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How Many Times Do I Have To Repeat The Same Thing – Real Estate Investing Problems

This saga doesn’t end! Just when you think I will get the final answer from the HOA and be able to know why they think they have the authority to do what they are doing, I get nothing. No response to the questions I have. No validation on why they think they can do what they are doing. Nothing. This is continuing to heat up. The funny thing is this. They think they can just kick the can down the road and I am just going to go away. Nope. Not in my blood. This is a real estate investment property for me. I have no plans of going away any time soon. So here we go! Let the saga continue!

Get caught up on everything that has happened to this point! This has been a wild journey to say the least and it is definitely not over! Below are the links to all the craziness in this saga!

Over 24 Hours Later…Following Up Again

The fact I have to continue following up with this HOA is very frustrating. I have to ask more specific questions and be extremely clear just so I can get the response to what I want them to specifically answer. If I don’t, I end up having to wait 48 hours for a response.

So time for another follow-up email to the HOA:

Following up on this email again as I have yet to hear a response and called this morning with no response back after I was told I would receive a call back shortly. I would like to rent my place long term.

Renter information:
Father, mother and 12 year old son.
Duration of lease:
6 months
Information about tenants:
Snowbirds who have been in Orlando for over 3 months and don’t plan to currently go back to their home due to COVID-19 outbreak in tristate area.
Questions below:
  • What other information would I need to provide for approval?
  • They would like to move in ASAP. Once approved, when would the earliest they can move in be?
Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this important and very time sensitive matter. 
TheYoungRetireeBy33
I have now given the HOA everything they could possibly need to approve or reject these guests from coming. Now time to wait, even longer, to get a response.
Time To Really Laugh At Their Response
Before I just demolish this response below, let’s be fair. This HOA/Board, I am sure, thinks they are doing the right thing. I would be amazed if they actually thought they weren’t doing the right thing. This response below is just comical at this point though.

Good Afternoon,

Firstly, the Governor of Florida late last night extended the ban on new vacation rentals with EO 20-103. This ban is now through the end of April.

We not too long ago issued a notice.

Regarding the rental request for 6 months. Normally, the information below would be enough for a decision. But with the ban now extended we will deny entry to all new guests.

I will send over your request to the board.

Again, continuing to have a common theme here. No answers to the questions I have asked. Or continuing to defer the answer to these questions. Really really disappointing to see, but I am honestly not surprised based off everything that has been going on.

Now time to wait again.

2 Hours Later, Here Is There Pathetic Response

Two hours later, they finally get back with an actual response. And boy is it pathetic.

Hi YRB33,

I sent over your request below to the board for approval. Unfortunately, the board has denied your request below.

Thanks and stay safe.

Again, not surprising. No reasoning on why they are denying my request. Just stating the request has been denied and nothing more.

I continue to want them to dig an even bigger rabbit hole for themselves. For that reason, I am not done continuing to follow up with them via email. Documented communication is the best for of communication for fighting things in the future.

My Response, Simple Yet Effective

Now time for my response. Keeping it simple and effective:

Can I please have an explanation from the board as to specifically why the request is being denied?

I didn’t want to overcomplicate things for them. They have clearly shown they don’t handle communication well.

Here is why I asked the question I did.

First, it is simple and to the point. There is no reason to over complicate things for these idiots. Too harsh? Sorry not sorry.

Second, I read back through the HOA Bylaws. The document clearly states if there is any time the HOA denies a request for long term rental, they must provide a detailed explanation of how to get the rental to be compliant. Here is the excerpt from the Bylaws:

In the event the lease is disapproved, the Board shall notify the Owner of the requisite action to be taken in order to bring the lease into compliance with the Declaration and any rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto. If the Board does not provide an approval or disapproval within the time period set forth above, such lease shall be deemed approved.

This clearly states they need to provide more details than a simple denial. I wish I didn’t spend an hour reading through the Bylaw documents to find this, but sometimes you just want to educate yourself.

Kind of like this HOA/Board needs to educate themselves on what they have the authority to and not to do.

More Time Passing By And Gone Forever

I continue trying to keep my head up and not get frustrated. The longer they continue delaying this, the longer they are causing damages to myself.

