We heard back on our revised offer today. I was hoping it’d be sooner, but with the weekend and the seller being in France, this is about what I expected. I also expected they’d give us something, but they didn’t.
The seller stood firm on the initial $45k offer. Apparently they said they have other offers on the table, too. I didn’t like that. I want the house. Not because I’m not emotionally invested or feel like I’ve put too much time into this deal, but it makes sense.
The house is on the larger size (1,800 square feet), especially in this price range. The current rent is well under market at $730/month and should be closer to $900. It’s in great shape and all the numbers make sense even if we have to put $10k-$12k into it to “stabilize” it.
So we decided to continue moving forward with our initial offer. That means no inspection, and this admittedly has me a bit nervous but probably not as nervous as I should be.
At this point we’re getting our earnest money deposit (EMD) of $1,000 to our agent and moving forward with a May 13th closing date. There is a ton I need to do before then and a lot that I have no idea how to handle but will learn as I go.
For example, the current tenant is section 8 and her lease expires on May 31st. I have no ability to renew it, cancel it, etc. until we have possession of the property (at least that’s my understanding).
Her rent is far below market, and I know what I have to apply to have it raised, but what happens to her if that increase is accepted? Will she have to move out because she can’t afford it or does her cost not increase while the government’s portion does?
I’ve tracked down her case manager and plan to contact her before closing to try and figure out any details I can. But I have a feeling we’ll be figuring most of it out after closing. That said, I’m not too worried about it. I’m ok figuring this all out slower during the first property or two, learning the ropes, and making sure we don’t make any mistakes.
We’ll also likely have an inspection done just to know everything we’re dealing with, even if it is after the fact. Again, I’m not terribly worried something substantial comes up here, but if I’m doing a handful of fixes/improvements on the house I’d rather do them all at once.
We’ll need to get a new roof on, the water damage in the kitchen fixed up, and find out what’s going on with the flashing on the side of the house at a minimum. We also need insurance coverage before closing and figure out if we’re creating an LLC structure for our rental properties or keeping them under our names and carrying a large umbrella insurance policy instead.
Sounds fun, right?