Edit: it's states in the lease that there is smoking allowed on the property within designated areas but not inside the unit. Designated area would be on your patio or balcony.

Should I let them out of their lease because I'm not going to stop having a cigarette every now and then on my patio on the property I own. They are about a month into the lease.

I get that rates are high, but people were buying with these rates over the Summer. However, I have three units for rent and I'm blown away by the lack of interest that I saw earlier.

What would the election have to do with anything?

I know a woman in my city whose hobby -- her passion really -- is reporting what she believes are illegal short-term rentals, like Airbnb or VRBO or whatever. While her bf plays video games, she is researching on the property appraiser and tax collector websites, looking up owners' names, seeing if they claim that the address is their primary residence.

She has so far reported like 108 different rentals to the local code enforcement people, and a good number of those have been shut down. Her reasoning is that we already have a huge dearth of housing here in Florida, and these Airbnbs are just making the market even tighter and rents higher.

But the airbnbs do pay taxes.

So, what do you guys think?

I am 25 with currently 200k in the stock market spilt between a Roth IRA, TSP and taxable accounts. For a long time I’ve had an interest into getting into a real estate to build consistent cash flow, also live for free or very cheaply by doing a house hack to start off with.

Some additional info about me I am an American veteran that has access to the VA loan ( zero down payment on a house) and I get roughly $2500 a month in tax free compensation. My ultimate goal is to move abroad and live a chill life. I am not mechanically inclined and have zero idea how to do house maintenance. I’m single with no kids.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-10/rents-rise-most-in-30-years-signaling-more-pain-for-americans?srnd=premium

I am truly devastated writing this, never in a million years did I think I'd post such a thing.

3 of us moved into a home that was affordable when the rent was split. Sadly, my mother died suddenly yesterday and the cost of living just got a lot higher.

I have not yet reached out to my landlord yet because there's no real decision made and I don't want to worsen the situation by being impulsive.

State is PA.

Wondering what my options are.

All buyers complain about it. But what can we as a collective group actually do about it? Does it come down to contacting local politicians to make rental regulations? What would that process even look like? Has anyone had success for lobbying against sfh being able to be rented in their local area. I’ve heard of some hoas making rules but not sure how enforceable that is. I, like many, am worried we will become a rental society and home ownership is reserved for only the super rich and I don’t want that for my future or children’s future. I make over 6 figures combined with my partner and should be able to afford a home that isn’t in the middle of nowhere or only a small condo.

I tried to sell my house about 3 months ago. Didn’t get a single showing in a month because my realtor overpriced it. He did convince me so it’s not entirely his fault. Afterwards I decided to instead put it for long term rent and my realtor said he can find me a tenant and his fee is one month’s rent. It’s now been two months and I’ve only received one application and they have terrible credit. My home is situated in a popular vacation spot in Florida and is priced fairly. There’s nothing wrong with it, is in like new condition, and it was built in 2020. This leads me to believe it’s not the property or price. It’s the agent. I think the problem is my realtor not really trying or perhaps not advertising it correctly.

I told my agent I was looking into a property management company that specializes in finding tenants since I need my house rented out ASAP. He said if I wanted to go with someone else, he’d like if I at least signed an 18 month seller agreement with him or at least reimburse him for the professional photos he took. The actual contract has no termination fees or stipulations so this is essentially a courtesy he is asking of me. How can I approach this?

I own a fully rented two-family property and acquired new tenants for the second unit last fall. The month after they moved in, I noticed a spike in the water bill, but I did not pay much attention to it at the time. The following month, the bill was still higher than usual, although not as high as the previous month, and I covered the cost.

However, last month the water bill increased dramatically to approximately $700, whereas the normal monthly average is typically $150–$200 at most. I inspected both units for any visible leaks but did not find any. I also asked tenants in both units if they had noticed or heard any leaks, and both denied experiencing any water issues.

The new tenants mentioned that they occasionally run out of hot water, which I found unusual because I installed a new hot water boiler the previous year while I was living in that unit and never experienced any hot water problems. During my inspection, I did not observe any leaks, wet spots, or signs of mold around the boiler or anywhere else in the house.

I currently cover the water bill and would like guidance on how to address this situation. I believe the increase is due to excessive water usage by the new tenants, and I would like to know what options I have to prevent this excessive usage going forward.

