All Forum Posts by: Jack Perfett

Quote from @Greg M.:

I see nothing wrong with it. When I moved into my home, my first water & power bill was a shock. I knocked on the neighbors door (similar size house / lot / number of occupants) and just told her I got my first W&P bill and am shocked at how high it is and would you mind telling me what your typical bill is. Turns out I'm a conservative user of W&P and her bill was about double mine. 

Assuming you own both sides of the duplex, you should be able to contact the electric company and get historical usage for both meters. 

Are there any common areas that could be billed to your unit? For example, a basement that contains the laundry room or an electric boiler that services both units?

There is a basement that has a washer and dryer used only by the tenant which should be metered by the tenants meter. No electric boiler and the hot water tank is electric but only services my unit. I have a decent relationship with the neighbor. (Not my tenant) that I should be able to get a relatively decent idea of what is normal

Quote from @Scott Mac:

The meters have a metal band around them with a lock on it (or at least they should).

If the bands are missing, the meters could be swapped.

Maybe the electric company is reading the incorrect meter and billing you for that.

You could also ask the renters if their bill is tiny. If so, then you may have an answer very quickly.

I was considering doing this but just didn’t know if this would be a bad look to ask them what there bill is. Thoughts on that?

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Or someone is stealing electricity.....? But yeah, turn off one of the meters and check it out......

Right so you do agree $220 a month for a electric for a small apartment seams a bit excessive 

Hello BP. I currently own a duplex that has separate electric meters for each unit. My unit in which I am living in is a one bedroom one bathroom apt. The other unit us a 3 bed 1 bath apt. with 3 people living in it. My electric bill last month was $220 which seems extremely high to me for a one bedroom apt with one window AC unit. The billing cycle is now 5 days in and I have been out of town for 4 of these days. It is now saying that I have consumed $35 in electricity when I have only been there for one single day. I am sure that the lights are all off and the AC is off. Imp thinking that there is a chance that we have the meters switched and my tenant is paying for my meter and I am paying for there's. Can anybody advise me on how to correct this and or verify that the meters are for what unit.

Quote from @Scott Seydor:

Moyer Indoor/Outdoor in Souderton.  

 Thanks for the recommendation. I called them and they said that they do not deal with squirrels. They did give me a referral though so thank you!

I am looking for a pest removal company to remove a squirrel from my attic as well as patch the hole where they are entering from. This rental is in the Lansdale area and would appreciate any recommendations of any pest control companies that any body has used in the past.

Thanks in advance

-Jack

Hello BP! I have recently purchased a property in PA that has an oil run furnace. I am trying to get an accurate understanding of how much this system is going to cost to run. From my research I am finding wildly different results. The property is a 3 bedroom house that is approximately 1800 SF. the oil tank is 300 gallons and would lobe tp hear from other property owners that have this type of furnace. Thanks in advance.

So about a week ago I was able to put my first deal (duplex house hack) under contract! My agent brought me this deal as an off market deal and the numbers worked out great. Inspection report came back good and the seller agreed to fix most of the issues on the list. My offer was accepted with a 5% Fannie Mac conventional loan as I felt this would be more appealing than an offer with an FHA loan. Everything was working well until my loan officer said that I would now need a co-signer to supplement for my income because my income we were using before was projected income that won't start until May. He said that projected income can only be used if I am purchasing a single family residence not a multi family. My two options are to get a co-signer or to switch to an FHA loan. I am nervous that by switching to an FHA loan this might scare the seller as there are some things on the property that might not pass FHA inspection. Would love to hear if anybody has been in this position before or is willing to offer advice.

Thanks in advance!

@Eric James I have gone out to see one so far but as @John Knisely said a good property is only on the market for a few days. Usually I have to have my realtor set up a walk through the day after its been posted to the MLS. I'm just trying to limit having to make the drive two times a week.

Hello! I am currently on the hunt to buy my first house hack in the Philly area as this is where I will be working. However, I am currently living in State College finishing my last semester of school at Penn State. Should I be making the 6 hour round trip drive to Philly to look at every property that's numbers makes sense or would it be okay to make an offer without seeing the property in person. 

I would appreciate any responses and thank you in advance!