All Forum Posts by: Spencer Abeyta

Welcome! I like your idea of focusing on education for the first year, but, doing an actual deal can be great education as well :). If you do not own the home you live in, your first step should be house hacking. Get an FHA or other low down payment mortgage, and then try to get a roommate to help bring down your monthly housing cost.

Having a strong financial base is very important for investing as well. Make sure you are living within your means and if you aren't, cut back on spending where you can.

Figure out what strategy you want to focus on and then stick to it for a certain amount of time. There are a million investing strategies. It is better to choose one and stick to it when starting. Riches are in the niches. You can always do different strategies as you learn and grow over time, but a lot of new investors want to know everything before they even start.

I would try to find a washer/dryer that will accept credit card payments. That way you, or a property manager, do not have to physically go to the property to collect the coins. 

We have a couple multifamily properties where a company called Jetz provides card operated laundry. My owners do not make money off of this but it is an amenity provided to the tenants. Jetz will also service their machines if they break and this is not a charge to the owner.

I agree with Michael, there is way too much liability on the PM to pay your mortgage. We have tried doing this in the past but it is so risky unless we are holding multiple months of reserves for the owner. Without holding a huge reserve, we would only be able to pay the mortgage out of the rental proceeds. But if the tenant doesn't pay or the property is vacant, we have to reach out to get funds from the owner and this can delay the mortgage payment.

There is a struggle in finding PMs that you can actually consider an expert in the field. There are a lot of mom and pop PM companies and that isn't bad at all. But these past few years the rental industry has been hit with more new laws than ever and a PM needs to be constantly learning and changing their business. If a company is not knowledgeable about new laws, or is using a lease from over a year ago, I would try to find a new company. 

We come across this often in Colorado because we have strong wind storms. If the trees are green and healthy, but too close to your property, that would not be negligent on the neighbor. If there are broken/dead branches overhanging your house and you notify the neighbor in writing, then it would negligence. 

I believe you should try to have a good relationship with neighbors and open communication. Basic communication face to face can help avoid bringing lawyers into the mix. I think they should only be used as a last resort.

With the neighbor's tree falling onto your property, it would be reasonable to ask the neighbor to split the cost of removing the tree with you.

I see where you are coming from. That makes sense and that is a valid concern. I would recommend emailing some clarifying questions to the applicant so you have his responses in writing. Of course they could still lie but it gives you some more protection if it is in writing. 

If you think that is too risky you could deny the applicant according to your applicant standards. But at the same time, if there is not a line of applicants waiting for the property it would be better to get the property rented if you can reasonably believe the applicant.

You should complete the repair. If you do not want to complete it yourself you will have to pay a roofer. A couple hundred bucks to extend the life of a roof is worth it. Why risk not having it repaired and then having a potential water leak from the roof into the house?

We do not allow subletting in any of our properties. If someone is living in the property in a roommate situation, they are qualified before being added to the lease. The PM or owner needs to know who is living in their property and they need to be on your lease.

In my state there has been a huge push in the courts to actual damages instead of punitive damages. What this means is that actual damages would be the 4 days extra they stayed in the property. Punitive damages would be the extra month of rent and this would be shot down in court. 

I agree with everyone that the holdover rate is very important to motivate tenants to move out on time. This is an actual damage that you could collect from the tenant. Most of the time you would have vendors scheduled to turn the property and now you have to reschedule them and this pushes back the ready date of the property.

I would verify their monthly income and then subtract the cost of the mortgage. If they earn enough money after the mortgage is subtracted to qualify for the home, I don't see why you would deny them if everything else checks out. 

If you subtract the monthly mortgage and the applicant does not qualify for the home based on income, I would communicate this to the applicant. Let him know he needs to show he is selling the house or show an executed lease to show that money is coming in to cover the expense.