All Forum Posts by: Carl C.

Adam, I've seen what you're talking about in NYC walkups. Usually the upper portion of the wall becomes windows (like a transom across the entire wall). The system works but it doesn't let a ton of light into living spaces. There may also be a need for another window in the living space. Do you have one in an air shaft or something? Given what prices are like for rentals in NYC this could make a lot of sense to do but you'll need to get an architect if you are moving walls and reconfiguring apartments. NYC DOB takes this stuff seriously. I'm sure there are floorplans available online somewhere but there's no way you'd find one that would fit your specific building dimensions and features. 

Agreed, that is exactly what we will be proposing. We suggested this earlier in our negotiations and they were not interested but this may be a more interesting option to them now. 

I'd be going with drought tolerant native plants if I were you. They can be done to look very nice. I think lawns in dry climates are a bad idea but take my opinion with a grain of salt. I'm a landscape architect by trade. 

I'll be there. Looking forward to it!

I should change the title of this to "Don't count your chickens!". We had the inspection in the house this weekend. All went smoothly. The house is in excellent shape with no surprises. Sellers said the inspection for the house they are buying is set for Tuesday at which point we should be able to get contracts going and move the process along. I got a call yesterday afternoon from their realtor and the sellers lost their deal for the house they want to buy. Someone came in with a cash offer above their offer. she would still like us to sign a contract with no known closing date. I have no intention of doing that. 

So this leaves us with a few options. Wait it out and see what they find (hopefully soon) or restart our search. Being that there is so little stock in our neighborhood, my gut tells me we will be waiting this out. In the meantime, the search for #2 continues.

Oh that's very interesting. Thanks @Rob Beland

At the risk of counting my chickens before they hatch, I just had an offer accepted on our second SFR yesterday. Our initial offer was presented in October so this was a long and at times exhausting process. I'll get more into that with some lessons learned as paperwork gets finalized in the coming weeks.

As far as work goes, this house is in very nice shape. Extremely well kept. The current owner is 70 and he was born in the house. He takes great pride in his property. There are two big projects. #1 is asbestos removal from heating pipes in the basement. That absolutely MUST be removed properly before anyone gets in there. #2 is converting the dining room into bedroom 4. This is fairly simple. We will be hanging a door where there used to be one. The dining room was a bedroom years ago, so relatively easy conversion. 4th bedroom is critical as we will be renting to college students and 4 bedrooms are the most popular in the area. We may convert the furnace to natural gas from oil. That's yet to be seen. We will see what else pops up in the inspection, but I couldn't find anything else this house needs. It's in excellent shape.

As for numbers, I don't want to go into too much detail yet (trying not to count those chickens) but the asking price was 210, They accepted 182. Expect to rent for 2600. More details in the coming weeks.

It's my understanding that in New York the landlord is responsible for providing water. Being a noob, I could be mistaken. Even if that is the case I would wait until the lease is renewed to change that. 

I'm on my first rental property.My water bill comes quarterly. A few months after my tenants moved in I got a call from the water company and they said "you're water usage has spiked from your previous billing period, you may want to check for leaks or a running toilet". I figured that makes sense, The house sat vacant for over a year before I bought it. I appreciated the heads up. The bill came and it was over $200. I had no way to know if that was right or not. Four people live in the house. seemed like a lot of money but who knows. The next time I stopped by the house, I noticed one of the toilets was running. Not a lot but very slightly. Minor adjustment to the flapper and it stopped. I asked how long that was going on: "oh a while I guess". We then had a talk about letting me know when something like that is happening. I just got my next water bill: $60. Lesson learned. Check your fixtures folks, and make sure your tenants understand when there is a potential problem. It amazes me how much water was wasted with a slightly leaking toilet. 

Have you read J Scott's book on flipping houses? He has excellent info on rehabs and setting up systems. I highly recommend it.