All Forum Posts by: Bryce K.

My mortgage broker, who have been using for over a decade, and have followed from bank to bank as he progressed through his career, told me this morning that First National Bank of Pennsylvania has a new internal rule that no customer may have more than four loans with that bank. Commercial loans do not count, we are waiting to find out if this is per married couple or individual.

Is anyone else seeing this with any other mortgage providers? I have reached out to the other banks that I have mortgages with to see if this is a trending new issue.

The best way to make a little money in aviation is to start with a lot of money. Is it a private airport, or public use? What is the identifier? Grass or paved runway? Instrument approaches or visual? Any aircraft currently based at the field, any hangars? Fly-in community, or airpark type of place?

Several small public airports have sold in northern Ohio in the past decade, and most are doing okay. Hangar space is at a premium in the area, but maintenance and insurance costs are rapidly rising. Several large hangars have been converted to indoor sport fields.

Most communities hate the local airport for the noise, and local governments hate them for the cost. Very tempting to tear up a runway, build houses, and collect the tax revenue. Look at what's happening in Santa Monica, and what Daley did to Meigs Field.

We own several all electric houses in Lorain County in Ohio.  These homes (entire neighborhoods) were built in the late 1970s with 200 Amp service, heated only with electric baseboards.  These homes do not have basements, they are slabs and split levels.  No provision for forced air, or air conditioning at all.  Several of these neighborhoods still do not have natural gas service.  We have upgraded the baseboards to hydronic, and upgraded the old mercury thermostats to digital, and added insulation in all areas, which has helped to reduce winter time electric bills, but tenant turnover remains high due to lack of summertime cooling, and high wintertime electric bills (electric bills range from $50 to $400).  Window AC units work in some of the homes, but many have casement windows, which do not lend themselves to window AC.  The huge upside is that electric appliances and baseboard heaters last for decades and decades with minimal upkeep.  

So, we just closed on another all electric home, but this one has a gas line at the street. Columbia gas will tie in and place a meter for free, and the attic of this home will allow all ducting to be fairly simple. We have an estimate to install a forced air furnace and AC, allowing natural gas heating and traditional air conditioning. The quote is for $17.7k, but the company is offering 60 months 0% financing, bringing the payment to about $300/month. Total cost of ownership of this home is currently $800/month, adding the HVAC to that will be $1100/month (this accounts for everything, maintenance, turnover, vacancy, PITI, etc). Rent was estimated to be $1500, forced air may allow us to raise it to $1600. The forced air HVAC is expected to reduce turnover, increase property value (not a major factor, but nice), and possibly allow us to increase rent. Downsides are the initial cost, and the increased maintenance cost (baseboard heaters last forever, we have our furnaces inspected every 6 months for $80, and lifespan is projected to be 10-15 years).

Do you add the forced air, or no?  

Tan, we're just finishing up a complete rehab in the city, and waiting to hear back on a few bids in the western suburbs. You can message me directly if you'd like to chat about your project. What year was it built, and where in the city is it? 

Generally, load bearing walls will run perpendicular to floor and ceiling joists. If your saying the “missing” wall parallels the ridge, then it may bear some weight of the ceiling joists. But, it looks like 2x6 joists, and the “missing” wall is not in the center of the house, and it's not sagging, and there’s no cracked drywall, I personally wouldn't give it another thought.  

@Matthew Paul, from a GC / handyman perspective, I couldn’t agree more. I’ve turned down jobs after realizing during the estimate process that the home owner was too cheap to meet my own standards. On the flip side, I’ve also made a tidy profit from home owners that insisted on a cheap product only to realize their mistake years down the road and need me to come in and replace a failed product. Pressboard wainscoting in a basement comes to mind. 

@Jim Goebel, Oftentimes the contractor, through years of hard knocks, does know the right way to do something. The homeowner is in the unfortunate position of having to be right when picking the contractor, not necessarily when knowing what brand of deck screw lasts longer, or which ball valve won’t leak in a decade. What may seem “right” for the wallet today, may be foolish in a few years. I absolutely hate doing something twice. 

It took me years to find an appliance repair/reseller I trust. When he says to buy brand X, I do it. I spent the time to find an expert, and now I save time and money by trusting his opinion. 

Now with my own rental properties I never cheap out on mechanicals, flooring, paint, or exterior products. This was not true in the past, before learning how hard tenants are on a home. My first property lost time off market due to me being overly frugal. What I saved on materials, I lost on rental income. 

Never be cheap, but always be frugal, especially with your time. We can make more money, but we can’t recover wasted time. Spend the time to find pros you trust, then lean on their expertise. 

@Jim Goebel

Where does the new washing machine drain? Into it's own dedicated drain, into a wash tub, into a floor drain, etc? Where did the old machine drain to?

I’d start with venting as well. Maybe check the sink traps to see if they are being sucked dry, too

Perhaps the old machine had air space around the drain that allowed a vent, and the new one was installed tighter, closing off the vent.  Just a wild guess. 

I use Cleveland Property Management Group, but their service has fallen off since Keller Williams bought them a few years ago, so I can't recommend them. I am also in the market for a new management company and would like feedback on Allstar.  

I've used the products from Limber Liquidators and Home Depot. I think the best compromise is the 4mm plank with the soy-based underlayment from Liquidators. The thinner stuff is a bear to assemble as the plank flexes too much, and the Depot product has diminishing returns for the higher price. 

There's thicker stuff at a much higher price from flooring stores, but the 4mm is showing no wear at all over a slab after two years in a home with a dog and children. Tenants love the look and feel, and the underlayment kills and movement or sound. 

Just did most of a 1400 sq ft home for $1200. 

The point-of-sale inspections and building departments in certain Cleveland suburbs can be onerous. A colleague of mine has rentals in Garfield Hts he's eager to be rid of. They cash flow, but take a lot of his time with turn over and general maintenance.  I'm not very familiar with Maple Hts.