It has now been 36 hours since my last follow up email to the board and HOA. Now time, for a follow-up on the follow-up. No reason to stop till I get a legitimate answer.

Here is the follow-up to the follow-up:

A response to the above would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if you can clearly state where in the Declaration and/or Bylaws it states the HOA/Board having the authority to not allow me to rent my place long term, it would be greatly appreciated.
Specifically, if you could call out the document section and excerpt that allows this action by the HOA & Board.
Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing from you soon regarding this very important and time sensitive matter.
YRB
I know what you might be asking at this point. No, no, no. I don’t sign my emails with YRB ahah.
I put my actual name. Maybe Arthur, Ken, or Bob as @eoab__ calls me 🙂
Now time for more sit back and wait time. I wish this story would end, but the amount of email communication has been interesting. If they were to answer the actual questions I am asking, this would all be over. But since they have yet to answer my questions, I will continue pushing on this!
Now time to sit back and wait for their next response. Hopefully the next response isn’t another 48 hours away!

If you aren’t already, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!

Thanks again for all the support and continuing to come back each day for new updates in this saga!

Want to checkout the latest on the saga with Ol’ Faithful, click the link below!

Ol’ Faithful HOA Saga – Final Path Forward With HOA Dispute

 

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Calling HOA To File Lawsuit!?!?! Short Term Rental Update – Ol’ Faithful

That’s right! Before you start asking questions, let me explain a little bit. I am going to be filing a lawsuit against my HOA at one of my short term rental properties. Here is why.

I have been doing some research and talking to a lot of people about the situation I am in with Ol’ Faithful. To give a quick update of what is going on with Ol’ Faithful, checkout one of my last articles.

The other night, I was talking to my parents and talking to them about what is going on. My mom made a good point that I should call my uncle who is a real estate agent in Phoenix. He has also been a real estate investor for over 40 years and knows this business inside and out.

Here are some of the emails I sent back and forth to the HOA GM yesterday. You can make your own judgements on how they are handling the situation 🙂

Conrad Pic 2

Email to Conrad Pic 1

 

The GM of the resort continues to defer to the law put in place by the governor. So I decided to take the actual exert from the law signed into order and sent it to him in the below email 🙂

 

Conrad Pic 3

 

Here is something that did frustrate me. I specifically asked the GM if I could rent to first responders, and he even said no to that!

At this point I am sure he is very tired of me. But he also don’t understand who I am and that I can be very persistent when something is wrong. Which is this exact case.

Conrad Pic 4

What I Did This Morning

First, I called my uncle this morning and explained what was going on. I talked him through the executive order that was signed into law and all the email communication that was sent back and forth with Conrad.

My uncle has been investing in real estate for over 40 years. He is one of the highest rated real estate agents in Phoenix. So he has dealt with pretty much everything.

After explaining the situation, he told me just email the HOA and say you are going to sue them for any and all damages based off exactly what the executive order says that was signed in by the governor. He said there is nothing they can do to go above the government if the HOA bylaws don’t state anything of this nature that they can or would have the authority to do. I read the Bylaws and couldn’t find anything in there that states they are allowed to do this.

Now that I knew they were in the wrong, I decided to just try something. Me emailing the HOA president obviously didn’t work, but I wondered what would happen if I just called the security gate to let them know I have someone checking in tomorrow and staying for a month.

So I called the security gate. I told them I have someone checking in tomorrow. The gate security guard asked for the guests name, check in time, and how long they would be staying.

I gave the security guard the information and asked if my guest would be able to get in tomorrow morning. They said yes. WHAT?!?! Really? Okay bahahah

What’s Next

So now here we are. The day before my guest is supposed to check in for 31 nights. The security gate has told me the guest will be able to check in. Awesome.

I know the guy who is going to check in (I actually randomly paired up with him in golf last weekend). I gave him all the information to get in and told him to call me if there are any issues.

Looking forward to my guest checking in tomorrow without any issues and now being able to bring in $1,600 this month for Ol’ Faithful!

Key Takeaways:

  • Talk about what you are doing and the things that are happening in your life. You may forget some of the people you know who have knowledge and expertise who could help out. 
  • Always be respectful in all communication to people. Even though I was frustrated with the GM of the resort, I tried staying professional in all my communication with him. 
  • Stay positive! Control what you can control. 

