All Forum Posts by: Chris Sweeney

Originally posted by @Dennis M.:

I would pad the room so no one hits their heads on the wall . Replace the glass windows with plexiglass so nobody could get cut too .

My point was that you said that a lack of corded blinds was "hardly a problem". But it is actually a huge problem for the situation that I just mentioned - windows that go all the way up to the ceiling. I'm not really worried about the liability aspect as much as the huge inconvenience that it is to have to climb up on something every time you want to fully open and close the blinds, which for some people is multiple times per day.

Originally posted by @Dennis M.:

Hardly a a problem . Just go with the flow and get the non corded ones . You don’t want a little kid hung in a rental of yours. Lawsuit waiting to happen 

I also wouldn't want anyone falling off of a chair that they had to climb onto to open and close a cordless blind in a window that goes up to a 9-foot ceiling.

Hello All,

I have a 4-plex in Jenkintown, PA (Montgomery County). I bought it back in November 2018 and have replaced 3 of the 4 previous low-paying tenants. The one remaining is a 69 year old man with no job and some health issues. He's a nice guy and has been paying his rent on time every month. I'd love for him to stay. The only problem is that his rent is $505 (1 bed/1 bath apartment). That includes cold water, hot water, trash, and heat. Compare that to the $1192 that the girl in the renovated 1-bedroom apartment across the hall is paying which also includes cold water, hot water, trash, and heat.

Now, I don't want to kick the guy out because he has nowhere to go, and he can't afford anything else in the area. He gets $793 from SSI and $194 in food stamps. That's just under $1000 per month to live off of. Doesn't sound like much! And I'd hate to just raise the rent, but I'd also hate to miss out on $8000 per year ($600-$700 per month).

So, I'm looking for a win-win here; a way for him to have some more money AND for us to be able to raise the rent a little. Any suggestions on public assistance programs that this tenant could take advantage of? Would calling the Social Security office and requesting an increase in his SSI payment do any good?

As far as I know, my property is not Section 8 certified, but he and I submitted an application to the Montgomery County Housing Authority just to get the ball rolling (even though I understand there is a very long waiting list).

Any other ideas? Thanks!

Chris Sweeney

Home Depot and Lowe's (and Walmart, etc.) have unfortunately stopped carrying the inexpensive 1" vinyl blinds that use cords for raising/lowering the blinds. They were $5-10 each (depending on size) and work great in my rentals. However, everything available now in that price range is cordless. The cordless ones are *okay*. My main gripe with them, though, is that they are useless with tall windows. You have to raise and lower the blinds with your hands, so you can only raise it as high as your arm can reach.

So.....I'm looking for 1" vinyl *corded* blinds (aka mini blinds) in the $5-10/each price range. Anybody have a source of somewhere who still sells them?

Just a question to satisfy my curiosity. When are fire escapes required for rentals? Anything over 4 units? Anything over a certain square footage? Anything 3 stories or more? Etc., etc., etc. Also, is the requirement, if any, based on national building codes or local building/fire codes?

Also, are we, as landlords, required to provide tenants with fire extinguishers. I always do and always have, but is it actually required by law/code? I can see liability in not providing one, but I suppose I could also some some liability in providing one but not maintaining it yearly and/or having it not function when it needs to.

Any thoughts? Thanks!

Quick accounting question. I just bought a duplex for $225k. It appraised for $250k. Should I record the book value in my accounting software as $225k or $250k? Benefits and drawbacks of doing it one way vs. the other? Thanks!

Hi Everybody,

I had 4 rental units until 2 weeks ago. I recently purchased a triplex, bringing me up to 7 units. My insurance agent called me today to tell me that my personal umbrella policy covers up to 4 units, and that now that I have 7 units, it won't cover any of them. Since it's no longer covering any rentals, the premium goes down by like $32, and still covers me personally. I'll keep the personal umbrella, and my agent said I can get a commercial umbrella policy to cover the rentals now (at ~$350 a year or something like that), but he also said it might not be necessary, since each property has coverage for $1 million per occurrence and $2 million per year. It obviously depends on my comfort level and risk tolerance.

I'm pretty comfortable with the coverage of the current property policies, but I've never had any claims against me or my properties, so I don't know if $1,000,000 is plenty of coverage or not. Would you suggest getting the commercial umbrella policy? And would you still hold on to the personal umbrella?

Chris