Don’t miss a single show!

The relationship between a landlord and a tenant is unique, to say the least. Whether you invest in residential or commercial real estate, you must maintain a balanced relationship with your tenants.

If you do own tenant-occupied properties, you know that maintaining a balanced relationship is easier said than done at times. When dealing with tenants, there are defined rules and regulations for what you can and cannot do as a landlord; However when it comes to peoples’ homes or businesses, disagreements over a lease can quickly become a tricky situation.  Solving tenant issues can be one of the most important things a landlord can do to retain tenants and stay out of legal hot water.

This live discussion and recording is about solving these common tenant issues. We discussed the landlord/tenant relationship, as well as covering common pitfalls relating to things like evictions and fair housing. One our guests deals in commercial real estate litigation. The other is an owner of multi-family properties.

They are as follows:

Jason Ellison is an attorney and founding partner of Ellison | Lazenby Law Firm. Jason is a real estate attorney and specializes in contract preparation and dispute resolution. He is highly experienced in landlord/tenant disputes, including evictions.

Josh Diggs is a veteran investor and co-founder/owner of Palm Companies. He is well versed in tenant/landlord relationships and will provide on-the-ground insight into property management issues.Through their property management arm, Palm Communities, Josh has on-the-ground experience managing multifamily properties and dealing with tenants.

Check out “Ep. 134: Dealing with Tenants – From Evictions to Fair Housing”!

Join our Tampa Cashflow Meetup!

In an effort to bring you even more talk on Florida’s real estate industry Invest Florida Show has started a monthly event series. Every month we host a different speaker at our downtown Tampa meeting rooms to discuss a different feature of the state’s dynamic real estate market.

You can meet the Invest Florida hosts, get exclusive expert insight and even network with other real estate investors. To find out event information or to join our Meetup, click here.

The post Ep. 134 Jason Ellison and Josh Diggs: Solving Tenant Issues – Commercial Evictions to Residential Fair Housing appeared first on Real Estate Investing in Florida.

Don’t miss a single show!

As real estate investors, sometimes what we think is a good investment strategy does not turn out quite as expected. While a single family investor may be able to stick to a strategy and adopt minimal changes, this is not usually the case for the apartment investor.

Your investment strategy should suit the deal you are making. It may become necessary to change your strategy in order to make a deal work.

While this may mean an extra headache in the short-term, a change in strategy could mean the difference between a successful investment and a failure.

Just ask Apartment Investor Kurt Westfiled

Kurt Westfield is the founder of WC Companies, an umbrella brand for his multi-service real estate investment firms.Listeners will remember Kurt’s last episode with us when he discussed his transition from single family investor to apartment investor.

This episode, we catch up with Kurt following his transition to apartment investor. He discusses how he found out early on in his career the importance of finding a winning strategy.

Apartment Investor: Finding a New Strategy

The Deal

• 14 unit apartment building
• In foreclosure
• Expedited due diligence (7 days)
• Intended to be 12 month, light fix-and-flip with capital expenses at $80-100k

The Issues

• Tenants trashed complex
• Property had suffered from neglect

Changing Strategy

• Evicted all current tenants
• Rehabbed entire property, inside and out
• Structured leasing as condo-apartment type w/ one model unit completed while construction was ongoing
• Created brand identity
• Started community engagement activities

The Results

• 3 1/2 year project, cap expenses at $400k
• Property raised market rent 60% in area
• Identified potential of revitalizing fringe market properties
• Focused on developing branded communities rather than street addresses

Kurt is still an active apartment investor, looking for multifamily deals in Tampa and Jacksonville up to 50 units. To contact Kurt with a potential deal, email him at kurt@wccompanies.com.

For any other questions or to find out more about services offered by WC Companies, visit their website.

The post Ep. 114 Kurt Westfield: Apartment Investor Tough Lessons Lead to New Strategy appeared first on Real Estate Investing in Florida.

Don’t miss a single show!

