All Forum Posts by: Robert Steele

Oh I forgot to mention. One of my neighbors is president of a newly formed company that is buying up SFH and renting them out. He just picked up $10-20MM worth of properties. He said they are buying them in bulk from the banks.

So there is more competition for ya.

MLS for quality tenants. A few hundred dollars to avoid an eviction down the road is well worth it.

Craigslist, yard signs and local newspapers attract weirdos.

This is just based on my experience and my protege's.

Same here. I haven't bought anything in the last year but a few guys I know have been pulling their hair out losing to multiple offers again and again.

I have seen instances in the past where I am pretty sure the owner occupier was an investor. These houses needed major rehabbing. That is just something I don't see an owner occupier getting into.

Also it boils down to who you know. I am pretty sure there are some investors around here that are pretty chummy with some asset managers. I have made higher offers on the same terms and still been beaten.

Just don't overbid when you get into a multiple offer situation. Half the time the winning contract will fall through due to financing issues.

I always make my security deposit $100 less than the monthly rent. That way theydon't get this idea in their head.

Take #2. Income is everything. Plus I have always had problems with single mothers not paying rent. Unfortunately I cannot legally discriminate against them ;)

With my very first rental, second tenant (first was a gentleman's eviction) I accepted a full year's rent up front. They were foreigners and it was just part of their culture or something. Turned out okay but I wouldn't do it again.

I have to agree with James Park too.

I've tried the sub-$100K class C properties and found them to be too much of a hassle. Not to mention they don't appreciate. My rentals in the $200K range have zero hassles, they are easy to rent, I get them back in good condition and they appreciate in price.

Thanks for the replies.

It seems that we are all pretty much on the same page. I will go ahead as planned and not deduct these items.

Funny thing the tenant told me she wasn't expecting to get any of her security deposit back and with the above reasoning in mind I assured her that she would get some of it back. :)

Oh well, I might have put my foot in my mouth but I guess it is better to be honest and fair than try to scam a few extra bucks. You know, with karma and all that ...

What kind of hell areas are you guys renting in!? I've been a landlord for 13 years and had none of those problems ..

Granted there is the law of averages - so I am guessing you guys own a couple hundred properties between the two of you.

My net worth is up 120% over the past 3 years.

I attribute that to the following factors:

* getting a better salary and saving it.
* improvement in my spouses RE brokerage due to REOs
* increased rents received and lower mortgage payments
* the fact that Dallas did not have a housing bubble and thus the correction has been mild
* having never invested in the rigged casino, err - I mean US stock markets.

I had a tenant move out after 5 years and the carpets are absolutely trashed. They were brand new when they moved in. I know the IRS assumes carpets are only good for 5 years so I am thinking I should not deduct this from their security deposit as they are already beyond their useful life. On the other hand when I moved into my primary residence the carpets were not new and they still were not trashed 10 years later ...

Similarly they have put lots of marks on the walls and doors. The worse part is they tried to cover them up with mismatched paint. In fact it looks like they tried to partially paint some walls. Close color match but looks bad to the eye. All the walls and doors were freshly painted when they moved in. Again I have read that paint should only last 2 years and anything beyond that you cannot deduct from the security deposit. On the other hand I lived in my house for 10 years and the walls did not need repainting ...

I would appreciate hearing from fellow landlords that have had experience with these kinds of situations.