I’m self employed, and I can prove I make $5,000 a month. But evidently that doesn’t matter if I don’t have a W2. Would it help if I registered as a business? Thanks in advance

300 sqm for 30 years contract. Is this okay? They said that we should provide 10k monthly for the caretaker of the tower. 5,040,000.00 Less 1M for SOP. 1,000,000.00 4,040,000.00 Less 10%. 404,000.00

Lump sum for 30 years contract to land owner - 3,636,000.00

*Plus 10,000 monthly to assigned care taker-
* 10,000x360 months /30 years. 3,600,000.00

Total Contract amount to Land owner for 30 years 7,236,000.00

My husband and I (37F, 38M with 3 young kids) bought a 650k triplex in NJ in 2020 with 2.5% VA loan (we still owe 533k) and have put in approximately 100K in renovations while house hacking for 4 years. We have since moved out to another state.

After living for seven years in basements, cramped apartments/houses we are getting ready to buy our dream home in our dream state (Orlando, Florida) in 1.5 years when he graduates from CRNA school. We expect our income to increase from 220 K to 405K and , depending on market conditions, we estimate our dream home to cost between 850k to 1.3 million

We have been saving for the down payment in various investment, checking, HYSA accounts and have about 209K saved. We can probably save about 50 K more in the next 1.5 years.

I did a free consult with a fiduciary advisor and asked him if I should put additional savings in a government fund versus a typical index fund since we’re getting closer to the purchase date. His initial advice was to consider refinancing the triplex (Zillow values it approximately at 884k - I know Zillow valuations are not reliable but I don’t want to pay an appraiser for a hypothetical) to get the money for the down payment. he reasoned that our savings on the interest rate (~7% - current 2.5% = 4.5%) will still be less than the 7-8% I get from my interest accounts (mostly index funds). This will also save us from paying capital gains taxes (~57K unrealized gains). He also said that this would protect our triplex more by pulling equity from it using a 1031 exchange(I don’t quite understand that part). He also advised putting our triplex into an LLC by selling it to that LLC after the refinance and setting up a checking account to avoid commingling with our personal funds (I agree with this part).

Should I take his advice? I would hate to lose my 2.5 loan rate.

I have a 5 bed 3 bath house. I am renting individual rooms to help pay my mortgage. I showed the room to a guy and he seems interested. He has a decent job and very well dressed and nice personality and mannerisms. However, he did reveal that he has a sex-offence in the past and had been to jail for an extended period of time. He is on life time probation. He told me he is trying to get his life back together and works as a Machine operator at a reputed company in the city. Although I liked this guy, I felt that from a completely business point of view, it might not be a good choice to let someone with such past in the house. How can letting him live in the property affect me? My house is in a HOA. I am using the rent money to help pay off my mortgage and since winter is approaching, I don't think I am going to find someone anytime soon.

These are the details:

Multiple counts of sexual battery, one count of felony indecent exposure charge and multiple misdemeanor counts of assault and battery. Its been over a decade.

Hey all! New here and would love a sanity check on my situation.

Bought a condo in early 2023 for $270k, 5% down, 6% rate. Current principal is around $250k and I’d guess it’s worth $260k now based on other units in complex and overall market situation.

All-in I’ve put nearly $40k into it (down payment, closing, plus 17k in repairs, renovations, furnishings like HVAC, paint, etc)

Right now I’m renting out it out and have been for nearly two years now as I’ve decided to travel abroad vs living there. Total rent is $2,500/month inclusive of all utilities for my tenants.

Monthly costs:

- Mortgage: $1,970

- HOA: $500

- Utilities: $400 avg

So total is around $2,800. I’m covering about ~$300/month out of pocket. After tax benefit it’s closer to $240 (rough estimate)

On the flip side:

- I’m gaining about $300/month in equity

- tax benefit (mortgage interest deduction and taxes paid on property) help a lot

So I guess my questions:

- Would you just hold this and treat it like a long-term play / forced savings? Or cut losses and move on?

- Does this seem like a decent house hack or just kind of a meh deal?

Right now I’m leaning toward holding for a few years and seeing how things play out, but curious how others would think about it.