The sob-stories; the hard-luck-tales; the down-and-out pleas. There are many reasons tenants might ply a landlord for a special leniency or exemption. Whether these are legitimate reasons or or not, landlords and property managers can end up assuming a lot of extra stress on a property by allowing tenants to take advantage of a situation through emotion. Sometimes, the hardest thing for investors who manage their own properties to do is tell their tenant “no”. It is easy to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, but at what point can empathy hurt your investment? Real estate investors need to know how to keep tenant turmoil at arm’s length when it comes to the viability of an investment.

Adrian Smude may know better than any the importance of managing interaction with tenants. As an investor in single family residential properties in and around Plant City, FL, Adrian has experienced the short-comings of allowing tenants unchecked leniency. Adrian’s start in single family residential investing stems from an unpleasant tenant/landlord experience: eviction. After being evicted from a rental house in college, Adrian ended up purchasing his own single family property and converted into a multi-tenant rental. Wary of the poor experience he had as a tenant, Adrian opted towards a more empathetic approach to landlording. Eventually, he found his tenants abusing their privilege. Adrian had to find a way to separate himself from thinking like a tenant and more as a landlord. Adrian adopted a system that put distance between himself and his tenants while avoiding the hard-line approach. Join us for the first episode of “Landlord Tales” as we discuss holding rental properties in a land trust.

• Land Trust
  • Property placed in name of land trust. Property owners can designate themselves as trustee, separate from beneficiary
  • Managing property and tenants becomes easier by separating function as landlord from property owner
  • Adrian learned this method from veteran local investors Jack Shea, Larry Harbolt and Mike Warda

Adrian is actively in the market for single family residential properties and mobile homes of up to $120k in areas around Hillsborough County and Polk County, including Brandon, Plant City, Lakeland and Winter Haven. If you believe you may have a potential investment opportunity, contact Adrian at (813) 720-7874.

The post Ep. 98 Adrian Smude: Landlord Tales – One Method of Creating Distance between You and Your Tenants appeared first on Real Estate Investing in Florida.

Don’t miss a single show!

For residential investors and property owners, especially those who wish to remain hands-off owners, assuming the role of landlord can be costly and strenuous for those unfamiliar with the practice of it. This is often made more difficult when undergoing tenant evictions. Confronting the near labyrinthine due process of law during evictions suits can prove a daunting task for even the most seasoned landlords.

Attorney John McMillan stops by this week to discuss evictions processes in residential real estate properties and covers things to know in order to be a confident and successful property owner. With nearly 40 years of experience representing landlords, he brings with him insightful and educational resources to provide investors and owners with the knowledge and capabilities of being competent landlords. He provides the know-how to properly manage your properties and tenants, especially when handling evictions.

• Florida evictions typically reached in 4-5 weeks
  • $15k properties filed in County Civil (most residential)
  • $15k or over properties filed in Circuit Civil
• Costs of evictions
  • Filing fee – $198 + $10 for each addtl tenant
  • Svc. of Process – $45/ tenant
  • Atty. fees between $150-500
  • Extra costs for hearings and writs of possession
• Know your rights as a landlord
  • Know service of process for evictions
  • No limit on lease length
    • longer than 1yr, leases must be subscribed under landlord by 2 witnesses
    • leases under 6 mths. subjected to sales tax in FL
• Well-written leases are key
  • Thorough
  • Plain-English…you and your tenant should know and understand what is in the lease
  • Address potential issues in lease
• Know your tenants’ rights
  • Fair Debt Collection Act
  • Fair Housing Act
    • Cannot discriminate against race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, familial status (Protected Classes)
    • County specific classes added: Hillsborough County – age, sexual orientation, sexual identity and marital status
    • Federally-subsidized housing (Sect. 8)

For more information about landlord rights and eviction processes, contact John’s office here or by calling 813-988-5135

For lease templates and information on required language contact John directly at John@JohneMcMillan.com

The post Ep 33 – Atty John McMillan Talks Florida Evictions and Protected Classes appeared first on Real Estate Investing in Florida.