All Forum Posts by: David L.

Quote from @Bruce Lynn:

In LAX it might work with all the talk of ADUs and the like.

In Plano this would likely not be acceptable. If the neighborhood is zoned Single Family, you cannot turn it into multifamily in most circumstances. Many cities like Plano probably won't allow ADU or garage conversions or anything like this.

Planning department likely WILL care.  Often they do find out, neighbors complain, etc.

If they find out they may cause you a world of hurt, I've seen these people be almost vindicitve when they find these type of things or they tell you not to build this or that without a permit.  You do it, and then they get angry.

Plano just implemented somewhat of a ban on STR, so they're not a city to mess around with things like this.

I think I will have to find out exactly what they deem to be multi family and NOT do that. Meaning if I put a wall with a door, keep same utility meters and don't have a 2nd kitchen, they may say that's ok.
Plano seemed to have OKed building of ADUs recently.

But good idea, better to ask then to find out later.

Quote from @Adah N.:

@David L.

Many homes have separate in-law suites, there would be no difference between what you described and a home with an in-law suite. There should be a door connecting the two units, otherwise some lenders will label it ”non-conforming” and refuse to lend when you go to sell or buy.

However, many cities/counties have rules about unrelated guests living in a SFH. Call your city/county and ask.

Thank you, you have a point. I thought about the dividing wall but with a door so technically that should not be anything other than an entrance to the rest of the house. But I will ask

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Quote from @David L.:

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Got to check out zoning. I haven't looked in Dallas zoning, but have some properties there. In Fredericksburg, it's super controlled. Houston, zero zoning. So check local laws.

What specifically do I need to look for in zoning? I'm not actually looking to make it a duplex or split utilities so haven't found much online. Do I just call them and ask if I can put up a dividing wall and ask them the question above as is?

If you put up a wall, and rent it out it's now multifamily. So you need to see what zoning laws are in Dallas, basically are you allowed to make a SFR into a MF without any issue or need permitting. 

Interesting. I thought multi family had certain requirements such as a separate meters and parking and such. Ill have to ask

Quote from @V.G Jason:

Got to check out zoning. I haven't looked in Dallas zoning, but have some properties there. In Fredericksburg, it's super controlled. Houston, zero zoning. So check local laws.

What specifically do I need to look for in zoning? I'm not actually looking to make it a duplex or split utilities so haven't found much online. Do I just call them and ask if I can put up a dividing wall and ask them the question above as is?

If I have a house that's too big for me and I want to househack and rent it out to a tenant but want privacy and no shared space, is it legal to put up a dividing wall and possibly another external door so the house is divided into two for more sound proofing and privacy?

I wouldn't be advertising it as a separate "unit", I would still have to split utilities with the tenant and share the garage and stuff but at least I won't have to be subject to living with someone that may be loud, annoying, etc.

Would the planning department even know or care if I put up an interior wall with no electrical/plumbing straight down the middle of a house (assuming the floor plan was suitable)?

This would be in the DFW area like Plano, etc. There are not many true multi or duplexes here so I figure if I'm going to rent a room out, I might as well do some basic minor modification and nothing too structural and no one would really care.

Anyone with experience with this?

I guess if I really think about it no one would really care. If I put up a listing for a roommate and it says 2bed/1ba in a house, the fact that it's extra private with a dividing wall would only be more incentive for someone to rent it. I wouldn't market it as a separate unit however or do anything different with mail or utilities. 

Thanks these are all great responses. I hadn't realized the process is quite important esp if you have a larger number of rentals. So it got me thinking actually, most people seem to just be using their computer folder structure and maybe google photos and manually renaming files, folders, and stuff. Being that I work as a software engineer it might not be too difficult to build something specific for that workflow.

From what I'm reading from @Nathan Gesner @Richard F. @Linda S. @Russell Brazil @Soh Tanaka and everyone else, it's best if you take quicker succession of pictures as you walk through, take a few closeup details, and then upload them later and figure out how to clump them together in some sort of album on your desktop computer with the rest of the files.

I use google photos heavily for personal photos but if I'm looking to look up some water repair invoice or photos for an unit from 3 years ago, I'd have to sort through a ton of photos and files to find that, which is why I was asking originally because I have so many photos on my drive already it's cumbersome to sort through. I tried to find a picture of the garage for a house I lived in and it took me 20 mins lol. Adding properties with repetitive photos (for each tenant over time) would also be annoying to manage.

I'm thinking it wouldn't be all that difficult to make a mini property doc library app that you just log into and it shows a list of all your properties and drills down to shows all the media files and docs in order by like move in, move out, water leak repair #1, fridge repair, water leak repair #2, with some sort of search function.

If I made something like this, would anyone else be interested in using this or does this seem unnecessary? I'm always looking to automate stuff in my life, it would be cool to just type a tenant name or property address and have it bring up everything I uploaded in order 

Quote from @Russell Brazil:

Photos and video

 Gotcha thanks. What do you use to organize and store all the media for each tenant? How many units are you managing? 

I don’t want gigs of photos and videos randomly placed all over my computer i already have that problem ha

Quote from @Bjorn Ahlblad:

We do video in and out. If tenants want to see the video no problem. We will take pics of any damage as well.

What do you use to take the video and organize it? 

Do you have your property manager do a comparison before and after or is this mostly just for liability reasons?

Do you guys take photos and document the condition of your rentals when a tenant moves in and also moves out? If so, why or why not? 

Do you allow the tenants to see those photos if they ask or dispute a charge when they move out?

When I previously rented a place I would take my own photos as a tenant but curious if it's in my interest as a landlord or a property manager to do the same. I imagine pros would be having some sort of proof that the tenant damaged the place under their watch and having some sort of recourse for it. Cons would be having to keep track of all the photos and stuff.

So what do you guys do for it? Do property managers do this for you or are there prop management apps that include this feature on top of managing tenant payments and stuff? 

Also would love to hear if you are a prop manager or just a regular landlord who's handling their own rentals. I plan on managing my own.

Originally posted by @Kenneth Mooney:

@Ian Walsh Augusta, GA is a great market. Has possibility for some appreciation as well as great cash flow.

You won’t be able to get an A location but could get a solid B class asset for that price range.

@Kenneth Mooney

Thanks I'll take a look at Augusta. Any general comparisons to the Atlanta market?