All Forum Posts by: Harry Standafer

@Avery Evans

I’ve looked at the same duplex in Lexington I believe and I think it makes a ton of sense for you. My guess is you’re estimating a little low on utilities though. You can ask for copies of utility bills if you want to really know how much it’ll cost. And keep in mind your inspection might reveal one or two things that need to be fixed right away, so I’d just make sure you some some reserves or some way of coming up with a little cash if something breaks.

Good luck!

@John Hamilton

Welcome!

@Brandon Despras

I got a lead on some properties in Alamance County. They’re spread out through there in a few different areas, including Burlington.

Hi all,

I'm looking at a package of properties and most of them were built in the 1950's. They're throughout North Carolina in various small towns. I've never bought a property that age or in North Carolina. Is there anything I need to know about houses built in mid-20th century or in North Carolina that I'm not thinking of?

For the record I have two properties, one built 1910 and one built 1999 and they're both in Kentucky so that's where I'm drawing my experience from.

Thanks for any input.

@Bryan Parmenter

Thank you!

@Kevin Purvis

Is that kind of “smart” system reasonable to implement cost-wise?

@Seth Borman

Thanks for the ideas. I was mostly thinking about heating/cooling costs, hadn’t really considered more energy efficient lights and appliances. Much appreciated.

@James Wilcox

Since you’re in my market, any suggestion on someone to bring in and look at what I’ve got and see if they have any suggestions?

@Joe Splitrock

Much appreciated. I haven’t seen any open windows but I had a tenant leave town for a weekend and leave his heater blasting as high as it goes the whole time. The inherited tenants don’t seem to care about utility usage, but I’m hoping as I get my own people in here, I can set a precedent of using common sense. Thank you!

Hey BP,

I just bought an older house (1910-ish) split into five apartments (~2700 square feet total). They aren't separately metered so the utilities are included in their price of rent. The electric bill was about double what I anticipated. The property has window units and has electric heaters built into the walls, which the tenants pretty much leave running non-stop in the winter from what I've seen. I'm waiting on a quote for someone to install mini-split AC and heat throughout the property to help with this. Does anyone have any suggestions on what the best way for me to reduce this expense would be?

Some of my ideas are:

Re-caulking around windows

Figuring out a way to motivate the tenants to be less liberal with their electric use

Buying them newer, more efficient heaters that just plug into outlets inside

I'm in Kentucky and it has been a cold month, so my assumption is this would be one of the most expensive months of the year.

Worth mentioning there is a small amount of living space (~400 square feet) in an attic apartment with no insulation.

Thanks!