All Forum Posts by: Matthew L.

I offered it as an option, along with a few other electronic payment services (Chase Quickpay, Paypal, Amazon payments), but so far my tenant has paid with Quickpay which I highly recommend if you have a Chase account.

That's about as non-threatening of a "crime" as it gets. I'd absolutely rent to them as long as everything else with their background and credit check is good; I wouldn't even ask them for an explaination about something that minor.

Tenant pays on time and doesn't want to talk to me. If only every tenant I ever get is like that, I will die a happy man! As others have said, even if the tenant were to sign a new yearlong lease, they could move out in the middle of the night any time they want. Why push their hand and force them to make a decision when they, from what you have said, have otherwise been model tenants?

I think it depends on your area and pricepoint. A full custom design on an inexpensive home in a conservative area is going to be a complete waste of money. On the other hand, if you're flipping a million dollar home in NYC or San Francisco, I think a custom design makes more sense and could have a great return. Also, if it's a buyers market it might make sense to do 1 or 2 custom design features to make your flip stand out from all the other cookie cutters. It might not get you a higher sales price but it could get a quicker sale.

Congrats on that nice profit! How did you acquire the house?

I pay about $350/year with Safeco for a landlord policy that covers a $165k condo. They were $200/year less than the other quotes I was getting for the same coverage.

From what I've been seeing, the 2% rule mostly applies to properties that are not going to appreciate for one reason or another. Either war zones, bad school disctricts, urban blight, etc. Obviously I'm not saying this applies 100% of the time and I'm sure some deals can be found in nicer areas that meet this rule but I think it has become very difficult as the market has rebounded.

I'd rather look at properties that get at least 1% monthly rent of the purchase price with the chance for appreciation.

I hate the term "retire". Retirement is for people that hate their jobs and have this artificial date 30 years from now that they can leave the job they hate. 

Everyone should strive to be financially free so they can pursue whatever interests them; it sounds like you are close to doing that. I doubt, at 33, you are going to never want to do anything considered work again so don't consider yourself "retired". The work you do from now on should be work you love doing. If you don't enjoy being a realtor, don't do it. If you want to spend all your time raising your kids, do it (that's a job IMO). If there are hobbies you love, focus on them and maybe they will turn into a business.

As far as $4,500 a month being enough to live on, I could absolutely live a great life with that. But, I don't have a wife and 2 kids. Only you can decide if that's enough to live on. If it's not, get a part time job doing something you are more interested in to supplement your income instead of letting being a realtor drain you and take away your time to spend with your kids.

This is a great problem to have and I hope to have it someday!

If there's a decent amount of equity in the house you can take out a HELOC to do the renovations.

Short answer: no. Lenders will only give you owner occupant rates if your job is within commuting distance of the house. If he wants to use his salary at his current job to qualify for a mortgage on a house out of state, it will need to be an investment mortgage. Once he moves and has a job in NJ he can refinance as an owner occupant.