All Forum Posts by: Carl C.

I agree that it is very dependent on the level of rehab you are looking for. Our rental house had 70's paneling in every single room. I thought we would remove it all and paint the plaster that was under it. Until we found out that it wasn't plaster under it. It was homeasote which meant I would have to take everything down to the studs and sheetrock everywhere. $$$$ !!!! Instead, we left the paneling in place and painted everything. It actually ended up looking really nice in a country casual sort of way. That may not work in every house or neighborhood but for our purposes it was the ideal situation. 

What exactly are you asking for? Just entry into the house? Individual locks to multiple units? We just have regular locksets on our student rental. I think schlage. 

Look at all these Staten Islanders. I grew up there and my parents still live there. I've often thought about trying to get into the north shore but as Phil says it looks like a tough market. Good luck and Welcome @Gary Rabinovich!

Thanks guys. I'll be looking used. 

Hi everyone, The 20 year old dryer in our rental house died last week. I'm not required to provide a washer and dryer in the lease but since we had it there we'd like to replace it. The house is a student rental so I want something that will take abuse but won't break the bank. Has anyone had luck with a particular model? I'm thinking about finding a used one on craigslist but I don't know if I want to take a chance on buying a dud. 

@Account Closed  and @James Wise thanks for the ideas. I think another call to clear the air is a good idea. 

@Andreas W. We aren't using an agent just because of how the deal developed. The house is directly next door to our current place and when we saw the for sale sign go up we just started talking with our neighbors. It organically turned into us trying to put a deal together with them but they wanted to keep the agent involved which was fine with us. We bought our last place as a FSBO without an agent and didn't find the process to be particularly difficult so didn't see any reason to bring one in. No other reason besides that.

@James Wise  You're very correct. I enjoyed talking with sellers agent and I was thinking I might like to use her on future deals if possible. That's pretty unlikely now. 

@Lumi Ispas  Thanks for the detailed breakdown. Not being an agent, All I have been told by other agents is the commission is usually 6% split between the buyers and sellers. Our clearly flawed logic was if she's getting all 6% ( then obviously minus all her costs) she should have some wiggle room since she would only get 3% if we had an agent of our own. We certainly meant absolutely no insult to the seller's agent at all and we would never had suggested it had I known what the reaction would be. 

After the call it did occur to me that I wouldn't be happy if someone asked me to take a cut out of my salary either. I appreciate everyone's input. This website is great for helping you learn and avoid mistakes in the future.

@Marc H.  That's exactly what I thought. It's still more % than you get if a typical buyer with an agent comes around. On top of it, this house has been sitting for 6 months with no offers. I think she realizes we're the best shot for a quick deal and the rest of the conversation was really good. I guess you just don't know what will set some people off.