Real-Estate-Blog

SheReadyLLC

No Rent For 3 Months

For the first time, I experienced one of the things that most landlords dread.

A tenant did not submit a rent payment!

It’s dreaded because some landlords have a mortgage and may not have enough reserve funds to cover bills like insurance or property taxes without receiving the monthly payment.

Yes, I have a tenant who is using the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCHV) and I didn’t receive payment for 3 months. Yes, from July through September, I didn’t receive rent money. My first thought was to panic, but I know I have a great property manager and a responsible tenant so the panic didn’t last long.

The tenant did what she was supposed to do in a timely manner.  I called myself and spoke to several employees at the HUD office responsible for the area.  During my calls, I found out they were experiencing a lot of turn over and my tenant’s case worker changed about 3 times before the issue got resolved which is what caused the tenant to be behind in rent.

When it was all said and done, I received back pay and I’m glad I didn’t go through the process to evict the tenant because it wasn’t the tenant’s fault. I’m also glad that I had a reserve fund to cover cost when things like this happen.

Bottom line, just because you have rental properties that are cash flowing doesn’t mean that you won’t experience difficult times and you must prepare for them.

Advertisement
SheReadyLLC

The Neighbor Paid For Damage To My Porch

A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post about receiving a message from my Property Manager.  The neighbor’s dog had come upon my porch and tore up the carpet. 

That was in August, it’s now October and my Property Manager sent me a text of what the porch looks like now.

It is decorated beautifully for the fall weather. It looks like a porch you would see on HGTV. It has a dark brown carpet now. The tenant decorated a couple of end tables with orange and white pumpkins on them. She also has a scarecrow and fall welcome signs.

It’s all so tasteful and I couldn’t be more pleased to have someone taking care of my property. It has a special place in my heart since it was the first home my mom bought and paid off. As long as I own it, it will always remain part of our family.

If you read the first part of this story, check out the blog post.

Look What The Neighbor’s Dog Did To My #Property

If you find my blog interesting, please consider following my journey. I greatly appreciate it.

SheReadyLLC

Applying Tax Lien Lessons from 2020 towards the Upcoming 2022 MS Tax Lien Auction

August 29th is currently the scheduled date for the MS Tax Lien fall auctions.  I purchased three last year and I have only received funds from one of them so far.  I talk about buying tax liens in my ebook Trials and Tribulations of a Rookie Real Estate Investor.

I’m going to breakdown how much money I actually earned on the one I received recently.

MS Tax Lien Redeemed
  • The delinquent amount on the property was listed at  $319.38.
  • I overbid $25.00 which means I paid $344.38.
  • The owner had accrued $57.49 in interest.
  • I received a check for $376.87 less than a year later.
  • $376.87 –  $344.38 = 32.49. 
  • I made a profit on one tax lien of $32.49. 
  • That is a little over 9% interest I earned.

YOU CANNOT GET A RETURN LIKE THAT WITH A REGULAR SAVINGS ACCOUNT!

This year I have a better strategy.  I wrote a 9 step checklist for myself to follow starting from reviewing my past purchased tax liens to placing pre-bids. It’s a similar checklist I have written about in previous blog posts. The checklist is in a specific order because there are things I have to do before pre-bidding starts.  In 2020, I lost money and I wrote about in Another Tax Lien Redeemed and A Lesson Learned blog post.

In order to avoid this moving forward, I will stick to bidding  15% or less.

SheReadyLLC

Where Is My Mailbox Money??

I refer to mailbox money as money that I receive in the mail from my tax lien investments. It’s a nice surprise to receive money after investing especially if I’ve kinda forgotten about it.

However, due to everything going on today, I’m wondering what’s going on. This time last year, I had received checks for two of the three tax liens I had purchased and I haven’t received any from the ones I purchased last year.

As I listen to the news, podcasts and read FB posts from other real estate investors, I’m wondering if it’s gotten so bad that people cannot afford to pay their property taxes. Will that mean, that tax lien investors will get opportunities to obtain properties at an even lower price than buying them from the MLS or by doing seller financing deals???

I honestly don’t know!

I buy tax liens for the returns they provide because 10 % is far better than the .01% that a bank savings account gives you.

Plus, bidding is not hard once you set your criteria and stick to it. It just takes a little due diligence.