Cap Ex getting expensive on my rental

[Kyle Smith]

I purchased a duplex at slightly below market rate 2 years ago in a strong Northern Colorado market.

Over the course of 2 years, I'm in the process of replacing the entire HVAC system. This is costing me thousands and thousands of CAP-EX expenses.

Should I have negotiated more strongly when I purchased the property?

Would you pay cash for the replacement costs?
Finance through a no interest loan?
Can hard money ever help in this scenario?

I know CAP-EX can be a silent killer when investing long distance, but can it still kill an investor when they buy locally?

Seeking tactical ideas and strategies on how to approach capital expenditures. Thanks!!  

[Jon Crosby]

@Kyle Smith  Ideally you would have wanted to account for this when doing your initial analysis pre-purchase and then saved an appropriate amount each month based on the age of the property and mechanical systems (easier said that done I know).  I personally have home warranty's on my property for this type of disaster scenarios but even they will not protect you fully most of the time. 

Cap Ex can kill any investor, doesn't have to be long distance...I don't know how to put on a roof so that bill would effect me whether I'm next door or across the country.

I'm a cash flow guy so I would probably tap into my HELOC to cover this cost using interest only loan but make sure to start saving for the next big cap ex event so you don't have to go to the well again in the future. Or, keep the HELOC revolving as your Cap Ex well and instead of saving each month you use that to pay it down..it's all semantics in the end and how you think about the 'pots' you are pulling from. :)

Best of luck to you and sorry about the big bill, happens to all of us just so you know.