So, we did the yard sale for the contents of the flipper. It was a huge bust. Made barely $100. Ugh. I will do a little better because I'll sell some stuff on eBay or Craigs list, but most of it will go into the trash or have to get donated to Good Will or something similar. At least we'll get a tax write off from some of it!
Digging through the contents was a dirty/demoralizing job. Found some old pics that broke my heart. Of course, most of it was just junk (no dead bodies or millions dollars - lol!). Ended up selling a box full for $5 today. Hubby has a scrap metal collector picking up some of the appliances and bigger things tomorrow, but it still feels really wasteful.
The tenant situation is getting bad. Still no judgement from the court, officially, so the tenants who haven't paid in four months are still living there without payment. One other tenant texted Hubby that she isn't going to pay this month and will move out by the end of the month and he can just keep the deposit. These folks don't realize that it doesn't really work that way! He will probably be happy just to get her out! The guy on the payment plan paid on Friday, but came up a little short <sigh>. Our most reliable tenants of three years are having another child and will move out over the summer. Well, at least Hubby can now dedicate full-time to getting good tenants in place.
Showing posts with label late rent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label late rent. Show all posts
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Court Case Results
So, after all the worrying, the tenant didn't even show up for court this morning. This usually means that we get an automatic judgement. The judge is going to figure out how Kae can manage to get the money we are owed (4 months rent! + court costs). It may involve attaching their paychecks. Of course, this doesn't mean that they are gone from the apartment. In 10 days we file for possession and if they are not gone within 10 days after that, we can change the locks and sell all of their stuff. This is a little scary. We've never actually thrown anyone out before. We really don't feel bad about the guy that we believe is causing all of the trouble, but he lives with his girlfriend and her teenage son, and that does bother me a little. We will have to see how it goes!
Closing on the house that we will be flipping today. Started getting organized for the yard sale, and met with our HVAC guy to get an estimate on the furnace, which will have to be replaced. Also found out that we won't actually be tied into the property for 90 days like we feared. It turns out the 90 clause is just for short sales, not for general sales or foreclosures. That is a big help because we are hoping to turn it around in about 60 days.
Closing on the house that we will be flipping today. Started getting organized for the yard sale, and met with our HVAC guy to get an estimate on the furnace, which will have to be replaced. Also found out that we won't actually be tied into the property for 90 days like we feared. It turns out the 90 clause is just for short sales, not for general sales or foreclosures. That is a big help because we are hoping to turn it around in about 60 days.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Sneak preview of court case
As I mentioned before, we have two apartments that are really problematic right now. One is on a payment plan and they are doing great. They should be completely caught up by the end of the month (fingers crossed). The others missed payments in the plan right away and are now 4 months behind on the rent. We have a court date scheduled on Tues to evict them. While hubby was fixing something at the property today, one of the tenants told him that the man that we are trying to evict is going to tell the court that there is a problem that we refuse to fix and that is why he is withholding the rent! This is very frustrating, especially since hubby takes care of every single little problem immediately, and usually at great expense. The tenant never reported the supposed problem to us. Unfortunately, the judge has been very difficult to deal with through out the process, so we are very concerned that he will take this guy's word for it and delay the eviction. Did I mention 4 months without rent!!!!!!!!! The "problem" would cost all of $50 to fix. Don't they think we would have fixed it, if it was true that the rent was withheld because of it? Grrrr!!!! A lot tenants get behind because of job losses, etc. I'm not saying that they are perfect, but we have such a history of working with people to try to help them back on their feet. The folks in this problem apartment both have good jobs, but they just will not pay the rent. It's days like this that we feel like being total slumlords, or throwing in the towel!
The flipping properties seem to be back on track. Hubby will close on one on Tues (busy day!). We are going over tomorrow to take a look around. The house is not empty, so we have to figure out the best way to get rid of the stuff left behind: dumpster, yard sale, or craigs list! Hubby was able to negotiate a deal with the home owners association for the 2nd flipper. They are going to waive a $2000 charge because they can't produce a receipt. The seller has agreed to pay the rest of the amount owed. Hopefully we will close on this property sometime next week.
