Thanks Frank. Good advice. She's super reliable.

Interesting story on that property, actually. A few days before closing of escrow, we received word that the bank wouldn't fund the loan. Ironically it was a bank owned property, and they apparently didn't know this needed to be a "cash only" sale.

The situation was back around the burst of the RE bubble, the builder couldn't sell all the units. So they took possession of the remaining 50+% of them, and made them available as rentals. Well, I guess Fanny & Freddie have some stipulation in which they won't fund loans in buildings where there's not a high enough percentage of owner-occupied units.

But we weren't told this until the very last second. So we never ended up acquiring that unit.

Agreed, Franks advice is the best.

:2 cents:

I don't know how the rental market is where you are but i rented a 3+ bed last year for $4,900 and we got $6,000 for it this year :) A small bump of $50 wont bother her at all.

The Shemp hath spoken, and by far the best post in this thread.

It all depends on the location and the local market.

and less than one line, too ...:thumbsup

In a really bad economy with few jobs, a rent DECREASE may be appropriate.

$50...... :)

You guys are lucky. Rio de Janeiro has a real estate boom. My photo studio just got a 120% rent increase, and that was on top of the normal yearly rent increases they charged as inflation adjustment.

Good that I also receive rent.

Ask me if you want to invest in real estate in Brazil. Real estate increases in value dramatically, and it seems more pent-up demand and belated increase after decades of being stagnant then a bubble.

120% increase, really? That would mean that rent of say $1000 is now $2200. Or did you mean a 20% increase so that your rent is now 120% of what it was or $1200, to use made up numbers?

That's the good thing about higher end rental properties. You don't have the same economic volatility as when renting to bottom-feeders.

Yes. From 490 to 540 in March, then they demanded 1200 and finally settled for 1000. They had the right to evict at will, so they can demand whatever they want. I understand why rent control has its reasons, because for a business it is a major hardship to be evicted, so one may be forced to settle for more then one would pay elsewhere.

Rio de Janeiro and Brazilian real estate market is exploding.

http://www.economist.com/node/18651524

Real estate tripled in the last 5 years, and there are good reasons to believe it is not a bubble. Of course, rental values go up, similarly.

I think california has a cap on how much you can raise the rent

You know, nobody here in the US believed in the RE bubble. Those dollars were votes of confidence... and it's gone, baby gone.