All Forum Posts by: Davido Davido

Well Done!  Thanks for sharing your success.

@Kishore P.  Thank you Sir!

If you are able to do the work yourselves, or know someone reliable that can do it for you, then for $300 to $400 worth of hard ware per unit you can install your own gas meter on the gas line feeding each unit.   I'm currently using http://www.ekmmetering.com/  to sub meter gas, electric and water on a multi-acre residential property with 4 separate residences.  EKM has been a pleasure to work with. They provide timely costumer support, sell quality products, and provide excellent real time online applications (web based for your computer as well as smartphone apps) for viewing the utility consumption on your property as it is occurring and for billing.

Installation is not hard, but not everyone is comfortable working on gas lines.  However, once installed, these systems provide a great sense of empowerment to you as landlord, as well as providing your tenants with wonderfully helpful real time information about how their choices regarding utility use affect their costs.  Real time online meters also inform you about how your systems are functioning.  (I learned my heat pump was in need of repair by observing its sporadic electrical consumption). 

If you choose professional installation, be sure to compare the cost of labor and materials, with the savings you'll have in utility expenses over the next 7 to 10 years.  Best wishes.

@Virginia Jones  You'll get used to saying no.  Its a skill, and from your post, you are ready well on your way to developing a strong skill in saying no.  However, don't go overboard.   Be welcoming and accommodating wherever you can do so within your comfort level.  I think you're already a bit overboard on saying no with this:

"absolutely no modifications or improvements, including hanging pictures, are to be made without prior landlord approval"

Hard to imagine what you find wrong with a tenant hanging their own pictures?  I want my tenants to feel at home and stay a long time.  Patching nail holes is and touch up painting is quick, easy, and if tenants don't do it themselves, even massive patching and painting is covered by the tenants deposit.   Its your rental.  Prohibit picture hanging if you want, but that seems almost antagonistic to me.

@Dewain J.  fortunately for you Pennsylvania requires 21 years to adversely possess real estate (one of the longer periods in the country),

http://legalbeagle.com/6581465-pennsylvania-squatters-rights.html

though the Pennsylvania Bar Association wants to reduce the time required to adversely possess.

http://www.philadelphiabar.org/page/BoardResolution1138206252004?appNum=5

My own response would be to verify and prove the key fact -the location your property line first (before getting a lawyer).  I would also verify in person with your local permitting agency whether a fence building permit was required and what actions the agency is able to take as well as what they are likely to do if a complaint is filed.

If you are certain on where the property line is, take your information as politely but as directly and unequivocally as possible back to your neighbor along with a specific demand, a deadline, and a clear statement of what you intend to do if you and your neighbor can not come to an agreement.   For example, tell your neighbor what you understand the situation to be (Our mutual property line is between these two points and your fence is x' on our side of the line), what you are asking the neighbor to do (I'd like you to join me this weekend in moving the fence back to your property.  Offer to provide the beer and brats.), when it must be done (This must be resolved by Wednesday), and what you will do if an agreement can not be reached.  (I will proceed to file a code violation complaint regarding your fence with Code Enforcement, my Attorney (give him your Attorney's business card) will commence a trespassing civil suit against you seeking $XX,000 in damages and fees), and I will personally call the police and file a criminal trespassing complaint against you with XX law enforcement agency.  I prefer to work with you cordially.  However, your fence is on my property, here is the proof.  Let me help you move it back to your own property line.

It is not known whether it will be necessary for you to defend against a claim of adverse possession.  If you must here are some facts to consider as suggested in the legalbeagle.com link above.

Remedies

The original owner of the land has a few options to cure an adverse possession and evict the claimant, but these actions must be taken before the 21-year deadline.

• Proof: The true owner first must prove that some or all of the adverse possession criteria have not been met. For example, the owner might show that the claimant hasn’t possessed the property for the full 21 years or hasn’t possessed it continuously.
• Permission: The property owner might also consider giving the claimant permission to use the property and to get him to document this by signing an agreement. This establishes the claimant's knowledge of the true owner of the property and eliminates the “hostility” of the possession, knocking out two of the necessary qualifications.
• Lawsuit: The third option is to take legal action, such as filing a trespassing lawsuit or an injunction that bans anyone from using the property. This establishes legal ownership of the property and provides a way to start the eviction process. Plaintiffs can also request a jury trial to decide ownership.

