All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Hey Katie! 

I have a couple thoughts on your new property. First off, CONGRATS! It sounds like it could become a solid property for you!!

Unfortunately, with a lot of other similar projects, you just can never know 100% what the cost is going to be. You never know what will be behind some walls or what will get broke during demo. That being said, I would just call up a few contractors and walk through the whole project with them. They should be able to give you some insight.

Obviously I don't have the contract in front of me, but I'm curious if you have an ability to go back to the Seller with any of the smoke issues in the unit you didn't see. I typically have wording that all units must be similar to the units viewed, and this one sounds like its substantially different with the smoke damage. The Seller definitely knew what that unit was like and if they hid that from you or didn't disclose it, there might be room to have them pay for some of the damages. 

One thing that may/may not be able to save money on the smoke damage is just to seal the walls after washing them down. I have done that by spraying a few layers of primer on before painting and it has worked super well for me. You may even think about priming the underlayment on the floor to seal that as well.

The basement sounds like a mess and just a lot of work. Not a whole lot of advice for that besides hard work... sorry!

I used to have a property set up as an executive rental completely furnished and included all utilities. Traveling nurses/doctors were my main clients. The risk of vacancy is slightly higher than a typical rental however this can be lessened with contacts with different agencies hired to procure housing. I even worked directly with a hospital supplying housing for medical students at one point. There are definitely ways to make it worth your while!

I bought a try-plex with a similar situation! The tenants were FAR below market rent and had been there forever. They were super nice people, but at the end of the day, rent needed to be brought closer to market. I sat down with them, brought rental comps to show them, and walked through a lease renewal with them. I didn't bring it up to market, but increased it $100/mo right away. 

One thing to help ease them into a rental increase is to do simple property improvements showing that you intend to keep the property up nicely. Fresh coat of paint on a stairwell, exterior cleaning, etc always helps. In the end, one of them eventually moved out, but a new, well vetted tenant who was willing to pay market rent made it even better.

One thing to think about however is how much money will you need to turnover the unit of a long term renter? Does it need new flooring, paint, etc? A small remodel? Sometimes these costs aren't worth the rental increase you would get with a new tenant paying market rent and sometimes it is worth while. Just something to think about and run the numbers on. :) 

What an awesome idea! Here are a few ideas of things to think of...

1) Property Taxes will be one of your larger expenses throughout the year (except for your mortgage of course). These should be public information, so google "property tax records ____(your county)" and look it up.

2) Insurance is another one to think about. Talk with an insurance agent beforehand and give them an idea of what you are looking for (price range, style, age, etc) and they should be able to give you a bit of a range (~$50-75/mo) although the final expense will be dependent on what you buy.

3) For sure make sure you stock a bit aside for any maintenance issues that come up (water heater, plumbing issue, etc). I would also make sure to get a good inspection done beforehand. It won't guarantee nothing will go wrong, but will for sure help catch some surprises!

4) It may be awkward since you already live with these 4 roommates, but 100% make sure you get them on a lease. You don't want to be stuck with an empty house if something happens in your relationship with one of them.

Sounds pretty exciting though!!!! GOOD LUCK!

I agree that it seems a little fishy that there was a 6 week "system error" as well as they don't have anyone to install the gas wall heater. Since you are new with them, I would suggest a face-to-face meeting to spell out your frustrations and give them an opportunity to respond/correct. It seem like to me a system error on their end costing you a month and a half of rent is worth some sort of compensation. I can understand the frustrations!

How annoying! People having a tough time paying bills will always come up with some reason why they shouldn't pay. One thought on the situation... it might be worth calling an HVAC contractor you have used in the past and explained the situation. For ~$100, maybe they will come perform a quick inspection so you have written proof the heat is working and the HVAC system has no proof that it has not been working. Just in case it comes up in court, you can have that as backup.

I agree with @Greg Scott! I also use the classes to be able to track each property. All the reports are then able to be run together as a whole company or separately in each individual property/class. It makes analysis much easier.

I completely agree. 

Print out a hard copy and tape to the door or hand deliver. In Wisconsin, we have a 5 Day Notice to Remedy or Vacate which comes in handy. It shows you mean business and technically if they default on the same issue, you can evict them (not that you may want to but you have the option). This is all in Wisconsin however, take a peek at your states regulations.

There are ways to convert the existing oil burning furnace to burn gas, but depending on the age of the furnace, it might be better just to completely replace the furnace. Since it sounds like the is already gas service there, it should just be the cost of popping a new furnace in place of the old one. 

One thought however would be electric baseboard. Although they are not as efficient as a gas forced air furnace, they are typically FAR cheaper to repair, replace, service, etc. Furnaces have expensive repairs, need to be serviced regularly, have filtered that need changing, etc. Baseboard has none of that! The only thing to think about is to make sure you have enough space in your breaker for them. I would talk with a local electrician to get a quote on that as well as a local HVAC contractor to get a quote on installing a conversion kit vs replacing the furnace. 

At least that's my opinion! lol

I agree with everyone else. You legally don't need to have any reason to extend a contract. In this case, the contract is for 30 days. In Wisconsin, we would issue a 28 Day Notice to Vacate notifying you won't be renewing and be on your way! :)