^ most landlords are lazy, burnt out or simply don't have the time anymore. It is why the bad tenants flock to smaller properties like 2 & 4 families because the larger ones can have more on site management to keep the riff raff out. Outside of NNN properties, there really is no such thing as mailbox money anymore and with the retail shakeup who knows how safe NNN are. Used to be if you had Toys R US, Best Buy and Sears in a mall, you were pretty solid. Now, not so much.

Update: the evicted individual removed her clothes from an upstairs hall closet, but there are still stray items in the closet like a canvas bag (like a re-usable grocery bag) with loose cat food in it (you can't make this up).  Meanwhile, she claimed that she sold the unused furniture to her ex-boyfriend (who still lives in the house), but some of it has been removed.  Moreover, there is a box full of junk (a random strand of Christmas lights, etc.) and a vacuum cleaner in the family room next to the remaining unused furniture. 

 

The police officer I spoke with earlier in the week warned me about this -- that she would leave random objects in the house so that she could maintain a claim to living there.  My question is should I confront her about this stuff right now over the phone or should I wait until my Friday at noon deadline and just go down and file an eviction with the county on Friday afternoon? 

 

 

The police officer I spoke with earlier in the week warned me about this -- that she would leave random objects in the house so that she could maintain a claim to living there. 

 

The Patented George Costanza Leave-Behind

Update: the evicted individual removed her clothes from an upstairs hall closet, but there are still stray items in the closet like a canvas bag (like a re-usable grocery bag) with loose cat food in it (you can't make this up).  Meanwhile, she claimed that she sold the unused furniture to her ex-boyfriend (who still lives in the house), but some of it has been removed.  Moreover, there is a box full of junk (a random strand of Christmas lights, etc.) and a vacuum cleaner in the family room next to the remaining unused furniture. 

 

The police officer I spoke with earlier in the week warned me about this -- that she would leave random objects in the house so that she could maintain a claim to living there.  My question is should I confront her about this stuff right now over the phone or should I wait until my Friday at noon deadline and just go down and file an eviction with the county on Friday afternoon? 

 

Just call her and set her items out on the curb. THis way she does not have to come into your place again. Or if you have another closet in the front of the place you can consolidate things in, place them there, therefore, when she comes over, she does not need to go beyond the front entry way and you do not need to let her past that part of your house.

Not Ohio or even the United States but a company is attempting to turn owning rental properties into a much simpler affair:

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/dot-lets-invest-property-without-080048175.html

 

Obviously, this company is going to extract a horrendous fee for managing the finances and physical management of the properties.  So instead of grossing 10%+ you're going to be lucky to get 5%. 

I'm a bit sad, but we've put our rental for sale over the weekend.  I'll be sure to write up a post-sale "lessons learned" once it's purchased.

 

https://www.coldwellbankerhomes.com/oh/cincinnati/30-e-central-parkway/pid_25175927/

xumelanie[/member] and I no longer own a rental property we sold and I'm going through the process of doing up the final taxes and balance sheet work.  It's been a crazy ride, but was just too much work for us to do with kids and a full time other job.

It is hard to own a one off rental property as you get into your mid-30s. Without any scale, you cant justify hiring a manager to take care of it.

It is hard to own a one off rental property as you get into your mid-30s. Without any scale, you cant justify hiring a manager to take care of it.

 

Ugh.  Good to know (speaking as a mid-30something that has been toying on-again off-again with the idea of dipping a toe in the rental property market).

Having a good manager makes all the difference.  It's a barrier to getting the first one, and then it's an absolute incentive to get the second (and third and fourth) as soon as you can, to justify having someone on the payroll in some fashion to take care of it.  (We've lucked into having an excellent one.) 

It is hard to own a one off rental property as you get into your mid-30s. Without any scale, you cant justify hiring a manager to take care of it.

 

Ugh.  Good to know (speaking as a mid-30something that has been toying on-again off-again with the idea of dipping a toe in the rental property market).

 

I think it just depends what type of property you own. I have two rental condos downtown and I manage just fine as a 40 something with a full time job. However, last year, I also had a single family rental house in Lakewood and that was ten times the work of the two condos combined. I ended up selling the Lakewood house and will never buy another house while still working full time.

