All Forum Posts by: Ed W.

@joe 

@Joe Fairless I am really AV challenged when it comes to computers and there is probably a better solution but you can use Total Recorder http://www.totalrecorder.com to capture the audio in mp3 while you play the video (having a program that directly exports the audio to an mp3 is certainly a better solution but I don't know any).  I've used this program for a variety of purposes and it has worked very well in all cases.

@Jordan Hamm The meetings are monthly with the February meeting scheduled at Tommy's Pizza on 161 for the same time on Thursday, the 25th.  The speaker will be Dana Rose, Administrator of the Columbus Division of Code Enforcement.

@Jordan Hamm, you've received a lot of good advice but I feel obligated to provide one major caution and one minor correction.

@Dustin Heiner provided you with an approach that has a lot of merit based solely on business logic.  Unfortunately, business principles are not the only concern and the only basis upon which we can make our decisions as landlords.  Fair Housing Laws have to enter our decision making.  If you offer a property at a given price and then accept less without informing others who declined at the higher price you run some level of risk of an investigation if a person from a protected class was not given the same price accommodation.  The fine is around $10,000 per violation and it's an expensive charge to defend against.  Even if my concern is unjustified (I don't believe it is but I could be wrong) I urge you to speak with a landlord tenant attorney to find out the best way to handle the lowering of rental prices particularly if you declined someone based on a criteria the considers the rental price.

The minor correction: rentometer.com is definitely a worthwhile resource and was a good suggestion for you but it does not have "...all comps in the area." as @Kevin Noesner suggests.  It probably has a majority and it very well may have sufficient information and I certainly use it as one of my resources when I'm uncertain of rental rates in an area. 

Finally, there is a landlord meeting this evening (Thursday, Jan. 21st) at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville Road between Sawmill and Riverside.  It starts at 6:00 PM and runs till around 8:30 PM.  You can arrive at any time that's good for you.  It will probably be well attended, it will have a speaker dealing with pest control, and there will time for questions from the attendees.  My guess is that there is 50% chance someone in attendance will have specific knowledge of rental rates in parts of Westerville or know someone who can give you some insights or may have additional suggestions about how to zero in on the market rate.  Even if you get no additional insights on the rent issue, the meeting is a good networking and educational opportunity.  Some BP members attend the meeting.

@Andy Howell If you PM me with your contact information, I can hook you up with 2 individuals who are very familiar with the process and have each made many appeals over many years with good success.  FWIW, one of them mentioned to me on Monday that he would be at the landlord meeting at Tommy's Pizza tomorrow night (Thursday the 21st). (See the Patrick Mullin thread you posted on earlier today for more info about the meeting.) 

The landlord meeting mentioned above is monthly.  I know there was an earlier post that showed the February meeting as being on Thursday, the 25th.   This is an independent group that has no fees or dues.

COREE (Central Ohio Real Estate Entrepreneurs) - not related to the landlord meeting above -  has a meeting on the first Tuesday of each month.  COREE has a membership fee that you can find on their website. 

@Patrick Mullin, welcome to BP.

If you want to connect with other investors, there is a FREE landlording meeting this Thursday, the 21st, at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville that features education and networking and has a mix of newbies and experienced investors.  It starts at 6:00 PM (though you can arrive later) and ends around 8:30 PM. 

@Christopher Kelly You've received a number of very good answers which, collectively, give you the thinking and most of the important economic considerations of note buyers.  

There are two facts that have technically been assumed in providing a number of the answers is that there was a satisfactory LTV at the inception of the note and a lower LTV exists today.

1. The current "as is" value of the property is going to have a great bearing on what someone will pay you.   What is the actual, truly realistic - with all its warts - current value of the property?

2. The current income and financial strength of the obligor.  The on-time payments are certainly excellent but to get an idea that's realistic, what are the facts regarding the obligor's financial situation?

@Nicholas Crum, welcome to BP and much success to you.

If you want to connect with other investors, there is a FREE landlording meeting this Thursday, the 21st, at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville (aka Rt. 161) that features education and networking and has a mix of newbies and experienced investors.  It starts at 6:00 PM (though you can arrive later) and ends around 8:30 PM. 

I'd guess the location is about an hour from Springfield if you take I-70 to I-270 to Rt 161.

@Jake Gorgol welcome to BP and much success to you.

If you want to connect with other investors, there is a FREE landlording meeting this Thursday, the 21st, at Tommy's Pizza on Dublin-Granville that features education and networking and has a mix of newbies and experienced investors.  It starts at 6:00 PM (though you can arrive later) and ends around 8:30 PM. 

@Account Closed, I suspect I'm not smart enough to figure this out but it will be helpful to me and, perhaps, others to have more information:

1. Can you provide some rough estimate as to the locations where the problem tends to exist; for example, bathroom - 80%, kitchen, 10%, basement 10%.

2. If I read your post correctly, you speak in terms of "properties".  Are these single families, large multi-unit, or some other property types?  Is there any difference in the frequency or extent of the problem within different types of property or based on their size or their floor plans or their geographic locations?

3. Is there any difference in the frequency or extent of the problem with the number of people and/or pets in the units?

4. Do the properties have basements or not?  Do they have garages or not?

5. What type of HVAC systems do they have?  

6. Do the bathroom exhausts have a separate switch or do they turn on when the lights are turned on?

7. Are dryers vented properly?

8. Does your personal residence and the residences of your family and friends suffer from the problem?  If not, what are you doing different from your tenants?

9. How do other landlords deal with the problem?  Do they have the problem to the same extent as you do?

10. Does the county (code enforcement?) or other governmental entities (including health agencies) have educational materials that may shed some light on the problem?

11. Does the specific species of mildew somehow make a difference?  Grow faster, resist treatment, etc.  Could you or your team somehow unknowingly be spreading more resistant species?

I'm sure there are other, better questions to ask and hopefully those that I have thought of will spur you and others to ask them.  Having a better understanding of the problem(s) makes finding a solution much more likely.