All Forum Posts by: Annchen Knodt

hi @Account Closed!  we have our monthly InvestHer meetup for women tomorrow night at Carolina Ale House in Brier creek - this is a great way to meet local women!  if you are interested, check it out on our meetup site. hope to see you there!  also happy to connect - i don't always see BP messages but you can look me up and friend me on facebook :-)

I wanted to add to this thread to let anyone interested in short-term rentals in the Raleigh / Durham / Chapel Hill area know that there's a new TREIA subgroup focused on STRs that meets on Fourth Fridays over lunch at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary. (Note there is a cost for venue / food, but TREIA is non-profit)  

https://www.treia.com/events-1...

Quote from @Lydia Bar:

Quote from @Annchen Knodt:

@Lydia Bar here's a link to a post i wrote comparing brands a couple of years ago (maybe getting a little dated now...) in case it's helpful! https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Thank you very much! This is so helpful. Wondering if anything has changed in your experience since 2020?

 I haven't shopped for LVP since then, but have ended up remaining pleased with the quality of the Coretec ProPlus I installed.  i will be sure to update my post next time i do some research, which probably won't be long now since we're goign to need to do the floors in our new house.

Quote from @Tom P.:

Quote from @Annchen Knodt:

Hi @Marlo Boutte, I'm interested in learning more about this as well, so wanted to ask whether you've learned any more about shared housing / recovery housing since you posted this?  I learned about the concept recently on a Real Estate Guys Podcast with Frank and Sherri Candelario who have started the Shared Housing Academy (now Recovery Housing Academy) to educate others on how it works.  I'm hoping to connect with other investors who have experience with the model to learn more!

 Hi @Annchen Knodt - Did you learn anything more about this program? I'm about to join Frank and Sherri's program and was wondering if you heard more about them? 

 I never heard back from them or found out much more!  I ended up going another direction but would be interested to hear how you like the program :-)

@Lydia Bar here's a link to a post i wrote comparing brands a couple of years ago (maybe getting a little dated now...) in case it's helpful! https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Quote from @Cayden Standlee:

Hello all,

For all rental units that I have and manage for I use the Allure brand. It is stocked at home depot and has never given me an issue. I order this stuff by the pallet and get better pricing as well. It is only 3mm thick, but I have never had that cause an issue within a unit. You get a couple of different color options to match your style and can even use it on walls as it works with drywall. Allure Home Depot Link

 wow, never seen it on walls before - cool!

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Annchen Knodt:

Thank you!!  Tenant has told me she has been diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection,

Uh oh.....I would hope this does not become litigatory.....

Meaning - CYA... 

If I release her from the lease due to her stated health concerns, i don't see her taking any sort of legal action against me (or having a case), but that's just my speculation.  What CYA steps would you recommend?  I've started looking for an attorney to consult with, and am wondering if I should deed the property over to an LLC since it's currently still in my name, but not sure if it's too late for that in this situation.

Quote from @Scott Mac:

Maybe be more granular in your questions to your renter.

For instance, renter says Mr. Smokey Smokey's smoke is invading my apartment and making me get emphasima, please make him stop.

You respond: Oh sorry to hear that Ms. Brezzy. Is the actual smoke coming into your unit (setting off the smoke detectors), or is it that you are smelling a stale odor from cigarettes (from time to time)?

Stale odors are probably not going to cause emphasima, but actual smoke might...(figure out which is the problem here).

If it's stale odors of smoke these handy dandy little doo dads (MIGHT) do the trick for Ms. Brezzy.

https://www.nucalgon.com/products/clenair/hvac-odor-block/

https://www.filtrete.com/3M/en_US/filtrete/products/~/Filtrete-MPR-1200-Odor-Reduction-Air-Filters/?N=4315+3288870163+3294529207&preselect=7568680+3293786499&rt=rud

Most likely I'd provide the first one's and then renter pays as needed (the Higher MERV Air filter must be changed more often than the see through ones).

Good Luck!

 Thank you!!  Tenant has told me she has been diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, so i believe it's beyond the stale odor stage.  I was unfamiliar with either of those products you linked to and they both sound worth implementing!  I am thinking I will have someone service the air handler and install those (it's not in great shape but also certainly not nearly the main issue here)

Quote from @Sergey A. Petrov:

These are tough especially in older buildings. The noxious/ offensive activity likely won’t help. Do you how the smoke gets in? If through an open window / sliding door, the fix is easy. Your tenant can close them when the neighbor is smoking. Use a fan or a portable AC unit if the reason for the open windows is that it is too hot.

Trying to chase all cracks and sealing off your unit in a 1980s building will be mission impossible. Then there are bathroom fans, kitchen fans, laundry ducts, etc. Those can run close to each other and crack overtime allowing smells to travel between the units.

I don’t think the health dept will do anything…

Is this the first communication on the subject  from your tenant. If so a long letter (+complaint to the health dept) seems like an overkill. Most will call. But if that is the nature of the relationship your tenant wants to have with you, you are better off with a new tenant 

If the tenant has been complaining and you’ve done nothing, that is a different story.

There will always be smells in an older wood frame building. Cooking? That’s another super common one in addition to smoking. Not everyone likes everyone else’s cuisine.

To me it sounds like you’ve done what you can and your might be better off moving to a single family home. If it is not smoke, it’ll be cooking, or noise or something else as different move in and out of your neighboring units

Thanks for your insights. The neighbor smokes insiide and somehow it gets into my unit through the floor / walls / vents etc.  I sealed off the shower plumbing access panel which seemed to help but clearly not enough.  Other than that I couldnt really pin point any places it was getting in - maybe vents in bathroom but generally seemed pretty pervasiive so yes it does kind of feel like i might be looking at mission impossible for sealiing everythiing off.

This is indeed first communication from tenant.  I dont think she filed any complaints or anything but just wanted to understand what her options were before bringing it up with me.  If I release her from the lease due to her stated health concerns, i don't see her taking any sort of legal action against me (or having a case), but that's just my speculation.  THere are no SF units to rent in this area / price range (greater DC metro) so i'd expect to find tenants maybe more accepting of it if they don't have the symptoms like my current tenant is having, but I also generally don't want my tenants exposed to secondhand smoke :-(

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

IMO, you either have to light a fire under the HOA, or do as @Joe Villeneuve said and buy the lower unit. Easier to get nasty with the HOA. Do what it takes to make their lives miserable.....have you been to BOD meetings and expressed your concerns?

Thanks, yes really pestering the HOA is top of my list for sure. I went to one BOD meeting to bring it up, and ended up sitting right next to my smoker neighbor and having a conversation with her instead. Plan now is to get contact info for all the board members from the management company (as meetings are in person and i'm now out of state). Seems there are some who are likely to be attentive. I also know other owners in the complex with the same issue.