All Forum Posts by: BOB CRANEY

@Sean Autry

If your doing a buy n hold you have a long term mentality then you must choose the best materials upfront. For most flooring you want something that is commercial grade with a thick wear layer that can stand up to years of residential use. These flooring choices cost more for materials but the labor is usually the same cost. Consider a 10 year timeframe with a quality commercial grade LVP and what you currently are dealing with.

The materials you have to pick from at Lumber liquidators and other discounters is usually low end and not the commercial level you need.

Find a reputable flooring dealer and asks them to educate you on why the commercial quality floor material is better. It will be the best money you spent.

Originally posted by @Marc Winter:

I would not suggest you use one set of approval criteria for one 'type' of applicant that is in any way different from another 'type'.  There's a word for that.

With any lease involving more than one signer, include the words "jointly and severally" in your lease, along with a plain-language explanation of what the terms mean:  even if your co-tenant moves out, doesn't pay, causes damages, incurs violations or fines, etc, you are BOTH responsible.

 Definitely not asking questions in a way that will get up in trouble. Usually in normal conversation about who will be moving in people volunteer the info in a way that tells use the relationship between possible tenants. 

We do use this language “jointly/severally in our leases already but I was trying to figure out a way to screen it out better on the front end if possible or mitigate it in some “Legal” way

CORRECTTION: Thinking of just doing MTM leases

I have a really nice 2BR/1BA apartment in one side of a duplex that seems to be attracting a disproportionate qty of calls from prospects who are roommates/friends or a BF/GF and another friend. In almost all these cases none of the individuals qualify on their own under our 3x gross income guidelines but together they do. I have not had the best of luck with this arrangement in the past and wonder if it would be advisable/legal to have a different income standard when qualifying unrelated prospects vs a married couple. My property is a B+ property in a C area and it’s been difficult getting that better quality tenant due to being in the “CUT” as they say.

Any best practices in situations to limit my downside risk. I was thinking of just don’t MTM leases for these situations so I can evict quick if things turn south.

Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:

@BOB CRANEY I would just add to be careful if billing your labor. Keep start and stop times for each task. Also the billable rate should be no more than the fair market rate for the task. Let’s say you can hire a cleaning person for $20 per hour in your market, then cleaning should be billed at $20. Some landlords bill what they think their time is worth, but that is not how it works. If you choose to be a “cleaning person” for the day, then you get paid a cleaning persons wage. It is really just better to hire any work done if you plan to deduct.

Also keep in mind if you are charging your labor, then you need to claim it as income on your taxes. If you pay someone, the expense and income are a wash.

 We are on the same page Joe. Any task I could hire out like cleaning I take overall cost I would normally pay and divided by my hourly rate. The only legit, licensed and insured contractors I could hire to do the work would cost way more than $20 hr for anyone decent and dependable. Documenting move out conditions with good quality pictures has also been very helpful. I once charged a tenant back for over 24 light bulbs she was responsible for and when she balked at it and took me to court I had pictures of all 24 burned out bulbs and a HD receipt showing exactly what they cost. My time charged out at 10 min per bulb. judge told tenant if she wanted the t cheaper, she should have done it herself.....BAAMM. Case dismissed 

@Cameron Riley

Your sweat equity has a value that you would be paying to a contractor if you didn’t do it yourself. You need to supply a detailed breakdown of how the security deposit was used to fixed up the place after tenant moved out. Give yourself and hourly rate and break down each item with a labor and material cost. I recommend an hourly rate from $35-50 an hour. I use $50 hr when I bill things back. As an example my turnovers always include replacing damaged window blinds.

I charge 15min per blind labor and the actual cost of the blind $8-12.

Don’t cut yourself short, it takes time to evaluate the turnover repairs, pickup all materials and install the materials before you can move a new tenant in. When you have such a detailed breakdown and are called into court, no judge argues that it’s not fair to the tenant if you have been reasonable. Just make sure you aren’t trying to bill for normal wear and tear items. Having a list of items and the basics of what you charge at move out will help tenants understand it will be in their best interest to leave you rental in good shape when they move out.

Try Vytex in laurel MD. They manufacture their own window lines and also offer an installed price that is still fair compared to many of the Window companies that advertise heavily. I buy all my window there and either install them myself or get an experienced window installer to put them in for a little less than Vytex does it for. 

If you dont have the time, i recommend letting them do the whole thind from measure to install for a one stop shop. It might be a 2-4 week timeframe depending on the season so get started early.  Its nice because they can make the windows any size you want at a standard price for up to 101 unit inches ( width +height)

@Marci Stein You need to spend more time understanding how contractIng works and How each trade traditionally price their labor and materials. When you are doing bigger whole jobs at a time And not piecemeal work you can more confidently estimate work and you should be pretty close. Things change greatly when you have a hodgepodge of work even if it's the same kind of work like drywall finishing. If a finisher has to move from one spot to another, tearing off the occasional panel and pulling nails, it's not efficient. The contracting trades are very inefficient by nature and only really can make money by charging you higher prices on small jobs like these. You don't have enough work to have subpower. Get an UPFRONT prIce

@Jim K.

It takes time to gain the perspective you have shared. It’s a variation on the old saying to “sleep on it” before making a rash decision in the heat of the moment. Real Estate moves slowly and wise decisions should be made with slow deliberation also.

Consider what you have learned a lesson and the cost of the class is $xxxx dollars. Nobody said education was free.

@Steve Vaughan

I don’t live there but I always liked a saying attributed to Texas

“He’s all hat and no cattle”

I had my 12 year old son help me install a complete set of kitchen cabinets and I dare say he seemed to actually enjoy it. I don’t think he imagined that’s what I am actually doing when I say I’m going to my “Other” work.