All Forum Posts by: Dan Gustavson

Just stumbled upon REI Automator, haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Would be interested in what others say on here as I have the same question.

@Joe Splitrock - You are correct, not sure why I mentioned the water line for refrigerator/toilets.. you don't want the cold water line connected. Hot water line is what you want connected to softener. 

@Nadia Hale - I have one rental and it's in a city that has some of the hardest water in our state. Just my opinion, but also take a look at what hard water can do to your property. Hard water is horrible on appliances such as dishwashers, clothes washers, water line on refrigerators, etc. Not to mention that when you go to clean the place when you have a tenant turnover it will be a nightmare getting off all of the hard water deposits in toilets, showers, sinks, etc. The first thing I did in my rental was install a water softener to mitigate the risks, it was less than $500 for the softener and it took me half a day to install myself. Since it's your tenant requesting it, maybe see if they are willing to go in on the cost or, like others mentioned, increasing the rent a little. I look at it as an investment to help maintain my property, the only thing the tenant needs to do is fill it with salt every few months. Hope this helps shine a different light on your question.

@Aaron W. - Appreciate the feedback, I'll check it out.

Hey All - About to come home from a deployment and want to hit the ground running in real estate. I would like to attend as many meetups as my schedule will allow to craft my networking skills and immerse myself around like-minded people. Looks like there are quite a few in northern Utah, any suggestions on which ones you like or have had success with? 

Appreciate any insight and look forward to meeting you!

Background: 1 SFR rental (5 years) looking to scale this year.

Hey Jeremiah - Going to try my best to attend this via zoom from Iraq. Thanks for hosting and I look forward to in-person meetings when I get back. 

@Tristan Toliver - Congrats, that is awesome! I'm in a similar position in Utah, crazy market and my first rental exploded in equity and have also been thinking along similar lines on what to do next. Should I sell, should I cash-out refi, Heloc? The market hasn't shown any sign of slowing down anytime soon in my market so I have decided to keep it, refi the rate down to gain more cash flow ($600 a month), and pull a HELOC after the refi to access the equity for my next purchase, which will be in multifamily. Figure I would make a bunch selling, but I wouldn't be able to buy anything close to what I have now in this crazy market. Sounds like you have similar plans after reading the comments above. Good luck, and keep us updated on what you decide.

Hey everyone - I am just finishing up a deployment and will be back home in Herriman in the next few weeks, would love to read the book and get in the discussion/meetups. 

Interesting conversation - As a Utah native, even if a correction does happen, my home town wouldn't be affected nearly as much. We have a massive housing shortage as all the west coasters are moving inland buying up all the cheaper (to them) western state houses for cash. Our market has exploded and the forecast looks like this will be the norm for quite some time. Every other day I see local news reports on how extreme the housing crisis is in Salt Lake county which has migrated to all of northern Utah, I see this is common all over the western US. I'm in the process of pulling a little cash out of my primary to finish my basement to turn it into a mother inlaw apartment, should rent for $1400 with a 60k investment. Be cautious but don't become stagnant.. if a correction happens, it won't be 2008. 

Thanks for the conversation!

@Remington Lyman - I have been meaning to send you a message, I'll send it today.