All Forum Posts by: Solomon Greene

Possibly interested, can you provide address or general location?

It is possible the PM was saying that filing an eviction is not the most financially smart thing to do at this moment. For example, if the portion tenant owes is $100 and an eviction costs $400 to file (uncontested) and $1000 or more (contested), and could take a month or more, it may make more sense to work with them on a payment plan to catch up. Also, the COVID moratorium is still in place, which means a tenant can halt the eviction by filing a one page form with the court claiming they had a loss of income due to COVID. Many tenants are not aware of this, but it is a possibility (I just completed an eviction in DeLand and luckily tenant did not try this defense).

As far as utilities, yes the PM should have verified all accounts were switched prior to giving keys. That is our policy. But, if the tenant was allowed to move into the property with the utilities already on in the owners name, it is against Florida law to turn them off. You are entitled to recover the amount owed, but again this requires legal action if deposit does not cover what is owed.

I always try to avoid eviction if at all possible. Any the majority of the time we can get a tenant back on track. If not, having an agreement with the tenant to voluntarily vacate by X date to avoid eviction, then recouping as much as possible from security deposits is often the cheapest and fastest solution.  Landlords (and I own 17 in DeLand, so I include myself) often want to pursue a money judgement against tenants for what is owed, and I understand that. But a judgement against a section 8 tenant is most likely worthless, as they wouldn’t be on section 8 if they had adequate income or assets to go after. The court/attorney fees will most likely be unrecoverable.

Great work! Deltona is a safe place to invest due to the ease of finding comps.  Plenty of transactions and most homes and lot sizes are uniform.  

Ok, I looked at the case.  That is a first for me! It appears the 6/2016 foreclosure was a partition action where the husband "foreclosed" his wife off of the title.  MERS was the high bidder at the sale, presumably to protect their collateral. MERS assigned winning bid to Black Point Assets, the current owner of record.  Subsequent to this, in 7/2016, a foreclosure is initiated against the original husband and wife, but the suit fails to name the current title holder (to whom MERS assigned the winning bid at the original sale).  It seems that the lender is at fault, since they had prior knowledge that the title had been transferred and they failed to name this party in their suit.  I strongly recommend you contact a real estate attorney ASAP, so that you can respond to the motion to vacate the sale in a timely manner.  If you are looking for someone local, I recommend contacting Mike Kelton in DeLand with Paul, Elkind, Branz & Kelton. Best of luck!

If the foreclosing lien-holder is superior to you on title then there is no requirement that they reimburse you for anything.  Do I understand correctly that you purchased it at a sale where the foreclosing lien-holder was not the first mortgage?  If you provide the case number, I can take a look at it

Hi Ted,

I have been a Broker in DeLand for about 20 years, and there are definitely a lot of attractive areas to invest in.  As said above, the Stetson University area has always been a safe bet for rentals.  We manage approx 200 rentals in DeLand, and the Stetson rentals are rarely vacant beyond a couple days. Unlike a large city, in DeLand a few blocks in distance can make a huge difference in the rental rates.  There are also some great pocket neighborhoods further out of town that we also have success with.  As with most areas, it is getting harder to hit the 1% rule on price/rent, but it is still doable.  Best of luck!

Hi Aaron,

I am a broker as well as an investor in DeLand.  I have dealt with this issue before.  The asbestos quote seems only slightly high but the siding replacement seems very high on a house that size.  Feel free to reach out to me and I will assist any way I can, including recommending a contractor for a second quote.

Thanks,

Solomon

Second vote for Mike Kelton.  He has assisted us on many transactions.  His firm is Paul, Elkind, Brantz and Kelton in DeLand

I am a proud DeLandite, you always know who is from here by the capital "L" :)

Welcome!  You will find that truly successful investors are more than willing to help a newbie out.  We all remember what it was like when we began.  I have learned a lot from books, even if it was simply approaching a problem from a new perspective.  Sometimes a single sentence was worth the $20 I paid for the book.  But, previous posters are correct, there is a ton of sage advice on these forums to be had for free, as well as mountains of info elsewhere on the internet.  The more you read the better you become at separating the "wheat from the chaff."  As someone said, there is no substitute for learning from doing, so don't wait for the perfect scenario before getting your feet wet.  Definitely check out a meet-up, you will surely meet some interesting personalities and will no doubt gravitate toward someone with a similar style to your own.  Best of luck in your endeavors!