All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Dear BP community,

I'm a beginner at this landlord stuff and have owned a multifamily for just about a year and a half. I'm looking for guidance on a pest/bathroom issue.

I  live on the first floor of the unit and my basement is split up so that front of the house has a small bedroom + bath then is a section for the furnace/boiler, then a medium sized studio w/ bathroom in 2nd half towards the back. The front room + bath is unused. It is directly below my bedroom and I do not want to rent it out nor offer it up to the basement studio tenant. We have had a bit of a roach/waterbug issue lately and I've had multiple extermination companies tell me it's due to the unused bathroom. I'm thinking about removing the bathroom. 

My contractor has told me that I can put caps on the bathtub drainhole and remove the showerhead and put a cap also. That's easier enough. Also, it's easy enough to remove the toilet and vanity/faucet but he'd have to cover it up with cement and he assures me that if i ever want to add the bathroom back, breaking up the cement to get to the piping would be easy enough. As long as I own this house, i will never use this bathroom so i dont mind removing it. However, in case i ever want to sell (which i have no plans for at this point in my life), i'm worried that i'm taking away value from my house by removing a full bath. Also, i'm not sold that the cement would be easy to break up and worried that breaking it up would also harm the toilet/faucet piping beneath it.

My question to you is:

1. What do folks think about removing a unused bathroom as far as house value is concerned? The basement still has a full bath in the studio and I can't imagine this bathroom being used unless the small bedroom is rented out also which besides being tiny, is illegal.

2. What do folks think about removing the small bedroom AND bathroom in it's entirety and just have an open space? I'm hoping that a more open space with fresh paint would provide fewer places for roaches to hide.

3. I use a well reviewed exterminator company that comes once a month. I also use advion on my own as it works well and i have a hard time trusting companies that makes regular money off of my need of them. Does anyone have any further suggestions on how to get rid of my roach problem? Any way to get rid of these things for good? 

4. Any thoughts, feedback, guidance is appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Hi,

Wondering what the community's thoughts are on using an Agent for rentals. Does it hurt or help you? I've always thought that using craigslist and trulia/zillow myself is the way to go. I dont pay a fee which takes away from my bottom line and neither does my tenant which should make it more attractive. However, i've spoken to some folks who think that the agent and their affiliated offices make a huge difference in finding tenants. 

For a recent rental, i used an agent first and used their suggested ask of $2400 a month, we received no hits in the first 2 weeks. The agent was kind enough to let me off the hook so that I can post it myself, we've received more hits but no takers. We've dropped the asking to $2200 a month but nothing has stuck yet. I'm thinking about going back to the agent at this range so that his office and peers can show it but i'm not sure if it will help. 

Any guidance would be appreciated as I'm just starting out.

I wonder if you can get a personal loan with a lower interest rate to pay off the cc debt. as many, including Frank and Marissa have stated. CC debt really is the worst kind of debt due to it's interest rate. you should pay that off. Though, if you can find some kind of hack such as a low interest personal loan or perhaps another credit that accepts transfers with a 0% interest for 2 years or so, that may be a good move.

Hello,

I'm just starting out and wondering - What do folks think about quality vs cash flow? I'm looking at 2 apartments.

A -  is good condition, needs some updates in kitchen/bathroom, listed as 2 bdrm but it's really a 1 bdrm with a french door/den type thing. Has city views in the winter, there's a giant tree outside that blocks city views in summer. 

B - is better condition, move in ready, slightly better location, true 2 bdrm. has city views year round. 

Both are 4th floor walk ups. Without getting into too much detail, assume i'm putting about the same initial cost into both, dp/closing/reno. A would return me about $$150-200 a month, B would get me $50-$100 a month.

I'm inching towards B just for location/quality sake. I'd lose on income but i'm hoping (with no real data) that as time passes, i'd get more rent and maybe even out the returns. What do you think?

Hey Steven,

I did the same thing about 2 years ago. I bought a 3 family with a va loan and still live in it. I did what some are suggesting here and raised rents one unit at a time. I didn't take the slow approach though. One tenant opted to move out and i got a new tenant a month later for more than what i was going to raise on the old tenant. the other tenant decided to stay and i came down $100 a month for him to be responsible for taking out the garbage and shoveling the snow over the winter. 

For the unit that left, i hired a cleaning company for $150, laid down some carpet tile, and repainted. although the cabinetry and bathroom/kitchen was dated, in my area, it wouldn't have added much value. 

That said, i'm totally with your plan!

I'm no expert at it but someone did recently recommend the homeready loan to me as well. I've looked into it a little and it seems promising. May be the answer for you as well.