The flipping properties seem to be back on track. Hubby will close on one on Tues (busy day!). We are going over tomorrow to take a look around. The house is not empty, so we have to figure out the best way to get rid of the stuff left behind: dumpster, yard sale, or craigs list! Hubby was able to negotiate a deal with the home owners association for the 2nd flipper. They are going to waive a $2000 charge because they can't produce a receipt. The seller has agreed to pay the rest of the amount owed. Hopefully we will close on this property sometime next week.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Hubby quitting work to invest full time in real estate!
Well, we learned a big lesson about flipping properties about a week ago (late on blogging because I was out of town for a family emergency). The second place we were trying to buy for 75K went to someone else. Here is how it all unfolded:
- Hubby got the bid in on Wed night. Bid 75K and had and inspection contingency.
- Handyman went over early Thurs morning and said the place looked great.
- Realtor called or emailed around 10:30 Thursday saying that the bank had to officially break a prior agreement.
- Hubby crazy busy at day job all day. Finally called realtor back on the drive home. Told him to drop the inspection contingency.
- Hubby thought about it some more and called realtor back and told him to offer full price.
- Learned first thing on Friday morning that the place went to someone else. Someone offered full price with no contingencies on Thursday afternoon.
This was a real bummer because if Hubby had been working full-time on flipping he could have reacted sooner and we would have had the place. Essentially a potential missed opportunity for an easy 30K. Bottom line, when something hot comes up, investors are all over it very quickly and we need to be able to react quickly and aggressively. Giving the banks full price with no contingencies, whenever possible, is the way to go! Obviously we don't want to lose money, but sometime you have to take a bit of a risk.
Hubby decided that the time was right to bite the bullet and leave his full time job. He is away right now but plans to quit as soon as he returns.
Hubby also negotiated a weekly salary of $1250 with the handyman (we will buy all materials and hubby will work with him for half days, at least). We feel this is reasonable ($250 per day), especially because we won't necessarily be able to keep him employed non-stop. I think it is a little high, but we'll see how it works out. As long as we can make money, it won't matter too much.
On the rentals front, 5 out of 7 have paid for April (except one that owes $50, but we are pretty close anyway on those 5). Another unit is on a payment plan of $350 per week until they get caught up and the first two payments have been received with no problem. The 7th is not looking so good. They were on a payment plan, but blew it. They were supposed to pay $700 while we were gone (they called to tell US that this money was coming) but when my son showed up to collect, only $300 was forthcoming (and this was after my son had to drive him to the ATM). They have to pay all past and current rent, late penalties, check bouncing penalties, and legal fees by April 23rd or we will take them to court to start eviction proceedings.
- Hubby got the bid in on Wed night. Bid 75K and had and inspection contingency.
- Handyman went over early Thurs morning and said the place looked great.
- Realtor called or emailed around 10:30 Thursday saying that the bank had to officially break a prior agreement.
- Hubby crazy busy at day job all day. Finally called realtor back on the drive home. Told him to drop the inspection contingency.
- Hubby thought about it some more and called realtor back and told him to offer full price.
- Learned first thing on Friday morning that the place went to someone else. Someone offered full price with no contingencies on Thursday afternoon.
This was a real bummer because if Hubby had been working full-time on flipping he could have reacted sooner and we would have had the place. Essentially a potential missed opportunity for an easy 30K. Bottom line, when something hot comes up, investors are all over it very quickly and we need to be able to react quickly and aggressively. Giving the banks full price with no contingencies, whenever possible, is the way to go! Obviously we don't want to lose money, but sometime you have to take a bit of a risk.
Hubby decided that the time was right to bite the bullet and leave his full time job. He is away right now but plans to quit as soon as he returns.
Hubby also negotiated a weekly salary of $1250 with the handyman (we will buy all materials and hubby will work with him for half days, at least). We feel this is reasonable ($250 per day), especially because we won't necessarily be able to keep him employed non-stop. I think it is a little high, but we'll see how it works out. As long as we can make money, it won't matter too much.
