All Forum Posts by: Chris Rosenberg

So I did end up buying a 3 family in the Bronx in Morris Park. One boiler for the whole house with baseboard heat. 3 separate electric and gas meters. The boiler is on the 1st floor meter which is the apt I live in. Now my issue is how do I get the boiler and water heater on a separate 4th meter so when I move out I can rent out my apt to a tenant and I can pay the heat. I was thinking of keeping it the way it is and just paying the gas portion of the bill for the 1st fl apt when I move out. If I do that I would be paying the heat and hot water for everyone, which is what I have to do anyway, but I will also be paying for the 1st fl cooking gas which I don’t think is a big deal. In return, the 1st fl tenant will pay their own electric including electric for the boiler and water heater which shouldn’t be much money. What do you think?

As far as mini splits go, they are popular in my neighborhood. An HVAC contractor told me it was a good solution and does provide enough heat for the winter but I’m not totally sure if it does. But that’s probably a reasonable solution for dividing the heat for the tenants to pay, without changing piping and adding boilers, etc. Its way cheaper to install 3 mini splits than it is to repipe and install 3 new boilers. 

@Robert Barnes Yes can you tell me which bank?

@Robert Barnes Unfortunately I don’t have an answer for your question but I’m curious what bank you used to get commercial terms like that. I couldn’t find anyone under 7% and less than 25% down. Is this because it’s technically residential or owner occupied?

I answered your PM but for other people interested:

My railroad is set up the same way except you walk up the stairs and enter the hallway the first door to the right is bedroom 2. You need to walk through this bedroom to get to bedroom 1. Bedroom 3 has It’s own entrance from the hallway. The living room is next and has 2 wide entrances, one from the hallway and one that leads to the kitchen. There is also a kitchen entrance at the end of the hallway and the bathroom is at the end of the hallway. The bathroom window faces the yard. The house is detached and completely rectangle (no shafts). Each room has atleast one window which lets in a lot of sunlight.

I’m in Morris Park. I’ve owned the house just over 2 years. My first tenant resigned another one year lease after staying a year but then broke it for a good reason and paid a penalty. My second tenants I gave a 6 month lease and they just signed another one year lease with me in June. They first signed for $2k in December 2017.

If you live there it could be a good thing if you want to keep it quieter up there. Large families probably won’t be interested, although I’ve had a few inquiries. 

Hey Michael. I have this set up in my top floor apt. I have it rented out for $2000 to two girls (and I was pleasantly surprised I got that price). So it functions as a 2 bedroom in their case and they use the railroaded room as an office area. They also use the smaller bedroom as a room for their cats. They turned the living room into their second bedroom (that room is next to the kitchen). The last tenants I had also used the first railroaded room as an office and everything else how it’s supposed to be used. They were a couple with a young child. And when I bought the house the tenants that lived their used the first railroaded room as a storage room. I’ve had a few larger families that wanted to rent it out but turned them down. I do believe it made it a little harder to rent so I treat it more like an enormous 2 bedroom apartment with an office but realtors always advertised it as a 3 bedroom. I was also very selective with qualifying my tenants. Since I live below the apt I wanted to keep it quiet. I think that railroaded room makes more sense as a baby room or office. Or you can make that the living room and make the room off the kitchen a bedroom. 

I’m curious how you have it set up so you can enter through the hallway. Do you have a picture? I thought about doing this. 

@Daniel Stepp Welcome to BP. We are actually in similar situations. I just turned 35 and just had a baby girl. I’m an operating engineer and want to spend more time with my family. We are looking to move to the Myrtle Beach area and I’m trying to get a small portfolio of long term rentals down there. Let me know if I can help in any way. Where exactly in MB are you looking to move/invest?

@Pete Schmidt I sent you a colleague request. I’d definitely like to speak to you more about the Myrtle Beach area for investing. 

I'm strongly considering Myrtle beach for both investing and moving. The plan is to get some properties to rent out and then move there. I'm actively looking now. The population is exploding and there's tons of new construction. Lots of beach, lots of golf, lots of sun, lower cost of living, and better quality of life in my opinion. My wife is definitely on board. I've also heard from numerous people that charleston is like the fastest growing area in the US. Tons of new restaurants and stuff to do. 

@Raza Rizvi I think it would just be too expensive for me to separate heat and hot water for each tenant. Sure I’ll take your plumber’s info. Thanks. 

Hey everyone. I own a 3 family in the Bronx which is also my primary residence. I'd like to start thinking about moving out and renting out my apartment. Each apartment has their own gas and electric meters, and all share one boiler and water heater. The issue is that the boiler and water heater are on my gas and electric meters. So I pay my cooking gas and electric for my apartment as well as the heat and hot water for the whole house. I was wondering if it's better to get a separate gas meter installed for the heat and hot water, or if there is a way around it. Does anyone know the typical cost of a job like this? Can I just install a new gas line and not a new electric meter? I read on the Con Ed website that if a tenant pays something like less than 10% of their electric bill towards supplying common areas then that is legal. Maybe I can pay the gas portion of the Con Ed bill for that apartment from whoever rents it instead.