We were looking at single family homes.  Akron has a real shortage of single family home rentals, at least compared to large multifamily complexes.  But maybe there's a reason for that, if rents simply can never reach a level to make it worth the hassle of owning and renting out a single family home.

I don't think I have any hope of really making money without a manager, since I'm way too nice.  I let these people pay me late. 

 

 

 

I think it just depends what type of property you own. I have two rental condos downtown and I manage just fine as a 40 something with a full time job. However, last year, I also had a single family rental house in Lakewood and that was ten times the work of the two condos combined. I ended up selling the Lakewood house and will never buy another house while still working full time.

 

Yeah the positive with a condo is zero yard work and minimal interior maintenance.  The negative is less appreciation than a single-family house in the same area. 

 

 

I don't think there's too many areas outside of campus parts of towns where the Pros bother owning single-familys. Money can be made managing them tho.

I am aware of a duo who own 120~ single-family homes scattered around Cincinnati.  They have a staff of at least five people who I saw. 

 

The whole dilemma is that you aren't going to make money unless you pay significantly below retail for every single house.  But then that means you can't really concentrate on any specific part of town, so your portfolio gets scattered, and the management logistics get a lot more complicated. 

 

It'll be interesting to see if Uptown ever sells off its single-family homes and small multi-families.  They've got upwards of 1,000 units (if not more) in large and mid-sized multifamilies, so it's a bit ridiculous that they're wasting time maintaining and renting a few dozen 3-bedroom homes. 

 

 

It is a lot easier to do it with Multi's but even after a while 2-4 families do not get the economies of scale that bigger properties provide.

We were looking at single family homes.  Akron has a real shortage of single family home rentals, at least compared to large multifamily complexes.  But maybe there's a reason for that, if rents simply can never reach a level to make it worth the hassle of owning and renting out a single family home.

 

Akron is a great place for 2-4 unit properties. I personally think the Cuyahoga Falls area is a decent area for these type of smaller properties given the location to downtown and the University, the older housing stock, it is more of a working class area with a good supply of renters and fairly stable for the most part.

It is a lot easier to do it with Multi's but even after a while 2-4 families do not get the economies of scale that bigger properties provide.

 

Larger properties can often get a better return but are more difficult for a new investor unless they have some equity saved up. Most people start with smaller properties and work their way up, although smaller properties need more hands on management.

So...that individual who I had to evict back in April...

 

...fast-forward to September 2018.  She got a job...at my workplace.  For the past month I've had to work with someone who I evicted.  Then, today, she intentionally walked into the men's restroom while I was at the urinal and announced that "she didn't know this was the men's". 

 

That's how insane this person is. 

 

I know I'm hitting people with a lot here -- yes, someone WHO I EVICTED FROM MY PROPERTY intentionally GOT A JOB AT MY COMPANY SO SHE COULD MESS WITH ME.

 

She is totally insane, and I will easily outlast her at the company, and I have enough money to not work for years, so I really don't care...

 

...but I'm passing this along as example of just how crazy landlording can be. 

Damn...What are they putting in Cincinnati's water? This chick sounds nuts!

I think she likes you

2 hours ago, GCrites80s said:

I think she likes you

I was thinking the same thing.

Is their more to this story?  Were you more than a "lord" to her "land"?  ?

At least if you go missing we know who the prime suspect is...

Sorry folks, there is no titillating back story.  This is just raw craziness. 

 

That said, managing your own property and screening female tenants is a bit of a minefield.  Men are usually much better at telling when a prospective male tenant is a mess.  Women are much better at putting on a face.    

Edited December 2, 20186 yr by jmecklenborg

Question somewhat related to this thread for our UO attorneys. 

 

My wife and I were together for years before finally getting married a couple years ago.    Prior to our marriage, I had purchased a duplex in Cleveland and hold the mortgage on it.

 

Is there a quick and easy way to get the wife's name added to the mortgage and deed in case something would happen to me ?

IANAL but you can easily add her to a dead by filing a new deed with both names on it. A survivorship deed is what you would want. I don't think you can add her to the mortgage without refinancing.  I dont thin it's necessary fot her to be on the mortgage.  I'll let the lawyers weigh in on this to correct me if I'm wrong. 

Edited December 2, 20186 yr by freefourur

 

In minute 7 he talks about using a 1031 Exchange to buy a mobile home park in Maine and a 24-unit apartment in - you guessed it - Cincinnati, OH.