Checkout PartII below to continue reading about this crazy story!

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Financial Independence Core Principle #3: Eliminate Your Largest Expense By House Hacking

Third and final core principle. House hacking is by far the most powerful way to begin your investing journey. When you think about getting ahead in your investment journey, eliminating your largest expense by house hacking becomes powerful. For 99% of people, the largest monthly expense you have is housing. If you are able to eliminate your largest expense by house hacking, you will put yourself in a position to aggressively save.
 
What Is House Hacking?
Let’s first answer what house hacking is. I go into much further detail on house hacking and different ways to house hack in this previous post. In the most simple terms, house hacking refers to purchasing a single family or multi family home and renting out portions of it. There are many different strategies to go about doing this, but the concept is to reduce your living expenses. The best house hackers are able to live for free or even make a little bit of money from their home.
 
Common Excuses to Not House Hack
What are the most common excuses I receive when I tell people that I house hack?
  • I have a family and wouldn’t feel comfortable house hacking.
  • Renting is just more simple and I don’t want to deal with a home.
  • I enjoy living on my own and don’t want to live with others.
  • Roommates? Yeah, I graduated from college already and I am a grown adult. I want my independence.
  • I don’t have the money to buy a home.
  • I don’t make enough to buy a home right now.
Cool, so what I hear is you have a fixed and limited mindset. Awesome. Just make sure you are aware that all the above excuses are those of people having a fixed mindset. These are all excuses and not valid.
 
Have a family and don’t think it is safe? Buy a multi-family property and you will have your own space. Even a single family home with a detached 1/1 unit would do.
 
Don’t have the money? Money is abundant and available these days. Stop making this excuse. If you had to raise $20,000 tomorrow to get in a deal that could pay off hundreds of thousands of dollars, would you be able to get the money? It isn’t the fact that you don’t have money, it is that it’s easier to make this excuse.
 
I don’t make enough money. Interesting, did you know lenders can help qualify you for a loan with the rental income counted as part of your income? Stop with the fixed mindset.
 
Why Is House Hacking A Core Principle
House hacking is a core principle because I simply don’t see why you wouldn’t do it. It makes too much sense to do. There are many different ways to effectively house hack. Any and all excuses you could have for not house hacking are just that, excuses.
 
I wish I knew about house hacking even when going to college. I would have bought a property in Buffalo, Arkansas and then Bethlehem, PA when I lived in each. Now that I have learned and successfully house hacked my first property, it is time for more.
 
How Am I Currently House Hacking
Want to hear the full story about how I got started house hacking? Checkout my recent podcast I was interviewed on where I speak about exactly this.
 
When I moved to Florida, I purchased a single family home in a nice area. I had no intention of house hacking at the time because I had never heard of it. I knew I wanted to buy a home versus renting an apartment. I was tired of paying someone else’s mortgage. I stumbled into house hacking when a friend of mine asked to come down for a few months. From there, I took it and ran with it.
 
My current house hacking strategy is renting out by the bedroom. I live in the master bedroom in my home and have three other bedrooms I rent out to young professionals living in the area. I bring in $2,400 per month in rent on a mortgage of $1,650. After all expenses, I typically make $100-200 per month. That is right, I get paid for the privilege of living in my own home!
 
My Next House Hack – Changing My House Hacking Strategy
For my second house hack, I plan to leverage a different strategy. I am planning to buy a multi-family property where one of the units is a 1/1. The goal is to get one of the following:
  • Single family home with a detached 1/1 unit
  • Duplex with one unit being a 1/1
  • Triplex of any kind with one unit being a 1/1
This next house hack will be a big step in my continued venture in investing in my financial independence. I am excited for the next steps in my journey and hope you seriously look into house hacking.
 
Key Takeaways:
  • Your largest expense is typically housing. For that reason, you should look to eliminate your largest expense by house hacking!
  • Stop making excuses on why you can’t house hack. I can find a reason why every excuse is not valid.
  • There are many strategies. Each can be used depending on your life situation and market you live in. Don’t think there is only one way to do this successfully.