All Forum Posts by: William C.

Please elaborate, I'd like to hear more about this theory of a 25% rent drop. We are in the midst of a housing shortage.  Barring an act of congress that required rents  to be lowered by 25%, I cannot think of a situation where that would happen in my market.  Some specific, over saturated markets might see something like this happen.  But where the land is all used up, and more and more people try to move into the the area,  I don't see it happening.   A housing crash will only make the rental market stronger.

Can you PLEASE report back when the refinance is done with the actual numbers. Would love to see where the numbers land when the dust settles. "Should" is the exact reason BRRRR's fall flat on their face for some people. Real estate deals never go the way they should. It appears that you will be walking away with some money even if you were a good 10-15% off on you ARV, so good for you. One of my BRRRRs should have appraised for $500k, it came back at $300k, and the cashflow should have been netting me $2500/month but the actual is $1500. Needless to say I have a little bit of cash tied up in that one but the cashflow is really what I was after anyway.

I wish you the best of luck though and I hope you it appraises higher and your cashflow is more!

A picture would tell us a million words, and make this debate much easier.  I think the point just made regarding being baited into a lawsuit might be a good one.  I'd do something to limit your liability.  Is it the money, or time involved painting?  Or just the principal.  You've probably spent more time reading posts on here than it would have taken to paint the bump.  I see both sides of the argument, but I'm a fan of CYA.

@Jay Hinrichs I asked my GC the same thing about the manufacturer warranty and he said " They will laugh at the homeowner if they try to return a perfectly operational unit"  It may have gotten lost in all the posts, but the heater runs, it runs well.  There is a leak in an evaporation coil, and some PVC piping is 2in and apparently it needs to be 3in because its 26 feet long, if it were 25 feet long, the 2in would be fine.  So that's not causing any major problems, although we are willing to correct it.   The sizing issue is just a vailed attempt at getting a working heater replaced.  The buyers don't think that its heating the space properly.  The downstairs is cold, the upstairs is hot.  It's almost comical, our house is cold, please put a smaller heater in!  We offered to help.  The buyers keep giving excuses why we can't help, and insist we just send them a check for $12k instead.   Ready to pull my hair out.  Thinking of calling my attorney in regards to a counter-suit for harassment.  Think I have a chance?

I'm still wondering the same thing.  I kind of think the big snow storms are easier to handle.  Tenants should understand it's going to take a bit longer to be cleared.  Plus, schools are usually closed, people have off work, etc.  It's the small snow storms that the contractors don't come out for that I'm having an issue with.  I can't do it, contractors won't do it, and the tenants don't want to do it.

@Travis Carr do you have any multi unit properties? Impossible for me to make one tenant responsible for shoveling the public sidewalk. And I don’t know if it was mentioned in this thread but I recall seeing in some states the liability falls on the landlord even though the tenant is “responsible” for removing snow. I wish it were as simple as making the tenant take care of it.

@Thomas S. I’m in the same boat. You say you’ve done all you can in terms of responsibility, and I would totally agree....myself and others just wonder if a judge would agree if someone slipped, fell and sued.

@Jamie Brayton so what are you doing when it snows less than 3 inches, but there is still an accumulation? These seem like the most dangerous storms in terms of a slip and fall. People don’t typically slip and fall when they are walking through a foot of snow, it’s the thin sheet of ice over the sidewalk that refroze after you have shoveled away all the snow. Salt works. But who is laying the salt.

Are we over thinking this as landlords? Are we much less likely to have accident than we think? Does anyone have any anecdotes that would suggest anything else? I’m going to look for some case law to see exactly how negligent a landlord needs to be in order to be liable. I would like the think as he snow is still falling, and someone slips and falls on a property that the landlord can’t seriously be expected to keep everyone cleared at all times.

Any insurance guys out there have advice for a special policy, or rider for this situation? Or do we just load up on an umbrella policy?

Great stuff so far from everyone!