 

I looked into doing a 1031 Exchange last year but my lawyer told me that you have to hire a law firm that specializes in the process and that it's typically pretty expensive.  I didn't want to screw around with it because I really wasn't ready to buy another house and my profit was a nice amount of money but not profound.  I sent the IRS an estimated tax payment of $12,000. 

 

Incidentally, this guy from Bigger Pockets is from Washington State and owns the house Curt Kobain grew up in in Aberdeen.  If I were more curious about knowing which apartment building he owns in Cincinnati than I am, I could find the LLC that owns that house in Aberdeen and guess that it also owns the building in Cincinnati. 

 

Jake - a 1031 is not as expensive as you would think. a forward exchange can be done for $1000-$2000 depending on where you go. You don't need an expensive law firm or even lawyer. What you need is a 1031 intermediary which oftentimes is a lawyer but does not have to be. I recently spoke with a bank in town that offers 1031 intermediary services for $1200 for a forward transaction.

Huh. I’ve been on opposite end of a 1031 and wouldn’t have guessed it would be that expensive. Figured it was more an accounting expense than an expensive lawyer’s expensive. 

 

Aberdeen could be different than Cincy LLC. You own all your stuff with same LLC? Going on third property with all different LLCs. Granted I have partners. 

39 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

Jake - a 1031 is not as expensive as you would think. a forward exchange can be done for $1000-$2000 depending on where you go. You don't need an expensive law firm or even lawyer. What you need is a 1031 intermediary which oftentimes is a lawyer but does not have to be. I recently spoke with a bank in town that offers 1031 intermediary services for $1200 for a forward transaction.

 

Good to know for next time but I don't regret not doing it with this sale.  The first buyer of my property fell through after being under contract for 2-3 weeks.  Then the backup offer ended up closing, but 1-2 days after their contract expired (I actually thought I was going to be putting the land back on the market).  So in all the property was under contract for 6-7 weeks. 

 

My worry was that the 1031 Exchange time constraint was going cause me to overpay for something.  You need to be able to back away if the inspection finds something unsavory and the time limit would have pressured me into buying something I wouldn't have otherwise. 

 

 

11 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

 

In minute 7 he talks about using a 1031 Exchange to buy a mobile home park in Maine and a 24-unit apartment in - you guessed it - Cincinnati, OH.

 

I looked into doing a 1031 Exchange last year but my lawyer told me that you have to hire a law firm that specializes in the process and that it's typically pretty expensive.  I didn't want to screw around with it because I really wasn't ready to buy another house and my profit was a nice amount of money but not profound.  I sent the IRS an estimated tax payment of $12,000. 

 

Incidentally, this guy from Bigger Pockets is from Washington State and owns the house Curt Kobain grew up in in Aberdeen.  If I were more curious about knowing which apartment building he owns in Cincinnati than I am, I could find the LLC that owns that house in Aberdeen and guess that it also owns the building in Cincinnati. 

 

 

Ahem, it's Kurdt Kobain

15 hours ago, jmecklenborg said:

 

Good to know for next time but I don't regret not doing it with this sale.  The first buyer of my property fell through after being under contract for 2-3 weeks.  Then the backup offer ended up closing, but 1-2 days after their contract expired (I actually thought I was going to be putting the land back on the market).  So in all the property was under contract for 6-7 weeks. 

 

My worry was that the 1031 Exchange time constraint was going cause me to overpay for something.  You need to be able to back away if the inspection finds something unsavory and the time limit would have pressured me into buying something I wouldn't have otherwise. 

 

 

That is always a worry on the 1031. Many people fall into the overpay for property part because they do not want to give up the 1031. At the end of the day, the worst thing that could happen is that you run out of time and pay the tax. That is far better than overpaying for something. What I always recommend is from the moment you go under contract start your search and identification process. I always try and do a 60 day close because it essentially extends the timeline to find something an additional 2 months. It will also let you tie up a property early on and give additional due diligence period to see if it will work before you have to finalize your identification of 3 properties.  It is not as daunting or hard to manage as it may seem.

It seems like if you already have a relationship with a wholesaler or you have a relative looking to sell their house then that's the best way to go about it. 

