All Forum Posts by: David S.

I mentioned it already in a response, but I think Traverse City could be a candidate. Expanded the airport too… 

Quote from @Johnathon Sesi:

@Nathan G.

What big trouble areas are you hearing about in Michigan?

I think that was a political/policy reference more than anything since it included Illinois and MI has the witches of the Midwest… 
But I agree that MI is fine and has so much natural beauty to safeguard it from poor policy for years to come. Traverse City is exploding… 

Quote from @Jim Pellerin:

Quote from @Jalen De Leon:

I wanted to see what top 10 cities and towns would be good to acquire rental property in? Good as in terms of acquiring for a first time buyer/ beginner investor, and if the property the area is in can appreciate over time as well. 

Thanks!

@Jalen De Leon In general, they will be more expensive in major cities. More competition. Appreciation is better. For example, try finding a cash flowing SFH in San Francisco.

While the general philosophy is correct, why do people tend to think markets like San Fran will never stop out-appreciating the bulk of markets in the US? Does anybody really want to live there anymore with sky high prices, drought, incompetence, homelessness, and businesses leaving? Play appreciation, but be careful of what markets you play; The homeless population doesn’t care what it cost to live in a market, but at a certain point the rest of society cannot afford it, nor can businesses justify it. Add in massive inflation and cheap markets actually start to appreciate faster than historically in-demand markets, simply because people are literally forced to move there to survive. There are plenty of hot markets that will continue to do well relatively, but in this environment I can already tell cheap cost of living markets are starting to buck their long term trends, AND they cash flow. 

Thanks guys! We’ve closed on 5 properties over the years and never done one on the day of closing. I figured it just wasn’t normally done that way… But it is from now on for me! 

Quote from @Marcus Auerbach:

Ozone will oxidize any organic compounds, but it get's consumed in the process. So you will have to generate enough O3 molecules to bind with whatever smells. 

O3 is highly reactive and binds with one of the O's to anything organic, basically burning up (oxidizing) anything organic and going from O3 to O2. I have a residential size ozone generator and it can take a few days to do its job in a 1200 sf space. Commercial generators will put out enough O3 to do the same in a few hours. Hire a service, we have one here in Milwaukee for $350 per job.

 Great info Marcus; Knowing how things work always helps! I’ll keep that in mind!

We bought a home that had a nice washer and dryer included with it per the disclosure. They were still there when our realtor did the final walkthrough, then walked off before we took possession. 
Then on the next house the AC unit was stolen between final walk through and closing. 
This obviously gets expensive and I suspect as society slides it’ll only become more common. How can I prevent this? Is there a way to have locks changed and kept by a third party as part of the final walk through? Or could I add a clause that allows me to put up some cell signal security cameras to protect an item like the AC condenser during that time? 
Or is it acceptable to require a walk through the morning of closing? I’d really like that… 

Quote from @Dan H.:

Quote from @David S.:

Quote from @Dan H.:

Smart locks or landlord locks.  Easy to change between tenants and requires only 1 key.

Make sure each unit has master water cutoff if possible.  It sucks to have to turn off water to all units to work on one unit.  

If have interior laundry have plumbed washer pan.  I place washer on scrap Trex so it sits above and not in the washer pan. 

Wood bath vanities last longer than particle board and are worth the extra expense. 

Even highest quality LVF can be damaged.  In future I will be concrete staining slabs.  I have not yet gone this route, but it seems no brainer. LVF may be best option for raised foundations and 2nd stories.   

Pre-fab granite is easily high enough quality for rentals and is a fraction of the price of custom granite/quartz. it should last as long as the counters.  

Dishwashers for above class C only.  Maybe same for garbage disposals.

If you provide washing machines, avoid washers that lock the lid (every front loader and some top loaders have lids that lock).  Inevitably something goes wrong with the washer with a load in the washer.  Tenants pry the lid open resulting in additional expense.  If it is common laundry, every tenant will deny it was them. 

If your property uses dumpsters, place high fencing (I like 8’) around it. Tenants will throw trash into dumpster which can end up outside trash area if regular 6’ fence is used. They seldom throw bad enough to clear an 8’ fence.  You typically cannot get 8’ planks so hide the seam.

good luck

 Dan, please tell me more about the prefab granite. I want to be sure I'm understanding this... Is this an off the shelf product you're ordering cut for a sink, especially if you have just a straight counter with no corners? What if you do have a corner, can you still use this and DIY the corner? I guess I'm trying to understand if you mean "manufactured stone" (aka quartz and such) but I suspect you mean something different yet considering you said it's much cheaper. Thanks! 

 It is the bullnose/edge that is pre-fabricated.  The work is from cheap labor location.  The sink still has to be fabricated for where your sink resides.  The quality is not as good as the granite fabricators in my market, but you have to look slightly close to notice (once you know, you can typically easily tell pre-fab granite).  In our granite stores, the prefab 0.5 slabs are significantly lower price than 0.5 slab without the edge.  The quality is easily good enough for class B rentals.  

Some fabrication is still required with the use of the pre-fab granite.  