On the rentals front, 5 out of 7 have paid for April (except one that owes $50, but we are pretty close anyway on those 5). Another unit is on a payment plan of $350 per week until they get caught up and the first two payments have been received with no problem. The 7th is not looking so good. They were on a payment plan, but blew it. They were supposed to pay $700 while we were gone (they called to tell US that this money was coming) but when my son showed up to collect, only $300 was forthcoming (and this was after my son had to drive him to the ATM). They have to pay all past and current rent, late penalties, check bouncing penalties, and legal fees by April 23rd or we will take them to court to start eviction proceedings.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Bid accepted - project moving forward
Bid officially and finally accepted by the bank on the townhouse we first saw weeks ago (the one that was waiting for an owner occupier bid first). Title search has begun and the inspection is scheduled for Saturday. We know the inspection will report a lot of problems, but Hubby uses that report as a sneak preview of what will be found when he goes to resell (pretty clever!). Our handy man called today looking for work, but the closing can't take place before the end of April due to all of the paperwork and because we are dealing with a bank, not a real human being!
Lost the bid on the other townhouse, someone offered more than asking price. Oh well, plenty of other fish in the sea. We worry sometimes because we pay some one to do everything. Most people who flip houses do a lot of the construction work themselves. Paying for everything lowers our profit, so we will have to make up in volume (we are happy to make 10K on a property, others want to make 30K).
Meanwhile Hubby is really really frustrated on the eviction process. We are getting zero help from the local and the county courthouses. The judge wants us to give another notice to one group owes almost $1000 and another unit owes even more than that. First eviction notice filed on both, but because we entered into a payment agreement with one group, the judge says we have start the process from scratch! A lawyer we hired for an opinion says that the tenant has waived his right to a notice in the lease, but we are bound by what the court will say.
Could not find a constable who would deliver the eviction notice for us, but we remembered a friend who's a parole officer and PI. Going to ask him to officially deliver the notice. Hoping this will really get the tenants attention!
Lost the bid on the other townhouse, someone offered more than asking price. Oh well, plenty of other fish in the sea. We worry sometimes because we pay some one to do everything. Most people who flip houses do a lot of the construction work themselves. Paying for everything lowers our profit, so we will have to make up in volume (we are happy to make 10K on a property, others want to make 30K).
Meanwhile Hubby is really really frustrated on the eviction process. We are getting zero help from the local and the county courthouses. The judge wants us to give another notice to one group owes almost $1000 and another unit owes even more than that. First eviction notice filed on both, but because we entered into a payment agreement with one group, the judge says we have start the process from scratch! A lawyer we hired for an opinion says that the tenant has waived his right to a notice in the lease, but we are bound by what the court will say.
Could not find a constable who would deliver the eviction notice for us, but we remembered a friend who's a parole officer and PI. Going to ask him to officially deliver the notice. Hoping this will really get the tenants attention!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Tenants and Maintenance
Hubby spent all afternoon reinstalling a cabinet in one of the units. I am convinced that the tenants were rough with it, but no way to be sure. The guy who owned the place before us was fixing it up himself and the cabinet was clearly not anchored properly. Hubby said it looks a little crooked now, but is at least usable.
The thing that frustrated me is that this unit is one of the no pay/slow payers. At least one of the adults now apparently has a job and promised his whole paycheck next Friday toward the rent we will see!
Hubby went to the courthouse to take next steps against the unit that violated their payment plan. Some towns have really helpful people working at the courthouse and they help step us through the eviction process. Unfortunately, this is not one of those situations. Ended up making an appointment with the judge for Monday and hiring a lawyer friend of ours to make sure that we have done everything legally so far. Very annoying.
On the flipping front, it appears like we will definitely get one of the places that we bid on, in spite of a paperwork snafu this week. The other bid has been put "on hold" by the bank that owns the property (whatever that means). We were only a couple of thousand dollars apart on that one so it seems like we should be able to work something out. Our realtor insists that "on hold" in a good thing!
The thing that frustrated me is that this unit is one of the no pay/slow payers. At least one of the adults now apparently has a job and promised his whole paycheck next Friday toward the rent we will see!
