All Forum Posts by: Jon Bachman

Its my first investment property and things are going great. now, its the end of December and the snow is coming which means inevitable power outages! I understand that lights and food that is lost from the refrigerator not working arent my problem...but freezing pipes will cost ME money. What is your take on this situation? Should I be running a generator on my dime just to keep pipes from freezing? 

Im doing my first year of tax returns as a landlord. Does anyone have any recommendations for a CPA in Northeastern Connecticut who is well rounded in the investment property department to help me maximize my write-offs and other tax savings?

The numbers look good to me! Be sure to check with city hall and ask about all fees linked to the property, i.e. water, sewer, and trash, landscaping, snow removal (does it snow there?? haha). Also, be sure of the utilities in the property that are paid for by the owner.

My recommendation (if you have access to the MLS) is to look up a 1-2 mile radius of the neighborhood's past sales for the last year. I'm a spreadsheet geek, but if you sort the sheet into all of the different categories like house type, price, sf, lot size, beds, bath, etc., you can filter whatever category your most concerned with.

For example, your concern is size. Filter out on Excel square footage in ascending order. Where you see your category exceed the 1200 sf mark in the column, note the row number. This row number divided by the overall rows in the spreadsheet will give you a percentage of homes in your "neighborhood" for the past year that sold with less than 1200 sf.

Every market is different, and what Joe is selling in California could be very different than Bill in Ohio. Do this formula and the proof will be in the pudding for you!

@Chris Mason, I like these thoughts a lot! What are your thoughts if they are running low and don't have the money to buy more? Im not sure these are grounds for eviction, or are they?

I just bought a duplex with separate furnaces and oil tanks which was a huge bonus to me! As I'm now approaching the point of finding tenants, I've been thinking of ways to transfer the costs back to them because it doesn't exactly work like a metered gas setup. What is everyone in the BP community doing that is in a similar situation?

On my first loan I used Northpoint Mortgage. 

I'm very interested in obtaining some hard money in the near future, but I'm unsure of something. I have a question in regards to show #9 with @Ann Bellamy, when she says that included in your presentation to obtain a hard money loan, one should include a purchase agreement. I thought the proper order of events entailed bringing a prospective property to the lender and showing what the end goal looked like (ARV, rehab costs, purchase price, exit strategies, etc.). After an green light is given, you then make an offer.

Is she saying that I need to first make an offer with a contingency stating "offer valid upon approval from lender", or something along these lines?

Ok, thanks. Do you know any colleagues or have recommendations for my current market?

@Ann Bellamy, I would also love to talk with you in the future. Do you work in Northeast Connecticut as well? The Webster, Ma area is also a future possibility, but as for now I'm focusing on CT.