That’s what I thought you were talking about, and I love that idea, other than the need for a plywood surface underneath. But you caused me to do some research and realize that there are some very nice looking, modern top mount sinks these days for kitchen installs that would make DIY granite the ticket for any kitchen that doesn’t require a corner seam. I will be doing this from now on, with granite from FB marketplace if I can find it, and otherwise I’ll put down the plywood/osb and go the prefab route you mention. Easy $1000 savings for a day’s work. 
Cheers! 

I spent some time looking on the forums how to get rid of the pot smell in my rental. A lot of people claim it goes away pretty easily. That was not my experience, but then my tenant turned out to be a dealer (and constant user) of the “good stuff” that’s unbelievably potent and laced with extra THC if I’m not mistaken (the white waxy stuff). 

Anyway, ozone was not doing the trick, which is what most recommended. I ozoned the hell out of the common areas to no avail. Even wiped down all the walls and floors with a vinegar solution which helped, but still not enough. And no, there was no carpet, but LVP. Then I saw somebody recommend just leaving out bowls of vinegar to evaporate, and I realized I could do one better. I immediately bought a humidifier on Amzn for next day delivery and used it on high with a 1- 3 part vinegar-water ratio. Ran this all night on high in the common areas to where you’d walk in in the morning to a haze of vinegar cloud and start coughing right away. THAT did the trick. I did this twice for the worst areas and still alternated the ozone machine. Did each room for 3-4 hours, putting the humidifier under the ceiling fan turned on high, sucking up the mist and moving it over all surfaces. Be sure to close the HVAC vents or turn the HVAC off when doing this to get maximum effect. 
You could even put a humidifier in front of every HVAC intake and run the system on low fan with the filter taken out if needed. I did let my system run the second night I ran the humidifier to help clean it as well. 

I hope that helps the next LL who runs into the same issue! This nasty, high intensity MMJ is getting all too common. Though I understand some take it for medical purposes, I would strongly encourage you do independent research on the health ramifications of this stuff, especially as it’s gotten ridiculously potent. The studies coming out are scary and point to a major health crisis down the road in my opinion. 

Best wishes all, and happy landlording! 

Quote from @Dan H.:

Smart locks or landlord locks.  Easy to change between tenants and requires only 1 key.

Make sure each unit has master water cutoff if possible.  It sucks to have to turn off water to all units to work on one unit.  

If have interior laundry have plumbed washer pan.  I place washer on scrap Trex so it sits above and not in the washer pan. 

Wood bath vanities last longer than particle board and are worth the extra expense. 

Even highest quality LVF can be damaged.  In future I will be concrete staining slabs.  I have not yet gone this route, but it seems no brainer. LVF may be best option for raised foundations and 2nd stories.   

Pre-fab granite is easily high enough quality for rentals and is a fraction of the price of custom granite/quartz. it should last as long as the counters.  

Dishwashers for above class C only.  Maybe same for garbage disposals.

If you provide washing machines, avoid washers that lock the lid (every front loader and some top loaders have lids that lock).  Inevitably something goes wrong with the washer with a load in the washer.  Tenants pry the lid open resulting in additional expense.  If it is common laundry, every tenant will deny it was them. 

If your property uses dumpsters, place high fencing (I like 8’) around it. Tenants will throw trash into dumpster which can end up outside trash area if regular 6’ fence is used. They seldom throw bad enough to clear an 8’ fence.  You typically cannot get 8’ planks so hide the seam.

good luck

 Dan, please tell me more about the prefab granite. I want to be sure I'm understanding this... Is this an off the shelf product you're ordering cut for a sink, especially if you have just a straight counter with no corners? What if you do have a corner, can you still use this and DIY the corner? I guess I'm trying to understand if you mean "manufactured stone" (aka quartz and such) but I suspect you mean something different yet considering you said it's much cheaper. Thanks! 

Quote from @Jill F.:

I have found that, having the very nicest places and charging a little bit more than others in the neighborhood attracts the very best tenants willing to rent in a given neighborhood. Instead of 'hardening' we upgrade and screen for a stable job  and rental history. (Though some upgrades like pretty backsplashes and tile, actually do improve durability). Our renters are not always renting because they don't have their **it together. We have half one-bedrooms and half two-bedrooms. We rent to a lot of young people just starting out in their professional lives and a fair number of middle aged people starting over after leaving relationships. We have inherited a fair number of older tenants who do not want the responsibility of caring for a place, some have given paid off houses to their children. These tenants will make their next move into an assisted living, some are very price sensitive, under market rent, and/or not really and truly able to fully care for themselves or their spaces and we generally try to gently nudge these tenants into more 'assisted' living situations be it with family or professionals.

You can find tenants that will care for your property (especially if they see YOU caring for your property) even in "D" neighborhoods.

Thanks again Jill, that helps. I keep hearing that offering a nicer place at a higher price actually helps get good tenants. This is the model I'm looking for as I'm personally rather particular (except for my own home, right?!) but I was thinking I should offer a discount for the best tenants. I keep hearing the opposite, so I won't discount and instead will just be more patient. I'm also no longer outsourcing the placement of tenants... I just have to look the person in the eye, see the condition of their vehicle, shake their hand, and have a conversation. Problem is we don't live in our rental market, yet. Next year that will change fortunately.