All Forum Posts by: Jeff Lubeski

@Joel Owens
That is exactly my situation. Tenant is good a paying, but absent minded. This would fix this problem and I will amend the lease to the modification. Just wondering if there is a downside that I may be missing from others experience.

I have a rental that is on propane. Tentant is pretty decent, however, forgets to check the propane tank and has run it empty 2x now. Broken pipes this time have cost me some money. I am considering having this setup under autofill. The catch is that I will be billed (tenant cannot set up the autofill) and I will need to bill back to the tenant.
I will avoid potential future issues associated with running the tank empty. The risk is collecting the extra money. Thoughts?

@Steve Babiak and @Shawn M.
I was thinking about this. How do you prove a minimum heat clause violation. That would seem difficult to prove the temperatures went below a certain threshold even if something froze.

Landlord: "Pipes froze, was the heat off"
Tenant: "Heat was on. I don't know why they froze. Bad Landlord, poorly insulated wall?"

@Elizabeth C.

I was quickly coming to that same conclusion. This is definitely a "live and learn moment" for me.

I do not have a minumum heat clause, so maybe that needs to be added in the future. The pipes that broke were copper pipes for the baseboard heat. It had 2 breaks, one in the attic and one in the bedroom. They typically have hot water circulating through them, so they should never freeze and burst. I did not take pictures of the pipes so I may not be able to prove they didn't just "fail". I am pretty sure, the tenant will make excuses too about how it is not her fault.

We had a cold spell last week. I get a text Sunday night from a tenant that the radiator pipe is broken (4 days after the cold spell ended). What I know is that she ran the propane tank empty and did not get it refilled until Saturday (I do not know what day it ran out). It is a clearly negligence on her part that created the problem and this is the second time she ran the tank empty. Because I wanted it all checked out and fixed properly, I called the repair person in and paid. I think she should be responsible. My contract does not spell out that costs from negligence are the tenants responsibility. How would you approach this situation?

Welcome to the site @Darrol Phillips. It sounds like you are on your way to being a successful investor.

I am still in the automotive industry here in Detroit working RE part time.

@Trey Leigh. If you just bought the house you will not be able to do the 1031 exchange if you sell it now. It seems like a good long term hold to me. If it has profit built in now and is in a good neighborhood, that profit should continue to grow.

Welcome to the site. I live in Brighton and have been investing for a little over 2 years. My interest in investing was first sparked when I was in college and thinking about the financials for all the rentals to college students. Good luck!!

I've flipped a couple of house and have 4 rentals right now. Give some consideration to your taxes if you decide to sell. Your gains from the sale will be considered as income and can have some significant tax cost.