@Russell Brazil I think you ask a great question here. I'm not sure I would exactly say the strategy is "overhyped", but I would say it's a whole lot harder to actually pull off, in most markets today, compared to anyone who has completed one in the last 10 years. The truth is the market has been too good for too long, and because of this not only have prices shot through the roof, more and more investors have entered the space. And I use the word investor loosely. It sounds like a lot of you are agents working with a new buyer each week that binge watched Income Property this weekend on HGTV and is now a pro. There is just a lot less meat on the bone, the days of jumping on the MLS and picking your favorite listing, and BRRRIng is to perfection just to move onto the next is a pipe dream. We all listen to the same podcasts, and read the same blogs on this site. They all make it sound so easy. We hear the stores of that perfect BRRRR where they not only cash flow ridiculous amounts of money each month, they pulled out all their money plus another $100k good measure. And I wouldn't ask them to do it any differently, I love every podcast they ever produced, and all of the guests are just sharing their experiences and knowledge to helps us all. We just need to be aware enough that these stories are 1 of many that they've done. It's likely they best deal they've ever done, by far. And for every great deal we hear of, there are hundreds of OK deals, and probably even more flat out bad deals that we are not reading about or listening to week in and week out. I'm sure there are a rare few that have done it over and and over and built million dollar portfolios, but again that's the rare few, there are hundreds of thousands of landlords on this site, alone, and millions? worldwide.

So is it harder? Yes. Overhyped? Maybe. Impossible. No. Investors just need to get more creative as the market compresses like this. We need to see deals where others don’t, think of ways to create income and/or cut costs where other don’t. Deals don’t just happen, they are created, to quote Brandan in nearly half of all the podcast. So get out there and create. If the numbers don’t work in your market, find a new market, find a new property type, think outside the box, add a bedroom, add a unit, you get the picture.

Others have also made some great points for example too many people think BRRRRIng means they don't need any money, they can somehow finance the whole thing but it doesn't matter because it all gets recouped when you refi in the end, right? The ugly truth is it's very cash intensive, and I have simply shifted my goals a bit. Knowing it's unlikely I'll pull all my cash out, I have to make sure my cash flow is enough to get the COC returns I need for the cash that might be tied up, whether it's a light appraisal, interest rate hikes, or budget overruns, in the end your almost always left with less than you had planned.

@Jamie Brayton I feel your pain. It’s seems like a lot of us are in the same snow removal conundrum. We are at the mercy of others to do a job that’s leaves us exposed in the event it’s not done promptly or properly.

Wanted to dig this thread up in hopes of a good debate between BP’ers on the never ending snow removal dilemma. Iv been sorting through old threads but no one has seemed to hit the nail on the head. It’s seems as though many others hire companies to come, when a certain amount of snow falls. But what if it’s snows less, and what about refreezes?

My situation is with my 3 unit property with separate entrances, a fairly large public sidewalk, and 4 car parking lot. The lease stats the landlord is responsible for snow removal, and we gladly hire this out to a local contractor. Their policy is they show up when there is at least 3 inches of snow. My issue, or question then is what to do when there is less than 3 inches of snow. Doing it myself is not an option. There are shovels on all of their porches, as well as a 5 gallon bucket of salt. My leases recently turned over and now with our first snowfall, one of my tenants is referring to the lease and saying we are responsible for it. It’s actually our 3rd snowfall, but first above 1 inch, and below 3. Quite frankly I’m not shoveling my own property, because it will all melt in the next few hours.

My question is what are y’all doing in this situation. As soon as I post this I will be heading to google to track down my state/City’s ordinances are, but I’d like to hear what everyone thinks from a business standpoint, as well as a liability standpoint. One solution I have is that one tenant is happy to shovel and ice in these storms, and I could ask him to do the entire profit. I’m even willing to compensate him. Which some will argue will open a new employment can of worms.

It’s really a shame reading through all of these snow removal threads and seeing countless landlords, most of us with the best intentions, worried sick about someone carelessly slipping on ice on their property and single handedly wiping out years worth of rental income. I even saw that in one state MO I think, your liability goes UP if you remove the snow and someone gets hurt. Imagine that. Any and all opinions and advice is appreciated.