All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Hennen

Hello Andrew,

just an example here, in this property I had moved in one unit and then rehabbed and moved into the other unit. 

At the time that I had moved into the holdover tenant's unit, i had installed a brand new shower head. I moved in about the first of the year, but already the showerhead is showing signs of being plugged up on many of the ports and the shower/tub already needs a deep clean because of rust and hardwater buildup. So need to already clean heavily to keep them in working order that also looks good.

So in this city and building, faucets and fixtures do not last long Before they need to major cleaning or maintenance or possi ly even replacement.

For sure if it was a flip property it would make sense to end up not putting one in. However, putting one it might actually save me a lot of money within a couple years just to keep cleaning, turnover, maintenance cost down. So I am thinking it may be worth it for tenant retention and lowering long term maintenance costs.

Hello Everyone,

I am questioning whether installing Water Softeners into my rental unit in Mound MN is worth it. Here there is a 25 GPG hardness and .2-.8PPM (not sure specifically what my rental has), which leads to buildup and rust, in addition, there has been a history of too high magnesium which caused an advisory from the city itself about potentially unsafe levels of magnesium. I think this would make sense in the long run for the rental property as it will extend the life of everything it touches like the Sink, faucets, showers, water heater, dishwasher, and Clothes washer while also providing clean drinking water in addition to the reverse osmosis drinking water system I already have installed.

The main problem with this hardness level is that we get a major deposit buildup on all of these items, which will eventually clog up the faucets for tenants and lead to rusty shower enclosures that take forever to clean.

In addition to this, it looks like we could likely have the salt added every couple of months by the property managers in addition to that it would allow for a quick inspection from them, and then also we would instead bill the cost of the service onto the ledger for the tenants.

For reference, it does not look like the landlords in the area have water softeners.

Thank you everyone for your input ahead of time.

Thank you everyone for your insights. Very new to real-estate investing and managing of a property, so I am in a fight to learn every day try and keep ahead of things and have had some close calls already over the last two years of owning my first rental.

Hello Bigger Pockets community,

I find myself in the situation of rehabbing a property, specifically dealing with a second-level deck that has an exterior glass sliding door. Due to safety concerns, I need to temporarily board off the sliding door as I rent out the upstairs unit. The deck is currently unsafe, and the repair is scheduled for late spring/summer when weather conditions allow.

Previously, I lived in this unit and had to address several issues to make it rentable. Unfortunately, I couldn't complete all the necessary work before my tenants moved out at the beginning of the year. Among the critical repairs, the deck replacement is a priority due to unstable railings and a broken post causing sponginess in the center.

My proposed solution involves purchasing something like this product from Home Depot, along with a couple of 2x4s screwed into the fence panel and outside frame of the door. This setup aims to prevent people from going outside the door while maintaining the scenery outside the window. Additionally, I plan to place signs on the inside of the door and panel explicitly stating that it's not to be used. I'll also include this restriction in the lease agreement, emphasizing that the deck will be repaired by July this year.

I'm open to any suggestions or advice regarding this situation. Financial constraints prevent me from delaying the rental process, but I'm also committed to ensuring the safety of the tenants during this temporary arrangement.

Thank you for your insights.

Jeffrey Hennen

Yeah that makes sense. Yeah I bought my first duplex in mound as a house hack on a distressed property and had tenant holdovers from the original owners. What seems to me is still a good deal just expensive with a major learning curve for sure.

Hello, I am trying to understand the legalities of what a Utility company can do in the event a tenant does not pay their utilities, mainly electric and Gas. I ran into a situation specifically for my water bill that they were in charge of, however, they did not pay for their water bill for nearly a year and a half and I didn't notice and then almost got assessed onto my taxes for the following year. Ultimately they paid for it but was too close. 

For the case of Gas/Electric, what can these utility companies legally do. Here is an example of the laws associated with utility companies (That I know of).
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2021/cite/325E.025

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2021/cite/327C.01

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/2021/cite/327B.01

From my interpretation "A utility may recover or attempt to recover payment for a tenant's outstanding bill or charge from a property owner where the manager, acting as the owner's agent, contracted for the utility service." I as the owner would be ultimately responsible for the utility bill?