All Forum Posts by: Johann Jells

If you did the whole house contiguously, you didn't follow the instructions! You're never supposed to lay it through doorways, or in sections larger than 25' in any direction, but need to use transition moldings to allow for expansion and contraction. I believe the same is true for Allure and any floating flooring. And if it really is 1 & 3, you can dissemble and reassemble from the rear, though it's trickier.

I haven't installed Allure, but the PSA nature of it turned me off, I had bad experiences with vinyl PSA tiles. I've installed thousands of sq ft of laminate in my units, almost all from Costco, catch a sale and it's under $1.30/ft. It's a relabeled major brand, Quick Step if I recall.

I did my sons room 11 years ago and it still looks great. Last year I put it in a kitchen and used laminate glue in the joints to waterproof it. The fridge defroster leaked but there was no floor damage. Last year I also did another kitchen with a new product, vinyl click together boards from Lowes, easy install since you don't need a saw, just a knife like Allure.

I do beg to differ with Rob K on the repair of laminate, you certainly can simply dissemble the floor to the damaged pieces and re-lay it. Be sure to mark the pieces so you don't have to fumble around to get the right length. I had a unit where I had laid laminate in the kitchen around a cement pad for the ancient stove. When I really renovated some years later and moved the kitchen I simply removed the laminate back, busted out the pad, and re-laid the laminate in the whole area.

My favorite app was a recently divorced cop with credit in the 500's. That's all I needed in my building where I also live, a broke depressed guy with a gun!

Thanks all. I might point out that this tenant was in place when we bought it, we did not rent to him, nor would have. Given the place needs a renovation after his 15 year occupation, I'm not inclined to pay him anything.

He's got no income other than some disability or something and I'm not sure he understands that times have changed and an eviction will follow him. I've been a landlord for 15 years and now have 12 rentals and this is my 1st eviction. I guess I've been lucky.

Derek, come to Jersey City. The 4 unit rowhouse I closed on in July in 07307 has a GRM of 6.9.

A tenant residing in a multifamily we bought in July decided to stop paying in December. I'm glad to be rid of him and his messy disruptive crew, but is there any way to discourage them from trashing the place on the way out? I don't even have a SS# on this guy. Can I ask the eviction judge to give it to me?

Thanks Rob, but I've got one of those and an electrician's clamp on ampmeter to read at the service panel. The problem isn't MY knowing my peak usage, it's THEM knowing it! They'd rather just make it up, because...you know...they're a monopoly.

I guess I trusted him when he said I'd lose money, but it's worth knowing. I doubt it would slam into the regular round meter pan, and if I have to have a new meter pan wired in and deal with all the permits and electrician bill, it would really have to be worth it.

I've immersed myself in the bills for the commercial rate meters serving the hallways and basements of my buildings. PSEG uses some voodoo nonsense to calculate peak demand from the non-demand meter readings. They take the average of the peak 4 months of usage and simply move he decimal 2 places to arrive at demand (the peak current draw in kW). So if my usage is 300 kWh, they decide my peak demand is 3.0 kW. Which is utter nonsense. It's like giving you a speeding ticket by looking at your odometer and saying you must have gone 100mph sometime in those 10k miles!

The PSEG rep I spoke to said if I insisted on an actual demand meter for a small account I'd end up paying even more! Anyone dealt with this nonsense or do we all just bend over?

What are those goals? In my experience you can have cashflow in a slum or a place that just pays it's way in an upcoming location. Not both. If it pays it's expenses through a 15 year mortgage, you make 9.4% on your 25% down. That's not counting appreciation or rents increasing. It's a good investment, but not a living.