All Forum Posts by: Tim Delaney

Try to attend some local meetups in your area. The agents that show up to those are usually going to understand investors.

My exterminator won’t kill bees, they are important for our environment. He will however connect me with beekeepers that will relocate them. My next door neighbor even goes and does it for free because she is growing her honey business. From what I understand there are numerous amateur beekeepers that can be found on Facebook groups that will do this for a low fee or even free. So that $430 sounds even crazier.

Maybe I missed it, but I did not see you mention what you could rent your current expensive house for and what it would cash flow? With the cash flow number and the potential equity gain every year you can calculate your estimated return on equity - my hunch is that with $500k in equity it will not be great return.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if you have lived in the current house for at least 2 of the last 5 years and it has appreciated a lot while you have owned it then you can sell with little to no capital gains (there is a limit that you may be pushing with that much equity).

For those reasons I would probably consider options that involve selling. I personally don’t like speculation so I wouldn’t dump all that equity into one single family house with no cash flow. Can you buy a double, triple or quad in the new market with that cash and down payment assistance and loan program so you can rent out the other units? Not sure if you want to manage it, but I have an Airbnb near a university that does great, so that could be an option as well if you find the right house.

Great idea assuming you can get a loan on the property in the first place. But the programs you mentioned are designed for what you are after. Then when you are done you can weigh the option between refinancing or just keeping the current loan. You may also need to wait at least 6-12 months before refinancing, so be sure to talk to your lender about that if you were thinking of trying quicker than that. Also be aware that cash out refinances typically have slightly higher rates than initial purchases or just rate and term refinances.

Talk to your insurance company - depending on your deductible and potential increase in future insurance you may or may not want to put in your own claim.

I would also probably consider cutting my losses and getting rid of the tenant asap. If he has already not been paying then what good is a payment plan? I don’t know what the rent is or how much longer he has on the lease, but $5k at a little bit extra every month would take quite awhile to make up. Instead of “cash for keys” you can just tell him to get out to avoid having to pay for all the damages.

Unless she hates her job it probably makes sense for her to continue with the high earning (and hopefully saving) so that she can look as bankable as possible as she gets into RE. I would just have her intern for you - let her start taking over some tasks and loop her into decision making. You also don’t have to give her property - you can seller finance it so she starts paying you monthly - that gives you a steady income and helps her get into the game.

If the issue is no direct fault of the tenant then I do not think it is fair to charge the tenant anything. It is your property so unless the tenant is intentionally breaking things they should not have to pay for repairs.

As others have mentioned, it is hard enough to get tenants to report small issues that can and do cause larger problems when I am not charging a fee, you are opening yourself up to major issues if tenants are reluctant to call because they don’t want to pay a fee.

As others said, one check with both names is the way to go.

I had a similar situation last year with boyfriend/girlfriend. The woman reached out when she received the check and said that she could not even find or get ahold of the ex boyfriend (I had also been contacted by the police who were looking for the guy so I was inclined to believe her). My attorney advised me to have her sign an affidavit taking responsibility for the deposit and that if the guy ever came back looking for his share that she would pay him or handle all legal issues. 

Get multiple quotes and make sure the contractors are breaking items down by line item. This will help you compare and contrast and see what is reasonable. 

Have you spoken to any local banks? They should have business loan products to help you with the buildout and capital investment in the laundromat. If the business is 50% or more of the building there may also be SBA 504 funding opportunities at great rates.

Make sure you put together a solid business plan with projections. From my experience the commercial laundry equipment sales companies can help you with that - but be wary as their projections will be optimistic so you buy more equipment.