All Forum Posts by: Carson E.

We have close to 30 rental houses and trying to run the books on them gets beyond tedious.  We use the Wave app to take pics of our receipts and then process them at a later time.  Now our CPA wants items broken out between capital improvements (appliances, carpet, tile, etc) and regular operating and maintenance expenses for each unit.  Wave does not allow us to do this and I am not sure of the best way to move forward... Last year we were able to estimate percentages based on what we spent on each house, which was much easier, however this year we have to do specific breakdowns.  From our research, it seems like quickbooks or other popular accounting programs do not allow this.

So for example - in 2019, we rehabbed (ourselves) approximately 6 houses, which additional upgrades/fixes to several other units as they came open and before they were rented.  When I go to a Home Depot or similar building supply center, I go probably 3-12 times weekly and source supplies for several houses that were currently being worked on.  One receipt is not just for one home, but may include 3, 4 or even 5 different houses.  We literally have thousands of receipts that is hard to imagine how we begin going through them.

Do other people have trouble finding a logical way to pull out capital expenses and track them for several properties and with multiple houses on the same receipt? How are you tracking these items efficiently?

Thanks for the feedback.  @Account Closed.  I think I will plan to list the property myself and screen the people to show it to.  The tenant can show it so they have some motivation in the process and we will see where it goes.  Thanks for the input everyone!

So I have a tenant with 8 mos left on his lease who has been offered the opportunity (he was not terminated) to move to a new town for a position under the same employer.  The new position provides housing and flexibility to get started ( the location is in a less desirable place in Wyoming).  Currently he and his wife are renting a newer construction house from us that would be considered in the upper end of the rental market ($1,450/mo).   I am considering three options and would be interested if anyone else has been in a similar situation.   We live 50 mins away from the house, so we would have to travel over and do group showings or set a day to show it.

Option 1: THEY find an appropriate person (we approve of) to sublease to be tacked on to the current lease with an addendum.  They do the advertising and showing.  They pay $500 fee for breaking lease.  They pay full rent until subleasee takes over.

Option 2: WE do the advertising and showing.  We approve the new tenant and begin a clean lease with new tenant.  Old tenant pays $1,450 fee for breaking lease.  They also pay normal rent until it is filled.

Option 3: They pay an adjusted higher fee of $1,550/mo and we end the lease Dec 31st (4 rental months away), which is common in this town because it is a college town and leases are on 6 month cycles many times, so there is an active renewal period 2x a year.

Anybody else have some creative ideas?

Hey @Luke Preslar I would agree with @Cheryl Packham that finding someone to remodels and construction work can be a bit of a challenge.  These guys really are booked out 1 year plus and they can pick and choose on what they want.  The market seems to still be robust with fewer deals and high demand.  I would envision things would still be strong through the winter as supply decreases but demand is still existing - and this is with most of the oil rigs stacked up... wait till the price of oil comes back next summer.  We have looked at numerous houses and submitted lots of offers with little success.  I'm not knocking any agents, but things seem to be getting a little sloppy as far as execution and follow through with these houses - given the great market and plenty of business.  Also, Cheyenne has lots of unique areas and flavors of homes.  I would recommend getting on the ground for a day or two when you do find an agent and learn the lay of the land.

@Andy Ferrell We have grappled with that as well. In the end, if you are able to use both as a system, it can work well if you hope to acquire multiple properties. Get a HELOC on your primary residence and use that as the quick cash to buy "Property A", then refi "Property A", using the funds to pay off the HELOC. Then you can repeat with HELOC on "Property B", and refi that to repelenish the HELOC, etc, etc

@Samori Diallo we are in the process of doing the same thing in SD and we are able to pull 75% of appraised value for 30 yrs at 4-4.25%.  That is with a regional bank in MT-SD-WY area.  15 yr rate is 3.25% if we wanted that.  Not sure on our closing costs but $6,500 seems high to me...  I would suggest finding a Credit Union which typically have lower rates or a regional bank, which has low rates and usually that desirable 30yr mortgage.

@Brandon Ingegneri it is basically a traditional house, split into a basement apartment and upstairs apartment.  Basement has separate entrance on side, which has three steps up to upstairs apt kitchen - and the short run of steps leading to basement.  The steps lead down to what I would call the common area in the basement, where the washer and dryer would be.  This would also be where the 'main entrance' door would be in the basement to access the bottom apt - essentially a solid exterior type door.  I'm leaning more towards running a section of vent pipe into this room with a non-adjustable vent cover - meaning it cannot be closed.

Some good ideas @Matt Clark ... The unit is under one meter and the utilities would likely be split either 50/50 or 60/40.  Electric baseboards could be an option as well, assuming they don't get turned off!  If the deal goes through I will have to look at the situation a little more.  A newer more efficient window could help and some foam board insulation possibly on the stone foundation walls could prevent the temp from dropping as well.

So I am looking at potentially purchasing an over/under duplex  (ground level and basement).  My question has to do with what would be a shared laundry room that is in an open room tied to a hallway leading outside.  Essentially if the outside door does not close all the way, there is potential for pipes to freeze, or even if the door is closed on cold nights, there is potential freeze damage.  Anybody have any ideas on how they protect these common areas that do not necessarily have traditional heating to them?  I suppose I could run a heating vent over to it or put head tape on the pipes as added insurance?

Hey @Sara McConnell - welcome to Laramie!

My wife and I live in Laramie as well and have similar desires of getting in to the mulit-unit game.  We have found that Laramie can be a very challenging market, partly because of the high demand and low supply of housing.  We have done many offers, but stuff pretty much goes close to asking price right now - with many of the properties having negative cash flows or nothing all that impressive (multi-units).  If you are able to acquire a good multi-unit property, you should have great demand for rents, assuming it is located in a good part of town. Let me know how things turn out!