain amount of time, and I don't know if a sprinkler system is a must for planted seeds to grow.

Let me know what do you think. any suggestions are appreciated.

Hi bigger pockets community. I've been living in my house for about 5 years and now plan to move to a different location. I plan to rent out the house i'm living in right now. I may hold it for a few years because location economy is in expansion.

There is about 100k appreciation in the past 5 years and I know I don't have to pay for the tax if I sell the house now. However, I learned that if I convert this one to rental house, the cost basis has to be the purchase price instead of the market price at this moment. which means if I convert the house this year and sell it in a few years, the 100k appreciation happened when I was using it as primary residence is taxable. 1031 is an option but what if I need the sales proceeds for other purpose? Does 2 out of 5 years rule apply here? in other words if I sell in 3 years all the appreciation since 5 years ago are not taxable?

I appreciate any suggestions. Thank you very much.

I got an interesting idea. I like to manage the property myself because I like to have control over tenant screening and marketing. However I'm not doing the maintenance side of the property management efficiently. I wonder if I can subcontract the maintenance out, and do the rest of management myself. The subcontractor will have the keys, answer the calls, fix anything that don't need license, and coordinates licensed technician work. The subcontractor can also handle turnover cleaning and things like changing carpet etc.

Will this model work and can scale up without Hiring property managers? I'm kind of taking the tenant related property management work myself and hiring people do property related portion of property management.

What will be the best way to pay the subcontractor so he/she can act in the best interest of the property owner? Keep the property in good condition but not over spend.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

I got an interesting idea. I like to manage the property myself because I like to have control over tenant screening and marketing. However I'm not doing the maintenance side of the property management efficiently. I wonder if I can subcontract the maintenance out, and do the rest of management myself. The subcontractor will have the keys, answer the calls, fix anything that don't need license, and coordinates licensed technician work. The subcontractor can also handle turnover cleaning and things like changing carpet etc. Will this model work and can scale up without Hiring property managers? I'm kind of taking the tenant related property management work myself and hiring people do property related portion of property management. What will be the best way to pay the subcontractor so he/she can act in the best interest of the property owner? Keep the property in good condition but not over spend. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

I got a question here. Is flood insurance for properties outside FEMA 100 area inexpensive? I have a few properties, there are all outside FEMA 100 area. I wonder if there is an inexpensive way to protect the portfolio from very rare occasions. Thank you for sharing.

I got a question for the BP community. I always wondered if there is an inexpensive flood insurance to cover my portfolio. None of my properties is in FEMA 100 area, but maybe I should get protected in case.