All Forum Posts by: Adam K.

I hope your hot water lines are insulated. If not this is going to seriously jack up your electric bill. It takes no time for uninsulated pipes to cool from 120 F to 85 F. I bet that HWH energy easily doubles or triples with this device. Well insulated pipes will help. 

Having HW right at the fixture is nice. But with this system you no longer have cold water right at the fixture. You have 85 F water that you just pushed back down the CW line to the HW tank.

Interesting idea for an anti-freeze device for "problem" fixtures though. Thanks for sharing. 
 

Do you have an air separator with auto vent installed? I recommend Spirovent. 

@Roy N. also has a good point. Though I think that the air might be coming out of the make-up water that you add every month when you do your purge. The air bubbles come out of the make-up water that you add and end up in larger pockets. 

@Mark McKibben Can you explain this strategy a little more? I assume that the reason for the HELOC and cash buy is to give you a stronger position when negotiating purchase price and the ability to act more quickly vs. obtaining financing. But if you are eligible for a cash out refi already, then aren't you essentially paying fees for two loans? Does the stronger position when purchasing make up for this cost?

@Brian Mathews I have only purchased 1 so far so I can't really help. But I know that many people look for "portfolio" loans rather than standard mortgages. I think you need a couple of properties first to demonstrate that you know what you are doing, but this type of loan typically means a lower down payment among other things I think. I am hoping to start searching for a portfolio lender soon. 

I think that saving the down payment is the hardest part of getting started. For me its the hardest part of getting going on #2 as well (need another down payment). 

I was going to suggest looking for a Fannie Mae Homepath property which had options for lower downpayments, but it appears that they are retiring that program. Too bad. 

The portfolio loan route is a nice suggestion, but I don't think you'll have any luck with that as a brand new investor. I suspect they are going to want some evidence that you know what you are doing. 

Here is something else that no-one has suggested. This assumes that things with your boyfriend are copacetic and that marriage is going to happen, but if so, then why don't you buy a new home with an FHA loan, then turn your boyfriends home into the rental property. Then in a year you are free to move back or buy another home and turn your new home into a rental as well.

What type of property are you trying to purchase?

It is definitely true that you would have a smaller pool of renters looking to move in the winter, but people are always moving for various reasons and it doesn't mean you'll be forced to sit with it vacant. In almost all cases even if you have to list it a little cheaper to get it rented you'd be better off then keeping it off the market for 2-3 months just so you could charge a higher rent. 

Its hard enough to find a good rental property without trying to game the market based on the seasons. I would just keep your nose to the ground and search hard for the right property. Then if you find it in December and are able to find a motivated seller maybe you can eek out a better deal for yourself. Best of luck. 

I'd list them all. You want to fill them as quickly as possible. Don't let them sit vacant. Ideally you'll end up with 3 qualified tenants after your first round of showings and be able to fill all three units!

I had this situation when renting an up/down duplex and I listed them both at the same time. The only downside that I saw was that everyone wanted to see both units (no matter which ad they saw and responded to) so showings took forever. So you might want to try to avoid that or you'll spend an hour with everyone who shows up. Just show them the unit for the ad that they respond to.  

@Chan K. Oh my, I didn't realize that you've only had this unit for one week and inherited these tenants. Talk about getting thrown right into the fire. 

It does sound like you may have an issue with this tenant, but I don't know if you approach of showing her unit to "build a waitlist" makes sense. I've never heard of that. I think that you either need to server her notice and place a new tenant or try to come to an understanding with her. Showing her apt is only going to antagonize her. 

It does sound like you've got a problem tenant here based on the "breathing issue" comment about the dumpster.  

I don't understand this part at all. Is your plumber different from the people who are taking out the boiler? If I understand you correctly you just cost yourself $300 by having a plumber take it for free and having the furnace company charge you an extra $300. 

At any rate, I would have simply had them keep the copper. I have no interest in scrapping metal myself and my understanding is that even with copper you need to have quite a bit to make it worth your while. 

Unless you are having a ton of piping remove I doubt that you had $300 of scrap copper so it is slightly odd to me that they would have increased their quote that much also, but I don't know your exact situation. 

I wouldn't trust a tenant to take care of the yard and wouldn't want to fight over what constituted care. That said, I have one tenant who works for a landcare company and yes I negotiated with him to knock down the rent and have him mow the lawn which he does at a blazing speed with his ZTR. 

However, I DO make tenants responsible for snow removal because I talked to several plow companies who said it is a nightmare trying to deal with tenants having different schedules, not moving their cars, etc. The other reason I like this is that snow removal is a very unpredictable expense. Some years it could cost hundreds or thousands and other years almost nothing (because new england weather is crazy(. 

As far as other repairs, I would not want to make those responsibility of the tenant. There have been many debates over this on BP, but my take is that as the owner I want to make sure things are fixed correctly. If I end up with a competent tenant and they make minor repairs on their own, then great! But it is hard enough to screen for a good tenant without trying to find one who is also a handyman or handywoman. Better to handle that myself or hire it out. 

I agree with @Jon Holdman . No hot water is a very big deal. It doesn't matter how long you went in your own home without hot water when it broke. What you do as a homeowner and what you do as a landlord are two different things. 

If you had a plumber tell you that the boiler (or water heater, I can't understand exactly what you are talking about) was fine and it failed the next day then you should certainly never hire them again. 

Getting this fixed should be quick and easy for a pro. Its just a boiler swap out. Pick up the phone book and keep calling until you can find someone to come out immediately to get this fixed. You will pay more, but you need to be aggressive in getting this fixed.