All Forum Posts by: Danial Qureshi

@Levi T. what you've mentioned is exactly what the contractor already did. The bottom most picture is the most recent. I'll report back when I'm at the property today. 

Actually that's a good idea i'll try to do that today and hopefully find the issue.

@Levi T. that is what we initially assumed and we checked everything we did find that when water accumulated on the floor that it would seep through. Which is the reason why I needed to get a contract involved so that they could remove all the tiles replace the subfloor, seal it properly and hopefully the water wouldn't go through.

Hi Everyone,

Just recently approximately 1-2 weeks ago I was able to get a contractor to finish the work needed to stop a water leak into not my condo but in the condo unit below. Insurance was unable to cover the cost of the condo citing that it wasn't my unit etc. So I decided to do the responsible thing and attempt to get it resolved with my own set of funds. The leak was started from my understanding due to the sub-floor being cracked/damaged in some way shape or form, prior to me acquiring this property, which allowed water to essentially go from my unit to the unit below. I had a plumber check the connections they stated to me it wasn't a plumbing leak, contractor told me the same thing, HOA maintenance guy told me the same exact thing. So I bit the bullet and hired a contractor who told me that he would be willing to take care of the issue and bring the bones of this restroom up to today's building code and assured me that it would be done correctly and properly.

The total bill was $6,300 which to me was quite a bit and now I'm still running into the issue of water still leaking into the condo unit below a week or two later. I'm stressed out and I don't know what to do, I just got off the phone with the owner of the condo unit below. I'm taking a trip to the property today around 6:00PM EST to take a look at possibly why this is recurring. What are things I should be actively looking for this second time around? Since this was a licensed and insured contractor what are my options for recourse? I'm going to give the contractor a call as soon as I take a look at the property this evening. Are there specific questions I should be asking the contractor?

The pictures below are pictures before work was done to the unit the first picture is of the plumbing and everything seems to be fine, second picture was of mold accumulating which has since been removed, and the pictures below the first two show how the unit looked before any tiles were removed and replaced.

Today the unit looks exactly like this and my tenants have no issue showering but for some reason water is still leaking into the unit below causing damage to the Sheetrock on the top of the unit below which I don't have any pictures of.

If any of you have a few recommendations as to what I should look for and what I should be doing to make the owner of the bottom unit whole again please do let me know. I'm really confused as to what my next steps should be. 

-Danial Q.

@Deanna McCormick thank you for the quick response to be honest I don't know what to expect I've never been in a similar position. 

@Joshua Ibarra thank you for the prompt reply you make a good point. I was trying to look at it from their perspective, maybe I'm just overwhelmed because I wasn't expecting this to cost me $6300 plus lost potential rent. Overall they are good tenants so I'll give them a discount I guess then what would be a reasonable discount if rents are $1500? $100, $250, $500? Would you offer the lowest then go up in increments to minimize the amount of lost rent and come to something reasonable?

Hi BP Community,

My tenant/neighbor let me know of an issue related to water seeping from my top floor condo unit into the unit below approximately 1 month ago.

I contacted contractor #1 and I was told that they would be at my property on Thursday, he simply didn't show or even contact me, later found out was not licensed. I called back and he simply didn't pick up whatsoever.

Contacted contractor #2 and this time I was given a quote of $1000 to repair this issue with my bathroom, also found out contractor #2 was not licensed which led me to terminate  I contacted contractor #3 to get a quote as well and this quote came out to $6300 due to the bathroom in my condo not being built to Sandy Springs, GA code. 

I contacted Statefarm to see if they would be willing to cover the cost of these unexpected repairs. They told me that they would be unable to cover the repair costs. I said ok and now I'm continuing to work with Contractor #3 so that I can continue knowing that what work that is being done to the property will be done to code and is done correctly by a licensed contractor. 

Now my question is, my tenant is now demanding that I give her some sort of concession/discount on her rent due to her not being able to use the shower in that condo. There are a total of two showers in the condominium. Those of you who are landlords what actions have you taken which have led to a positive outcome? I don't want to give the discount/concession because I'm bleeding on one side and this would allow me to recoup funds that were sitting in another account for the repairs. I'm a bit confused and feel a bit blindsided by the tenant. If someone would be willing to talk over the phone later today anytime after 4pm EST so that I can talk this through I'd really appreciate it.

-Danial Qureshi 

@Dave FosterThank you for the clarification. I bought the property to initially live in, was unable to due to my job, then decided instead of paying for a property I'm not inhabiting, I might as well get someone else to pay the rent and build my equity. Thus me treating it as an investment. The purpose of me getting a tenant into the property to resell wasn't my intention whatsoever. 

@Dave Foster what if the condo that I have has been rented out since January 2017. Its currently generating gross revenues of $1700. I've been keeping separate books and bank accounts for the revenues derived from the property itself. I personally don't mind holding onto it until a year has passed since it is generating $250 of positive cash flow. Would the condo then be considered an investment property? Since I would be demonstrating that I currently hold it for the purpose of investment. I guess I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact, what makes an investment property in the IRS's eyes, since I don't have to declare what I'm using my property for, and the only way that they would know I'm using it for the purposes of investment would be through rental income reflected on my personal taxes? Or is my understanding incorrect on the matter?