Hubby went to the courthouse to take next steps against the unit that violated their payment plan. Some towns have really helpful people working at the courthouse and they help step us through the eviction process. Unfortunately, this is not one of those situations. Ended up making an appointment with the judge for Monday and hiring a lawyer friend of ours to make sure that we have done everything legally so far. Very annoying.
On the flipping front, it appears like we will definitely get one of the places that we bid on, in spite of a paperwork snafu this week. The other bid has been put "on hold" by the bank that owns the property (whatever that means). We were only a couple of thousand dollars apart on that one so it seems like we should be able to work something out. Our realtor insists that "on hold" in a good thing!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Latest updates
Wow - I was away for a week and a lot happened! Hubby put bids in on two places. One is the townhouse near us that he was blocked from bidding on and they accepted his bid right away! Woo Hoo! Flipping house number 2 in in the works. Very excited but working with the banks is frustrating. They wanted everything submitted thru a website, but once they accepted they wanted original documentation fedex'ed right away. Of course, Hubby did that, and, of course, no word from the bank since!!!
The second bid went in for a condo near one of the rentals we own. Listed for $57K, he originally bid $49 and is in negotiations. Says the highest he can go is $52 and still make what he considers to be the min profit. The place is really dirty and needs paint (I haven't seen it, but that is what he says). $10K max. After all that it should sell for something in the high $80s, giving at least a $10K profit once you consider closing costs on both ends. Feels like things are moving now!
Still dealing with frustrations from tenants in 2 apartments. One group has not paid the rent in 2 months. They claim that a tax refund is due on April 3rd (was originally March 26th). On top of all of that, these people are constantly complaining about something with the apartment. Today it was a cabinet that is loose. As far as I'm concerned they have no cause for complaint given all the leeway that Hubby has given them!
Another group of tenants is on a payment plan, but already falling behind. The excuses are amazing: can get rides, paycheck eaten up by child support, etc etc. They are always running around, but never have money for the rent! Luckily we have 5 good, reliable, tenants because these two units would spoil him on the idea of landlording forever (at least they would for me - he has more patience!). Going to court tomorrow to start eviction for these folks!
The second bid went in for a condo near one of the rentals we own. Listed for $57K, he originally bid $49 and is in negotiations. Says the highest he can go is $52 and still make what he considers to be the min profit. The place is really dirty and needs paint (I haven't seen it, but that is what he says). $10K max. After all that it should sell for something in the high $80s, giving at least a $10K profit once you consider closing costs on both ends. Feels like things are moving now!
Still dealing with frustrations from tenants in 2 apartments. One group has not paid the rent in 2 months. They claim that a tax refund is due on April 3rd (was originally March 26th). On top of all of that, these people are constantly complaining about something with the apartment. Today it was a cabinet that is loose. As far as I'm concerned they have no cause for complaint given all the leeway that Hubby has given them!
Another group of tenants is on a payment plan, but already falling behind. The excuses are amazing: can get rides, paycheck eaten up by child support, etc etc. They are always running around, but never have money for the rent! Luckily we have 5 good, reliable, tenants because these two units would spoil him on the idea of landlording forever (at least they would for me - he has more patience!). Going to court tomorrow to start eviction for these folks!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Search came up empty today
Hubby went out to look at a few more houses today to see if they had any flipping potential. Saw one that he really liked, but the neighborhood is not the best (and you can't fix location). Going back to the two we saw the other weekend. Planning to put in a bid on Monday.
On the rental front, all March rents received with the exception of two apartments. One of these will be given an eviction notice on Monday, but they swear they will be current when their tax refund comes (heard this story before - from different tenants) - time will tell. The other late group are the ones on the payment plan. The next payment date is Monday. Waiting to see if we actually collect rent or just collect yet another story. So far 5 out of 7 paid!
On the rental front, all March rents received with the exception of two apartments. One of these will be given an eviction notice on Monday, but they swear they will be current when their tax refund comes (heard this story before - from different tenants) - time will tell. The other late group are the ones on the payment plan. The next payment date is Monday. Waiting to see if we actually collect rent or just collect yet another story. So far 5 out of 7 paid!
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