 

The other option is to buy raw land with a 1031 since $100k+ pieces of rural land tend to sit on the market for many months, but I had no need for my own deer hunting land, which seems to be about the only actual use for 25-50 acre patches of hilly wooded land in Kentucky and Indiana. 

^That obviously helps. There are a lot of ways to do it too.  Remember you can also do a 1031 into multiple properties

Looks like Dusty Rhodes wiped the entry for the primary residence of the family of Otto Warmbier, but didn't bother hiding the vacant land that is likely right next to their house.  Or the rental property they own in Northside.  After what they've been through, I'm surprised that they didn't put it all in an LLC or the feds didn't offer to put their property in a sort of "witness protection".  

 

 

This video is incredible.  The landlord put himself in this stupid situation to create content for his youtube channel.  He should have just had his lawyer offer these people $1,000 to move out, but he probably made way more in youtube hits. 

 

 

^ Where the heck do you find this crap, Jake?

 

 

Don't stalk your female tenants!

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/cincinnati-landlord-jailed-for-stalking-woman-tenant-in-violation-of-court-protection-order

Look at those snakes lurking at stage right: 

^First Strike is Deadly

This never occurred to me - if you "live-in-one-unit-and-rent-out-the-other", the tenant can steal your mail and steal your identity:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-married-a-person-who-was-evil-and-who-has-threatened-to-take-my-house-my-tenant-stole-my-identity-how-do-i-get-back-on-my-feet-847b5a8f?cx_testId=22&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=8&mod=home-page-cx#cxrecs_s

 

1 hour ago, Lazarus said:

This never occurred to me - if you "live-in-one-unit-and-rent-out-the-other", the tenant can steal your mail and steal your identity:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/i-married-a-person-who-was-evil-and-who-has-threatened-to-take-my-house-my-tenant-stole-my-identity-how-do-i-get-back-on-my-feet-847b5a8f?cx_testId=22&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=8&mod=home-page-cx#cxrecs_s

 

Sure this can happen with a "high-quality" tenant like the one she managed to find.   

 

I actually had the ID theft thing happen when I was renting downtown in a building years ago.  The management had hired an unscrupulous lady in the leasing office, who was stealing mail from tenants.  Thanks to the lease files, she had access to everything including SSN, mothers maiden name, etc, making it very easy for her to open credit cards in everyone's name and steal them when they showed up in the mail weeks later.     A few of us took all this information to the police, who showed zero interest in doing anything about her.

 

I've been renting out 1/2 my owner-occupied duplex for years.   I do exhaustive tenant screening, including calling references.   In addition, I make sure when showing the property to remind prospective tenants that they would be living right next door to their landlord, who will see and hear everything they do.   This alone seems to chase away the riff raff. 

 

Thankfully I haven't had to do this in about 7 years as I've had the same wonderful tenant, who is also my neighbor and friend (and has a key to my house if the need arises while I'm away).  

 

 

We have had to throw away hundreds of hours over the years having to drive to a PO box because of mail theft that occurred at the farm when we didn't have one. 

16 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

We have had to throw away hundreds of hours over the years having to drive to a PO box because of mail theft that occurred at the farm when we didn't have one. 

now with online payments it is a lot easier to collect rent and not have to worry about PO Box's anymore. 

Heck, there are even systems that allow tenants who only use cash to pay rent with cash by going to Wal Mart or CVS and using cash to pay which converts it into an electronic transaction. 

2 minutes ago, Brutus_buckeye said:

now with online payments it is a lot easier to collect rent and not have to worry about PO Box's anymore. 

Heck, there are even systems that allow tenants who only use cash to pay rent with cash by going to Wal Mart or CVS and using cash to pay which converts it into an electronic transaction. 

I have 2 rental properties.  One pays via Venmo, the other via Zelle.   Greatest things ever.  

Mom can't use the internet. So mail, mail, mail. In and out. Not for rent so much. It's everything else. Her house doesn't have internet or good cell phone service. I have to drive to my house to use the internet. 

Ever try to imagine how complex life is without any internet and only being able to use your cell phone for texting in 2023? It would be one thing if she was an average retiree with just a condo. But now run a business that way. There was a stack of phone books sitting out at the PO the other day and she rejoiced because her last one was 8 years old.

Edited April 27, 20232 yr by GCrites80s