All Forum Posts by: Jacob Gelinas

@Nathan G. Thanks for your reply. Luckily space is not an issue for me and the current boilers and water heaters fit just fine in the basement. You raise a great point about the test of time too. The traditional style boilers have been around for a long time and they just work. They’re also extremely simple. I’ve seen the tankless units opened up and they seem to be much more complex. That is a bit of a turn off to be honest. Just more to go wrong

@Andrew B. Thanks for the reply. I think that’s a great point and that’s really one of the things that worries me about those combi units.

@Max T. Thanks for the reply. I replaced the first water heater myself and that was not too bad. About $800 all said and done. If I had to pay for the labor I’m sure it would have been much more.

As you mentioned, I’d like someone to just repair the boiler that’s there rather than replace it. I was there when it was serviced and it looks great inside. I just don’t think the tech sees enough money in repairing it for me. I’m almost thinking if I pay him to replace the other water heater rather than doing it myself, maybe I can get him to fix the boiler too rather than replacing both. I get the feeling that he doesn’t think repairing the existing boiler is worth his time.

@Michael Craig Thanks for the reply. I am having similar thoughts to yours. I don’t know if I want to invest the capital in the tankless units as I don’t plan to live here forever. The total cost for all 3 units would be close to $20k. Not to mention the additional maintenance required. You mentioned that they do have a longer life expectancy though. I would have thought that the conventional style gas boilers would last longer since they’re much simpler. Any idea why they’re supposed to last longer?

@Nathan G. Thanks for the reply. You mentioned you replace your boilers after 15 years unless advised otherwise. Have you installed any of the tankless combi units in your properties before? Would like to get an idea on reliability

I bought a three family property almost exactly a year ago and the three gas boilers are about 15 years old. I live in one of the units and had to replace the water heater for my unit in July. Now the first floor tenant’s boiler needs some work and his water heater is getting old as well. I had a technician come to check out the issue on the boiler and he suggested I just replace the boiler and water heater with one of the high efficiency combination units.

There is a rebate from the local gas company for $1200 but that would still put me around $6k all said and done. Is it worth swapping to one of these combination units or just fixing the gas boiler for now and replacing the water heater? I can probably fix the existing boiler and get a new water heater for under $1k all together. But do the high efficiency combination units justify higher rents? And would that plus the peace of mind of having a brand new system outweigh the additional cost? Looking to get people’s opinions and whether they’ve had the same dilemma.

Thanks!

@Warren West as many mentioned above the RIREIG is fantastic and since you won't be able to go tonight, I just wanted to mention that they have a beginner's class this Saturday, May 18th from 9am-12pm. I will definitely be there and it could be a good class for you too attend as a beginner yourself. Great networking opportunity! 

@Theresa Harris @Thomas S. @Bart H. @Marian Smith Thank you all very much for the advice! I was mainly asking since I haven't actually had a turnover yet and I'm not sure what the typical timing is for renovating a unit. From the sound of things I should just focus more on my own unit and getting that taken care of as well as anything in common areas/exterior. It seems I may have been too focused on getting the other unit done up when I may not have to do as much as I expected. If I bump rents and the tenant decides to leave then I can decide whether it is worth it or not to renovate. Thank you very much for your guidance! It is much appreciated!

@Matthew Paul thank you for your reply! One thing I want to mention is that I am house hacking the property and currently the rents do not support the entire mortgage. That being said I’m paying far less of my mortgage than I would be in rent for an apartment in the area so I’m okay with that for now. But if I could get this one unit up to market rents I would cover the mortgage and could even cash flow every month. Do you still think it’s worth just raising the rent only slightly in order to keep the tenant?

Having just recently bought my first property, I know for myself what was holding me back was the fear that I would overpay, especially in this type of a market. I would get analysis paralysis and basically talk myself out of every property I looked at.