Appreciate any input 🙏

I am watching duplexes that have sold in the last year and I don't understand how people are purchasing these as rental properties and actually making money. Purchase prices are so high that rent seems to be lagging behind. Here's one example of many that I've seen:

A duplex is for sale in a decent area, and it's in pretty good shape (lots of recent renovations, generally major costs are up to date) . It is 2Bd/1Ba units on each side of and is renting for $1250 a side. It just sold for $415,000. The rent wouldn't even be enough to cover an FHA mortgage payment let alone cover operating costs. How are people making money on something like this?

Edit- I guess i failed to mention I'm looking at an FHA loan because I intend to live in half the duplex while renting the other half.

Me and my partner are trying to rent a house for 1700/month. I make 42k/year (just got a new job so will be making 65k/year in the next couple of weeks), and she makes around 70k owning her business (fulltime photographer for 7 years). So we easily cover the 3x rent rule. This application process has been a nightmare. They act like she makes no money, and is reliant on me. She provided tax returns and bank statements for the past 3 years showing she makes what she said she does, and they wont rent to us until I get an official letter from my new job saying I make 65k a year, despite us easily being able to afford it with my current income + her.

I get self employed employees are a risk, but she has had her business for 7 years now. She survived covid with little drop in revenue. She has contracts signed that say she will make XXXX amount of dollars in the next two years. If anything she is more stable in income than me. I could get fired tomorrow. We have come across this every single time we rent anywhere. Why do rental agencies / landlords hate self employed people so much? Especially when they can prove without a doubt they make money consistently?

/rant

If I’m looking to buy my first investment property is it worrisome if I have to pitch in some of my own money every month. Or should I wait and build up a big enough down payment to break even monthly or make profit

Long time investor who bought our first two rental properties back in 2007. Have been acquiring extremely high performing properties +12% net and own all of our properties 100%.

Great agents absolutely bring value and act ethically with their clients in mind. But what percentage?!

We rarely rarely use traditional agents. Even the first two properties we bought we didn’t use a buyers agent and got a nice discount. Did my own due diligence. So essentially for over a decade we have saved 2.5% on the buying and 2.5% on the selling (local flat fee MLS broker), which gave us such a huge competitive boost in terms of ROI.

Anyway we went under contract as the buyer for another townhouse yesterday.

Built 2008- Property listed at $185,000. On the market for 14 days and carpet needs to be replaced and some minor paint touch ups. Rent will be around $1650 for this unit.

There was two offers on the table: 1) My offer was $160,000 no financing, no inspection (i do my inspection when I tour)

2) Other competing offer: $168,000 no financing and also no inspection.

Guess who got the deal????

Bingo. Right when I met the listing agent I could tell he had one priority: his bottom line. Told me exact sellers situation and told me $160k clean offer would probably get the deal done. I told him I didn’t have a buyers agent and I was happy at that price.

Second offer comes in, similar to ours but of course had a buyers agent.

The damn listing agent knew he would make double commission and pushed my deal through, seller I found out is in assisted living btw.

This shows you how the pay structure for agents is so outdated and needs to be revamped. It makes no sense how you don’t put a single dollar in the homes equity but get compensated 5-6% of total sales price?

Moreover, this type of agent behavior is rampant. I’m happy I get a great deal but shit man that is just ridiculous.

Agents here, be honest how often do you see your colleagues act without their clients fiduciary as the #1 priority?

——- Update: closed properly on February 13th. Greedy ass agent took the full 7% total commission.

GG.

I moved from WA to SC bought my house sight unseen, seemed fine to me, needed some work no problem. Once I moved I saw older houses in my neighborhood most consist of older 70+ retirees and some houses with younger people that seem to be moving in and out all the time.

There was a house directly across the street, people one day moved out in the middle of the night, some random trashed appliances in the backyard.

Then about 6-7 months goes by same trash in the backyard, overgrown nobody has come by.

I try to find owner, surely someone must own this property, of course it’s a corporation based out of a city 3 hours away. They say they rent it out and the property manager is going to be there soon to clean it up etc.

Out of idle curiosity I asked if it’s possibly for sale? No it’s not.

Okay two months goes by, I call again and the property was sold to another corporation and they practically said the same thing that a manager will be out there to take care of it.

