All Forum Posts by: Jeff Bridges

 Really tough. 4 units is usually the bare minimum folks would consider installing coin-op due to high up-front machine costs. The scale is not really there. Some provide free machines but maybe price in the extra utility cost of the amenity into the rent. But you're going to be spending 600-1000 per machine for a used/new speed queen and only be getting revenue from 3 units. Maybe $14 per month from each unit? Thats not enough to justify machine purchase, utilities used, and maintenance and repairs. Oh an you also get a 2nd job as coin collector and machine break/fix customer service. making tenants walk 3 blocks doesnt sound as bad.

speed queens are the best and as a result, are usually more expensive. There is usually no timer based coin-op for washer, they are programmed to pay per wash cycle. 10 minutes isnt long enough to rinse out the detergent anyway even if that was a thing:) Only dryers pay by dry time, but usually even those usually require a default 40 minutes for example and extra quarters would add increments. How many units is your building? Have you considered outsourcing to a vendor that splits revenue, provides free machines and repairs or is your building too small? Laundry is not usually a money-maker and is a break-even sport at best. 

I'll throw in a reco for used appliance seller Nolans Appliances. They refurbish, check-out and sell used appliances. They have access to all of the nearby warehouses and can source out color/ type you are looking for and have it delivered and installed much quicker than a big box store could. 6 month warranty.

Nolans Appliances

5921 Moravia Park Drive

Baltimore, Md 21206 Unit A6

contact info in link:

https://www.manta.com/c/mhxbvjn/nolans-appliances

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll explore them all! priority is to dry the place out.

I have a property under contract to close approximately jan 30. The pipes were stolen prior to contract resulting in water gushing inside and wet carpets etc. The humidity is high and carpets are not going to dry out. There is no power to run fans or dehumidifiers etc. Mold is starting to form on the carpets. i'm trying to close sooner but the concern is if I cant get in 30 days, mold will begin to grow. Any recommendations on how to stablize property without power until I can get in, turn on power and dry the place out and pull carpets etc... Bank seller is not amenable to spending anything on the property before I settle. But I can ask. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance!

Hey BP nation. Anyone take a look at the photos to see whats going on and if there should be any concern with foundation issues?

House is on a hill and appears to have backyard grading that grades toward the house. It appears to be causing a sinkhole and some erosion along side of house.

#1- looks like some erosion that occured along the side of the crawlspace cinderblock foundation with parging. 

#2- Looks like there is a sinkhole (I'm told by neighbor that this has been filled in before and has returned)

Let me know if you have suggestions on how to address these two issues. I cant regrade the backyard since the whole yard is uphill. Maybe I could put an outdoor french drain in the middle of the yard to drain toward the driveway and away from house?

photos can be found here:

https://imgur.com/a/uoYIi5V

something like a french drain is proposed in red in the last image. Would that work?  I just brainstormed that on my own. thanks in advance for your help!

right now you are earning 2k/unit per year on average. Just an observation, not passing judgement. Have you considered assessing your portfolio to determine which ones are the highest maintenance headache (or time-consuming tenant, neighborhood tenant quality) or which ones have appreciated notably over your original purchase (sometimes they are both and the same) and might want to consider selling while the market is in a relatively good place? hypothetical: you could sell 2 units, take profits and use to buy a single better quality and higher cashflowing property at say 4k/year. This means you would have 29 properties with the same cashflow as before, but managing less doors, with lower maintenance headache from your 2 least favorite and most aggravating properties that allow you to spend more time/money on more quality acquisitions. Sometimes volume of houses doesn't equate to total success of your real estate investment empire. You have time to do analysis and consider preparing those for sale in the spring where they would have the chance to get top dollar. Good luck!

read this:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/01/0...

and this:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/07/3...

This doesnt make sense. The dishwasher is connected to the hot water line. Hot water is used to wash and sanitize the dishes and all items inside of the dishwasher tub. So if there was mildew inside the DW, it would be immediately killed upon running a new cycle. It does not return because everything inside is santized from both the soap and the hot water. Is there a heated dry cycle? I would recommend they turn that feature on as well, which would add a third piece to drying out the interior after each run. Are the dishes clean after each cycle? If so, there is enough water going through. The only mold you have to worry about is if the unit was leaking outside the appliance, which does not appear to be the case. How old is the dishwasher? is this a modern unit or over 10 years old? I wouldnt even call a repair tech because I dont believe anything to be immediately wrong. If No leak and clean dishes, I wouldnt immediately replace. Are they thinking they are breathing in mold from the dishwasher? I'm not sure what they mean when they say they are getting sick...

You are paying for ongoing maintenance of the entire municipal water supply infrastructure/ water treatment plant upkeep etc. through your water bill. It still needs to be there and pipes maintained if/when you re-activate water. Their maintenance bills don't stop just because yours do. That is why there is a minimum charge for the first 1000 gallons even if you use 2 of them. It's not preferred but it makes sense why you are charged this despite non-use. Chalk it up to a turnover cost. It's much harder to get this turned on very quickly right before tenant move-in so hard to time it. I recommend you make sure the place gets properly heated while water is on and also recommend that they actually turn off the interior house shut-off when not in use to avoid frozen burst pipes and also an unattended leak that could cause lots of damage. Make sure they stay on top of that too and dont take their word that they will get to it...