All Forum Posts by: Daniel H.

Thanks @Mike Hurney . This property is actually in CT. My current property is in MA. I'm not even sure if the do lead certs here in CT.

I am looking at purchasing a building built in 1920. I am assuming there is lead paint there. A visual inspection looks okay but there are no lead certs. There are children under 6 living in the building. Building was bought as part of a lot of foreclosed buildings. No leases.

Worried about the potential problems that could arise with lead paint in the building.

Has anyone bought a building with kids living there and you were not sure if there was lead paint or not? What did you do? My other building had lead certs when I bought it.

This building has been around since 1890 and in pretty good condition.

How about powerwashing to clean it up?

There is about 3 feet of brick around my buildings before the siding starts. I was going to power wash the brick just to clean it and I was thinking about sealing in the brick? I started reading online on how to do it and it sounds like maybe sealing the brick could be a bad thing because the brick needs to breath.
The house across the street has the brick all covered over with plaster.

Is this something that would help protect the brick or should I just leave it alone? There are no leaks and no issues with water getting into basement. Considering it only as a way to preserve and protect the brick from the elements.

If it is something that would be beneficial can anyone recommend the products to use? I looked at Home Depot and saw thorocrete, thoroseal, drylok, acryl60, etc..

Open a checking account for each tenant? What about all the fees?

Great advice, thanks! Aaron, no fee to set up all those checking accounts? Could they ever withdraw from the account? Say they needed the money before you transferred.. Also, when a new tenant moves in do you set up a new acct or keep existing unit's acct #?

Most of my tenants do not have bank accounts and send their rent payments with money orders each month. Are there any services I could use besides money orders and mail to get the rent from these people?

I checked the online rent sites and they all need e-check(money order can't be used) or debit or credit card.

I checked Western Union and their fees are pretty high for sending money.

Any other options?

So my other option would be to classify it as a secondary residence? Basically get same deductions as my primary residence except no mortgage interest deduction since bought w cash?

Up to this point in my RE career I have owned apartment homes and been a landlord. I am considering something a bit different for other reasons besides pure investment and I am looking for some advice.

Looking to buy a bank-owned condo for $30,000. I would estimate that it could sell for $70-$80k in the future. Mainly want to hold it for now and use it as a second house in my town since I have family that visits regularly who could stay there for free instead of staying in hotels. When the market improves I could sell. I do not worry about carrying costs since I will get a good deal of use out of it. I have one family member who will split the purchase with me so I would be out $15,000.

My question is mainly how this will affect my taxes. Can I classify it as a vacant rental unit and take all my usual deductions, depreciation, etc?? Would it make it easier if I purchase it myself, that is an option too.

Some of the steps in my stairwell are wearing away/broken in the front so they need to be replaced. What is the best way to go about this? Do I need to remove railings and take off the step and replace or is there some way to fix the steps without removing the railings. I was thinking about putting a new step on top of the existing one but that would make the distance for each step uneven which I believe is a no-no. Could I do this to every step? Anyone done this before?