Good luck.  Let us know how this situation works out for you.

 

@Lee S.'s suggestion that, "Everything has a price, I wouldn't run away from it just yet." is right on.  However, to get the best deal possible on this property you need to be the problem solver for the owner -so I would NOT recommend that you, "Ask him if he will sign a contract that is contingent on HIM getting rid of the dead beats."  Though it is certainly OK to ask for the owner's help in removing the tenants (maybe they'll move just because the owner tells them too), I would not risk loosing a deal over it.  Handling the owner's problems should be your job as a RE professional.  Just factor in the extra cost of eviction and include the likely 3 to 6 months of extra holding costs while going thru the eviction process.

Evictions are usually not hard -provided you clearly own the property.   @Kevin Kurt, gave a good word of caution about the unlikely, but possible claim the tenant could make that the property is actually now theirs thru adverse possession.  On the facts stated in your post, (tenants living there for 10 years with no written claim on the title), the tenants would not prevail in a claim of Adverse Possession, but they could use such a claim to delay an eviction.  See this article on the matter from a Wisconsin Law firm and note the Wisconsin Adverse Possession law was change just one year ago. http://www.dkattorneys.com/publications.cfm?id=3645 Here is the article in part:

Frank, I'm doing it in the opposite end of the country -WA.  And my property is rural.  Beware of how the utilities will be paid.  The more people involved, the less each person will feel responsible for watching utilities.  Just switched my tenants over to a new contract under which utilities are split equally by everyone in the house.   You could also prorate the utilities based on floor space.

Of interest, is that a group of young men who were friends wanted to rent the entire home with each paying for their own room.  I had huge reservations, but decided to give it try, and it has worked out remarkably well.  15 months later all the original tenants are still there.  They like each other and like the property. 

Finally, my maintenance is much higher than when I rented the home to families.  More paint and trim problems, plumbing leaks, toilet repairs, clean up, etc.   I give them a lot of ability to run the house as they want, they use it heavily, have friends and party's but -I'd do it again. 

The property has several acres that I'm improving with outbuildings, utilities, fences and gardens.  Renting rooms allowed an easy way to maintain full income while also having full control of the entire yard.

Hello Amy,  I have experience with two different sub metering systems.  The one that would allow you to sub meter both your water and electrical is http://www.ekmmetering.com/    If you installed it yourself, it would cost about $600 per unit for everything you need to separately meter both water and electricity for each unit (an Omni meter, a water meter and communications software and hardware).  You might be able to get by with sub metering just the basement then deducting the basement usage from your utility meter readings.  EKM meters are utility grade (highly accurate) and they can be read online in real time from anywhere in the world that has internet access. However to meter the electricity you would need to either have one set of main wires to the metered space, or else be able to group all the hot wires to that space through one current transformer. That is doable for an electrician, but might be too tricky for the average home owner.  

For $400 you could use http://energycurb.com/ , which is an electricity only sub meter that monitors 18 separate circuits and also makes the information available online in real time.  You can see the electrical consumption on each of the 18 circuits as it is being used.  Curb accuracy is +/- 1%.  Your data with both EKM and CURB systems can be viewed either on a smart phone, tablet, or with a computer via a web browser.  There is just a few seconds of delay. 

Even cheaper and simpler to install is a $300 system that I have not used, because it requires time to learn each home's usage and appliances, is https://sense.com/ .  Sense is not a true meter. Instead it uses software to recognize and record each device's electrical signature and calculate it's consumption.  I like it best because it is the most flexible and informative, just not the most accurate -at least during the initial months while it is learning your devices. 

If you want to sub meter water and electricity give EKM a call. They are busy, but very helpful.  Best wishes.

Consider adding a second bathroom.  Turning a 3 bed, 1 bath into a 4 bed 2 bath will expand both your profitability and the home's desirability.  Get creative if you have too.  There is always a way.

Ask about usind the windows a one of the forms of egress.  Windows of sufficient opening size may by a form of egress in most residences less than 3 storys above ground level.