All Forum Posts by: Christine Swaidan

Thanks @Russell Brazil @Matthew Olszak and @Jason Hirko  I appreciate the input. Will get on the phone with both tomorrow. 

@Account Closed He's asked for a rent reduction because he is no longer employed. I said no. His daughter moved in. No problem. A dog came with the daughter. I will be asking for a pet deposit even though he has tried to hide the dog. On the bright side he keeps the place meticulous. 

I have two bids on two separate projects (different houses). Both contractors responded in a timely fashion and have answered my follow up questions. One was high on one project bid and low on the other project bid and vise-versa.  I am looking to establish a working relationship with a contractor and both these people are in the running. I'm considering asking the low bidders to do the jobs. That means one would get one job and the other company would get the second job. When added together the totals for both projects are $1000 between the two bidders. But if I accept the lowest bid from either contractor I will save significantly more and see how two different companies work. Is this ethical on my part?

For anyone who might be interested, I did get two more bids for my projects. 

For job#1 the original bid was $24,000. Two other bids were $14,545 and $11,011. 

For job#2 the original bid was $14,600. Two other bids were $9,447 and $4,934. 

I was not asked for a bid fee by any other contractor. One bid was just scope of work with no detail and the other one was line by line. The first guy was way out of line. Guess this is why we are supposed to get multiple bids. 

The tenant settled down. Still a PITA. Less frequent demands now. Guess he ran out of things to complain about @Account Closed

We always change the locks before we rent a unit. 

Thanks, @Matt Clark   Have to make some decisions tomorrow. Appreciate the help. 

I could use a quick lesson on replacement windows. I believe nail on means that stucco is removed and the window is more of a built-in product like you would do with new construction.

When should I do one vs. the other?

I wouldn't want to be dealing with 3 rehabs at the same time. I vote for leaving it alone.

I'm currently  doing my own experiment with upgrading and increasing rents. At every move out we are rehabbing units and charging increased rents. These are mostly original units from early 70's.

I have an additional handicap in that this is a 55+ complex. So while some tenants are still working, most are retired on fixed incomes.

I'm having limited success.  I have been able to raise rents but we are still on the lower side. I do have a tendency to over improve--we started replacing countertops with granite and quartz and now I have scaled back to laminate.

The one thing that I have been very happy with is that I feel we have made it a much more pleasant place to be. It is clean and bright and welcoming. 

It sounds like what you are planning on doing could be very costly. It's all about the numbers.