All Forum Posts by: Ed B.

actually, it's not that much of a workout. The power tool does 90% of the work. You're just holding it against the tiles to be broken out and pull the trigger. Get some knee pads and safety goggles, of course, to protect against the infrequent errant piece of tile flying up.  Definitely unskilled labor if you don't want to do it yourself, so should easily be able to find someone to do it for $12-15 hr.

 My rule of thumb for rehab costs is try to gain at least $2 value increase for every $1 spent on labor and materials.

Why don't you go out and put into practice all that "useful information" you learned.

Then tell us all the problems you encountered that you didn't expect.

If the place is due for a price drop, why wait?  Make your offer now. you just might get an acceptance at or near the price the seller may be already thinking of reducing to

You need to find an independent stucco person who will do it on the weekends or is hungry and will give you a good price. Offer to pay him by the square foot and you buy the materials. That way he doesn't have to pad his bid in case materials cost more than he anticipates. Can even rent a stucco mixer if you need to.  Simply post an ad on Craigslist and you will get many replies. You need to get at least six bids before you consider walking away. 

Also, take photos of the house, measure the square footage,and send this  to all the guys interested in the job.  No sense in wasting their time and gas going to see the house beforehand. Do it all on the computer and e-mail.

with the proper tools, removing that tile will be easier that you imagine. Get yourself a Bosch Bulldog rotary hammer with a 1" wide chisel bit and that will remove the tiles like a knife through hot butter. Probably can  rent if you don't have.

I think it's time for another update....or did Ana get discouraged and decide it's harder than she thought?

If you plan to keep the place for several years, spend the extra money for laminate, tile, or LVT. You will get sick of constantly cleaning and replacing carpet so that your initial savings will probably disappear.  Also, it's true, tenants don't like carpeting. They worry about what kind of scuzzy messes got spilled on them from the previous tenant, did the carpet cleaner do a "good enough" job?, etc., etc.

Scenario 1. New roommate may not technically be a sublessee, but the point is sounds like you prefer the new person to be on the lease. Fine, ask them to sign the lease; if they refuse, terminate the tenancy for the lease violation.  Chances are they will then agree to be on the lease.  With only one person on the lease, that person is responsible for all rent and damages, even if caused by the roommate. You're better off having both on the lease to have two pockets to go after if necessary.

Utilities: Sure you can write a lease that says costs  are split 3 ways.However, the tenants may understandably question why they should be paying a portion of the common area expenses that are undoubtably being partially incurred by the other two units. I would consider getting  individual meters. If not, it will come down to how savvy the tenants are and/or how much imprecision they are willing to tolerate when being asked to pay their monthly utility portion.There's not an easy perfect solution.

Junk: yes, write it into the lease that junk is not tolerated. Give him at least 30 days notice of your new clarified rules about junk.  If you're worried about being tactful, tell him your insurance agent did their " annual inspection" recently and  told you to clean the area up, because it's a liability/fire hazard.

Many landlords charge a monthly pet fee, but so far I have chosen not to because I don't think it's right to charge a tenant for something that brings a little happiness and joy to their lives. And I don't want to be the cause of a tenant getting rid of  a pet because they can't afford the pet rent. I'm okay with charging extra deposits to protect against pet damage, but I just don't think it's ethical to charge "pet rent."  Others have different opinions, I'm sure. I'm not out for squeezing every last dollar out of my tenants. 

this tenant is a Grade A loser.  Get a backbone and evict him.   Outa there.

I lost $500 once when I was younger and dumber by paying the fees up front.  Then it just turned into one stalling excuse after another. One tale I was told was that the owner of the loan brokerage had to fly to New York (from Oregon) to talk to the "bond market guys" or some people with "control over the money." What a nightmare. If I had been more savvy, I would have at least tried to sue them in small claims court.  I finally talked my dentist into making a loan, for something like $30,000, which I used to erect a manufactured home on a lot and sell it. It was a thing of beauty how easily that worked out with him. All the crap I'd put up with the crooked loan broker, and then my dentist just made it so comparatively simple. He got decent interest, but no points, which was nice on my end.