All Forum Posts by: Jack Edgar jr

It all depends on the expectations of your prospective target tenants. Are they as critical as you? What are their expectations? Ask yourself and answer those questions and you will have a better sense of what to do. Example: Perhaps instead of reseeding the lawn, look at just killing the weeds.  

@jasonEhlert capital expenses could be tricky. I like to determine how old the major capital improvements are and how much life they have left. If you don't know how to assess condition/age, home inspectors could help with this. Once I have an idea I would determine the cost to replace and simply divide by the remaining life expectancy to give amount needed to save by year or month.  This will be the reserve I start saving every year/month, ear-marked for that expense. Again, This is just one way I look at capital improvement items. Taking into account many other factors will ultimately determine a good cost estimate. Also, lenders will also have a rule of thumb cost estimate based on the character/story of the building. Id suggest finding someone in your market already doing what you want to do. Just my two cents. 

Nice intro. Look forward to hearing more about you and how we can help. 

resilient channel was bought at my local Home Depot and was maybe 10-15$ a 8 foot section. If you ever watch income property they use a batt sound insulation quite regularly on their renovations.  If u install both products correctly you will find a night and day difference. I can't hear my tenants tv, or talking. When I'm down there I can hear from the upstairs faint footsteps from the dogs but that's it. No real tv or voice sounds. Since I did not do the dining rooms at all, I notice a huge difference in that if I pay enough attention I can hear people's voices and footsteps much clearer.  

just received a letter from a tax appeal attorney, they are offering to still appeal the triennial re-assessment. According to them, the deadline to appeal is Feb. 2, 2016. 

note: by installing resilient channel you only loose about 1-2" of your original ceiling height. We installed ours directly to the joists but if you already have good drywall maybe you can just install over existing and install new drywall on top. Regarding insulation, there are many sound barrier insulation materials out there. Spray foam was a fast way to get the job done for us (under 2 hours with exposed rafters). Sound barrier batts of insulation have strong reviews and would consider for my next project. 

Great question. When renovating our old 1920's 2 flat we wanted to cut the noise down and found several different products to install between floors. What we went with is spray foaming the ceiling joists of the first floor throughout the house then, installed resilient channel in the living room for extra sound absorption. It has worked great and would recommend. Follow all instructions to install channel and drywall properly otherwise all that work is useless. Biggest takeaway-Make sure to use sound barrier caulk between the ceiling and wall, NOT drywall mud so that the sound vibrations do not travel easily to the wall thus transfering the sound and you hearing it there instead. There are many sites on how to properly install online. I hope this helps. 

I have a va loan specialist that could help. Pm me If Interested. He's been great to work with and believe he could give you some clarity and options. 

I agree with possibly allowing to stay and adding to the lease but what about running a background check and possibly a credit check on the long term guest? Especially with respect to the other tenants and your rental policy. 

I live just south of you in Irving park and believe we are in the same township of Jefferson. Almost all properties in this area have seen a huge jump in values since the last 3 year assessment. Filing for this township may have expired but you should double check if you need a referral let me know. I filed and will only have to pay the attorney if they can get a reduction to my assessed value. 

In this case we are getting double hit: increased assessed value AND tax rate increase that's why I pushed to file an appeal. 

Either way, Landlords I've talked to are preparing to pass the cost to tenants. 

Expect to see the increase in your 2nd installment come summer.  As for amounts, I'm hearing anywhere from 5-750$ per $250k value. I'll see if I can find the article about this.