All Forum Posts by: Hoi L.

 This would allow for you to ask for 100% of the wasted water since you have had it in the original lease.

If your lease states that water is included in the rent, then I feel you are responsible for it.  However, I would immediately put in a lease addendum stating that any water utility bill above a certain reasonable amount for a family of ** will be charged to them.  This will maintain your original lease agreement to a degree but avoid having your tenants abuse or ignore a problem that they feel will not impact them.  If they are nice and quiet and you don't want to lose them as tenants, also this will achieve a compromise.

@Jeff HubertIIRC, month to month lease only requires 30-60 day notice for rent increase or renewal cancellation (dependent on state laws).  We had our previous owner raise rent about 8% in order to start catching up the below market rents for my 5 unit property.  Currently, they are still ~8% below comps in the area market and after I took possession in late July and told my tenants I am holding rents stable for 1 year, they feel grateful.  If you let your tenants know what you are to expect, they can give you ample time to find new tenants if they choose not to pay the expected rent increase (they most likely will stay, no one wants to go through the hassle with moving just to go to another place with comparable rents in your market).

I just turned 49 and my RE adventure was suggested by my wife and I ran with it. We have now acquired 4 properties (3 SFH and 1 5-unit multi). All of them are leveraged (especially when the rates were still historically low) to 30-yr loans fixed at 4.5-5.5% (under LLC), except for my 5-unit multi which was bought with family loan assistance at 5 yr repayment. All are self-sustaining investments in theory, but some have needed more immediate cap improvement money. In the long term, they will be a small but steady income generating properties.

Once my primary residence is fully paid off (originally fully paid off on 2027/8, but we refinanced 15 months ago to 2030 with rates from 3.625% (2014 originated) to 1.95%), we will either buy more properties or start the avalanche pay-off method to speed up the loan repayments.  We are planning to be still in the game well into our 50s-60s.

I say never too late if the properties will be self-sustaining and you have "heirs".

Good day.  Looking into getting other's experiences and recommendations for these 2 estimates from 2 different HVAC companies (both have good reviews, one from internet reviews (Google) and other is personal word of mouth)

House: 3BR/1BA home with finished 1/2 basement that is not currently ducted, but will eventually fully finished and ducted in the next few years.  Approximately 1100 sq ft above ground.  Current 20 yr old AC unit is about to go out and decided to replace both AC and gas furnace units (also 20 years old).

Estimate #1: recommended by a friend (RE agent, investor)

$7,377: 1 yr full labor install warranty, 20 yr heat exchanger, 10 yr parts, 2 yr unit replacement

Goodman GSX13 condenser 13 SEER, 3 ton

Goodman GMES gas furnace 80% , 80,000BTU

Goodman CAPF evaporator coil

Estimate #2: google search (almost 5 star reviews, already helped with emergency capacitor replacement for the old unit 2 weeks ago on day of malfunction)

$7,140: 3 yr full labor, 10 yr parts w/registration

Heil 14 SEER condenser, 3 ton

Heil gas furnace 80%, 70,000BTU

Heil evaporator coil

Which would you choose?  HVACs, I understand with BiggerPockets members wisdom, are only as good as the installer.  If the installers are equal, which system would you choose?  Any specific experiences with HEIL?  Many have used Goodman here, but HEIL was new when I heard it from one of the HVAC installers.  He stated that it is basically Bryant with different housing.

Thanks so much for any and all input.

-Hoi

That looks like a squirrel hole, so you probably need to trap the squirrels first before fixing that soffit.

I used KO Roofing in Delaware County to replace one of my properties' flat roof and they were reasonably priced and responsive.

Good luck

My wife and I started a LLC with 50/50 share.

As mentioned previously by @Nathan Gesner, separate everything between personal and business activities.  I used google doc/sheets to record everything (going to home depot, purchased Amazon, etc), along with travel miles.

Separate bank accounts for sure.

Also used a separate umbrella insurance policy for additional protection, since my wife and I have plenty to lose even outside of our LLC/property investments (our regular daytime jobs...).

Operating Agreements with addendums will be required for lots of functions with big purchase, loans, etc.

We used Zen Business to open one with a registered agent.  Quite easy.

 The gas hot water is separate from the gas boiler heater.  Installing the minisplits won't take away all the gas bill, but it certainly will take a large chunk in the winter and allow for rent increase due to "central" AC.

Need some collective advice/recommendations. Appreciate any and all help!

Closed on 5 unit house with efficiency/1BR (7 occupants) last week. Currently all units are ~$50-75 below market in the zip code with water, hot water, gas heat/cooking included.

Monthly gas is ~$300/month averaged year round (higher in Winter of course, etc) and the current gas boiler/heater is 20 years old and the longest tenured tenant told me that it was on recently after a circuit breaker trip and it had to be turned off manually at the unit. So, I am thinking the boiler is nearing the end of its life.

House has no ducts.

Should I replace the gas boiler vs installing mini-splits in all units since the utility costs would go back to the tenants (they pay electricity) and I may be able to charge more since the units would have AC too in addition to heat (Philly is no longer that cold in the winter).

If ROI is within 5 years, then I am thinking to do it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

I am in similar situation but my boiler is gas and thinking about converting my 5 units into ductless minisplits, since tenants pay for electric.

My house is older and gas cannot be separated/metered easily for the units.

Maybe you are in similar situation. I think if I convert all to heat pumps mini-splits, the ROI may be <5 years with corresponding increase in monthly rent and gas savings.