All Forum Posts by: Cheng Bin Zhang

Great feedback. Best case scenario is if he recovers and comes back.  I’m trying to imagine worst case scenario where I can’t reach him or his family for many more weeks. 

A tenant of ours was admitted to hospital for attempting suicide.  Fortunately, he is okay.  We salvaged all of his stuff and is waiting for doctors or his family to contact us.  Curious if anyone has dealt with this situation before?  How did you handle it?  Obviously we want to be sensitive to the situation but we also cannot have a room sit vacant forever.  Seeking some advice.

I've been individually creating landlord-tenant accounts for each of our units and it's becoming quite a hassle to have to physically go into the banks to create each account.

I was told by my banker that I might be able to establish a commercial trust account and create sub-trust accounts to maintain each of the security deposits separately. Is anyone familiar with this?

The biggest pain point is having to physically go into a branch and wait to create these accounts. If I can share the W9s and my identity over email/video call, that would be great.

Any thoughts? How do you hold all the escrows now? 

Thanks for the help,

Cheng

Hi There,

I have a client who is considering a rental property in Boston. They have concerns about owning rentals while on specific visa status. The wife is holding H1B and the husband is holding F1 Phd student visa. Do you know if there are restrictions? I have certainly not heard of it... Would they just file this under schedule E when they file their return?

Thanks,

Cheng

Hi All,

I am a small owner/operator/agent in Boston and would love to connect with Property Managers in the area to learn more about their profession and services.  PM me for more information. Thanks!

Cheng

Hi All,

We're managing a 6-plex that needs trash removal services.  Not specifically a haul away but literally just moving it from the back of the apartment to the front of the street for pick up.  This needs to happen once a week.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  For the smaller multifamilies, we've been able to ask the tenants to take out their own bins to the curb.  However, for this property, we'd like to outsource that service.

Any tips would be helpful.  Thanks!

CZ 

Hi All,

We have a low-income tenant and the rent currently includes heat and electricity.  Does anyone know if me as a landlord can apply for heat/gas/utility subsidies on his behalf? Has anyone tried this?

Best,

Cheng

Hi BP,

I'm looking to get floor plans and elevation drawings for an addition that I'd like to build.  It will need to go through variance but the unit size is small enough that I would not need stamps on the initial submission.

I'm looking to add ~1000 sqft (new unit) onto an existing 2 family.  Does anyone have a sense how much the drawings will cost me?  Is there a market rate per sqft?  I'm based out of Boston, MA.   Any pricing structures and contractual items I should be aware of?

Thanks!

Cheng

Hi There,

We recently closed on a property in MA that uses steam boilers for heating.  We included new boilers into our calculation.  However, after the installation, one specific steam radiator is incredibly slow to heat up.  So the whole unit heats up to the desired temperature before the room with the slow radiator.

Here are some notes:

1. problem radiator is not all that far from the boiler.  Other radiators further from the boiler get heated faster.

2. I've replaced the vent. Even tested the radiator without the vent to force steam into the direction of the steam radiator (which will draw heat quickly). Slow radiator does heat up but generally requires more time.

3. The valve is open all the way and steam is definitely able to reach the radiator.

I'm going to try to insulate that specific pipe in the basement to the slow radiator and see if that helps.  Otherwise, does anyone have ideas/suggestions?

Thanks!

C

Hi,

We have a small portfolio in Boston (11 units) that we've been happily managing for the past 5 years.  We've been recently approached by a number of small/new landlords/friends about property management services.   Do folks on this forum have any experience transitioning from landlording to an independent property management service?   If so, what's been your experience?  

Would love to connect and get coffee/tea to pick your brain about this subject.

Thanks and appreciate the help,

Cheng