Rental War Stories – Part 5: Who’s Living There?

Rental War Stories – Part 5: Who’s Living There?  Loretto Properties, LLC founder Lamar Hunt Jr. has seen all kinds of problems when buying homes and talking to other landlords.  He likes to pass these war stories on.

Recall from previous episodes, an investor has purchased a property with a tenant paying rent to another person who was not the owner.  The investor then “convinced” the tenant to leave peacefully. Now the investor has a vacant property and needs to sell it.  So, he placed a “For Sale” sign in the front and locked the rolling metal gate that gave access to the property.  A few days later, the investor drove by and discovered that the bike lock he had wrapped around the gate had been cut off.  In its place was a blue bicycle lock that someone else had put on there. His For Sale sign had also been removed. The investor assumed the woman down the street who claimed she owned the property was not going to go quietly. So what to do?  If he puts another lock on the there, she will simply cut it off.

The clever investor then purchased a blue wire lock that exactly matched the woman’s lock.  He cut off her lock and wrapped his lock in its place exactly as she had it.  Yet now, it had his combination.  This way, the woman would still think she was in control and the investor secretly had access to the property.  He also stapled signs to the side of the house up high so she would have to get a tall ladder to take them down.  Soon, the investor found a buyer and sold the property at huge profit.  This is how you make money in real estate:  by solving other’s problems. For more real estate tips on rental real estate property or other subjects, visit our blog often.  You can also call us at 913-236-2902 if you have a property to sell.