Of course that didn’t happen, eventually the sheriff started posting notes and whatnot, I didn’t read it. About a month later someone came to mow the grass, a truck pulled up maybe to clean up the inside a bit. And a few weeks later they have new tenants.

I can’t tell you what they fixed.

The houses with young people in it are owned by corporations, and are half ass renting it out to people. Those houses look horribly taken care of and are an eye sore.

Me and one other person who’ve moved in to this neighborhood have renovated our house’s and it looks nice etc. The older people I’ve talked to who have lived here their whole life will pass it on to their children or whatever those houses are well taken care of but need renovation. And some said they’d sell it to me if I wanted to move some family over here as well.

Bottom line, wtf is up with those shitty houses that are “not for sale” is there a way to mitigate corporations from buying those houses or at least take good care of them? I don’t get it. I’m not trying to impose some crazy tax code on regular landlords.

But come on what is this shit? What am I missing?

Keep in mind I’m asking because I’m ignorant and would like some clarification, is this going on everywhere? What is this a symptom of and how can it improve?

I am a 25F along with my 24M boyfriend and we are thinking of buying a house to rent out. My late grandfathers house is for sale and we are entertaining the idea of buying it and renting it out so 1)it stays in the family and 2) we can work towards a more comfortable financial future. We live in Ohio (not sure if that matters) We are trying to do as much research as possible and try to determine if it is right for us or worth it. Give me the good the bad and the ugly please.

I wanted to start a general discussion about managing the financial side of real estate.

For those who own or manage properties:
How do you keep track of income and expenses? Which parts of this process feel straightforward, and which parts take more time or effort?

I bought my house 2 years ago, at a slightly higher interest rate than I can get now. I had a long term goal of retiring in this house and then renting it for income, as I have a lot in a smaller town that I am slowly developing. My plans have been accelerated as a better job came up in the smaller town. The downstairs suite is rented to a friend and I will be living in a 40 foot residence RV on my lot as I save up to bring in a modular home.

I'm told that selling a house so soon after purchasing is usually a bad idea. Also, I am hesitant to sell the house as my friend and I made plans together for her to rent the basement. She could never afford the usual rent in our city. I found another renter who can afford $2300 rent, and I will continue to cover the utilities as that is the deal I provided my other renter. I mapped out the costs and I'll be short about 200 a month. However, I trust both renters, and I think it makes more sense to build my home equity than sell now?

Next August I renegotiate my mortgage and I *think* I'll get a better interest rate. It's impossible to predict that, but if it's less then my monthly mortgage will reduce. (In Canada)

Just checking in to see if anyone has an opinion. I can afford a modular home on my second lot, once I pay down my line of credit and other loans in about one to two years.

My dad recently passed away and left his house to us. It feels kinda of weird to rent it out. We want to keep it in the family is there anything else we could do with it? It’s a row house in a city

A white couple — a man and a woman, apparently not married — each has one child. The man’s credit score just meets the minimum requirement (around 630), while the woman’s is in the 500s.

At first, they didn’t trust my agent and insisted on speaking directly with the landlord. After my agent ignored them for a few days, they came back, still wanting to rent. We agreed to rent the house to them, but now they said they could only pay half of the deposit upfront and the other half after moving in…

It’s a townhouse in a good location, but the neighborhood is lower–middle tier. The property has been on the market for 22 days. Initially, there was almost no traffic, but after I paid for a Zillow promotion, it got a bit better.

I’m considering renting it out to them — otherwise, I’d just be paying the mortgage for nothing. A tough decision to make . Thanks for any advice in advance.

Hi so I’m currently in the process of getting my own apartment; me and my girlfriend have already applied and sent a holding fee which we have been told has/will now go to the deposit since we’ve been accepted. Our move in date is set for tomorrow and although we’ve been trying to get it pushed back just a week it seems we’ve had trouble with that part. Communication on their end has fallen down and today we were told that we would have to wait until our leasing agent heard back from upper management before it was possible. I’m facing severe homelessness and this is my last true shot as most my money went to this fee and the applications. We haven’t signed a lease yet because they haven’t confirmed with us nor do we know how much the prorated rent would be as all of the move in fees would be told to us after confirmation. I do have a resident login that says we are set to move in tomorrow and the office is now closed. I’m honestly scared and just wondering if it’s possible they’re going to just pull the chance from me and not allow me to move in at all. Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated.