All Forum Posts by: Amanda Roderick

I agree with the others here who say MF is better than SF. When your SF is down for renovation or being marketed for a new tenant, you have $0 coming in but you still have a mortgage to pay, so the month is automatically in the red, not even counting any other expenses, etc..  When you have MF, even if it is just a duplex, you have some $ coming in that month that often will at least cover the mortgage. Not to mention that the income of 2+ units share the cost of roof replacement, lawn mowing, property taxes, etc. 

I even think of when it may be time to replace windows down the road (or right away).... with a SF you will have windows on 4 sides of the unit, whereas with a duplex you will have only 3 sides & could be fewer for 3+ units. In my market (Columbus, OH) a SF next door to a duplex unit isn't going to rent for dramatically more in most areas, assuming similar factors of condition, sq ft, etc.. We decided long ago that we won't even consider a SF rental simply because we want to avoid ever having to make a mortgage payment out of our own pocket if possible...

That all being said I know there are people out there who prefer SF so it really is just about figuring out what works best for you. If you need any help in Columbus, feel free to reach out. Best of luck to you!  

@Steven Segal My husband & I just returned from PR Sunday night. We weren't down there long and weren't down there this time to find investment properties. However, it is something we're interested in down the road so we were casually looking online - prices are a bit all over the place. Some areas are still in pretty rough shape but it seemed like some of the more touristy areas we were in are doing much better. We were only on the north coast this time. Things looked very rough driving through Ocean Park & Santurce - I was shocked at how much graffiti was on everything visible from PR-26. 

Old San Juan seemed more of less put back together in the areas we were in, and we spent a few nights between Isabela and Auguadilla, which seemed to be doing well too. We heard that some of the surfer-town areas from Isabela to Rincon were doing better than many other parts of the island. We stayed in an Airbnb with a woman near Jobos Beach who said she was trying to sell part of her oceanfront property - $450,000 for less than 1/2 acre which seemed high to me given the state of the economy and there aren't any structures on it either. Though it was in a prime area close to the restaurants & bars in the area. I don't see her property on the MLS so I'm not sure how she's trying to market it. Basically it seemed overall that you could get a house for pretty cheap but anything oceanfront or with a view was still priced pretty high. I haven't done a ton of research yet because we're not in a position to buy there for a few years... but already have it on my mind, I love the island! 

Best of luck to you, I'd love to hear more about what you find..

@John Burtle I haven't read through all of the replies your post generated but I assume they also say something along the lines of *Your agent is required to present all offers! 

That being said, he/she probably knows that in a seller's market the seller may not accept it but that is not the point here. Sorry to hear your agent doesn't understand how to be respectful! 

@Trent Ecklar Glad to hear your tenants don't mind the 50/50 split! 

@Randa Lake, I agree, we had a leak recently that we could easily tell which unit it was happening in. Saved us the hassle of searching both sides of the property. 

We also have a 4-unit where the water is not sub-metered and we include water in the rent. The couple of times in the last few years that we've had leaks, we've had to search all four units to find where it was happening. The water bill overall is pretty low at that property though so it hasn't made sense to us to have it split up.. yet.  

Not sure why this posted twice but I'm unable to delete it!

@Trent Ecklar Glad to hear your tenants don't mind the 50/50 split! 

@Randa Lake, I agree, we had a leak recently that we could easily tell which unit it was happening in. Saved us the hassle of searching both sides of the property. 

We also have a 4-unit where the water is not sub-metered and we include water in the rent. The couple of times in the last few years that we've had leaks, we've had to search all four units to find where it was happening. The water bill overall is pretty low at that property though so it hasn't made sense to us to have it split up.. yet.  

We use Spectrum. My husband looked into another company (I think it was Guardian) that had cheaper monthly fees but we had a hard time getting them to communicate with us. Happy with it so far, it's only been a few months since we had them sub-metered.  There is no cost to the property owner after the initial cost to install the sub-meters. 

I was under the impression it wasn't exactly legal to split the water bill 50/50 between tenants since you can't prove how much water each side used. If one half has more people living in it or a leak, you can't charge the other side more because of it. Even if it's not technically illegal, I imagine it could cause frustration on both your and your tenant's end and higher turnover. (I tried to do a quick search to find if it is legal or not but didn't see this issue clarified anywhere, does anyone know?) What if there are 3 people in 1/2 and 2 in the other? Do you split into 5 and charge one side 3/5 and the other 2/5? (Headache!) 

We sub-meter our duplexes. The upfront cost can be as high as $600 (for both sides) but will pay off in the long run! If you don't want to sub-meter, I would include water in the rent and increase the rent by whatever the average cost per month works out to be. 

Well I certainly didn't intend to make you feel sick! If it makes you feel better, I'm not sure you could get $1,300 for a SFR in Vassor Village. The highest-priced one I see in that area right now is $1,150 but there's also one as low as $850. .. like anywhere else, it depends on the quality of the rehab, specific location, etc..

Yes, you're right it is a larger area than some of the surrounding neighborhoods and there are better parts than others, but overall, the redevelopment in MV is much farther along than in the areas south or east. There is a lot of change happening along Parsons and a lot of flippers working east of Parsons. Healthy Homes is renovating and building new homes in the area too.  I'm in the neighborhood all the time, it's great to watch it come back to life. I think a lot has happened in the area since you've visited. 

I disagree with you! I rented in MV circa 2005-2007, loved it, and it's only gotten better since then! It's just south of the A+ German Village neighborhood and it's close to downtown. I know people who want to buy in MV but the prices have increased significantly in recent years. 

Just my two cents ...