All Forum Posts by: J. Martin

redfin.com is what I use if you don't have direct broker-access MLS. You can set search criteria for whatever you want, including zip codes, cities, price ranges, type of property (SFR, condo, 2-4, land etc), etc. You can also set it to only include new/price change/pending, etc. Registration is free. You can also favorite it to put it on an internal list of yours, or put private notes & pics on the listing. Another way is just to get a friendly agent who's willing to give you their login & pw to their MLS so you can see the "private remarks" also.

Best I've found so far, if they're in your area.. Good luck! And happy hunting!

@Michaela G. , I'm totally with you, and I like the idea. Put it on Craigslist and email it to the media! But I think some people don't understand the conversion service you're talking about and not actually holding the bitcoin. Just getting USD delivered to you. I will say though, I think foreign currency conversion at that volume is not much different than the 1% transaction fee on BTC. You can just do an international wire/conversion through your bank. I think you should market your property in BTC also, but why not accept all currencies and be the first to not only accept bitcoin and USD, but all currencies? Just be sure to write your contract so that the price is fixed to USD and the buyer pays whatever the conversion rate is in their currency on your website, plus any transaction fee for you to receive the money.. Good luck!

@Rodney Kuhl , if you're comfortable with the size of the investment, I definitely recommend not a SFR or duplex, but a fourplex! That's what I did on my first deal, and it's been a blessing since. But make sure you do your homework first! I believe my tenants use about 50 gal/person/day, including adults and children, and a coin-op washer/dryer. Water is almost one meter, and electric is almost always separate and paid by tenants. Gas can vary. I pay gas on mine. I think all my master electricity, gas, water, including the washer/dryer for all units, is about $200/mo. Coin-op pays about $100 of that. So $100 net utilities to me.. (3x2/1 & 1x3/1.5 . 13 people. Hope that gives you some specifics. Utility rates can vary greatly by area though.. Plus garbage. Check your local garbage company for rates. You can also call your utility company and they can often provide you with average rates for similar building types. They told me mine is especially low for a fourplex in the area.. Must be the low-flow toilet handles I installed..?

@Jay Orlauski is right that the average expenses are less with a 4plex. One 4plex roof is probably half as much to replace as 4 roofs of single family homes. And generally have better cash flow. But not as broad a market when you go to sell. If there is a bigger "owner's unit", you'll be able to sell to some part of the pool of owner occupants in the future. Otherwise, you may just have a market of investors, which will make your eventual sale price more dependent on cash flow than the sizzle of the property or its value to an FHA buyer.

@James Mudd , I talked to a contractor about potentially installing separate meters, but with the fees from the utility to get permits for the individual meters, hooking up separate piping through each unit instead of the master pipe, and the actual materials and labor were going to be prohibitively expensive. I think this tends to be the case, unless your area has a rebate program for it. Some municipalities are giving rebates because it reduces overall water consumption when people are directly responsible for paying what they use. makes sense! Some people charge a "utility fee" on top of rent - maybe $20-30/mo/unit to help defray utility expense. I just include it in the price of the unit (slightly higher since I pay utilities), installed low-flow shower heads and dual-flush toilet handles, and told the tenants minimizing unnecessary usage helps keep the rents from going up..

@Karen Margrave , you are correct that it is not like real estate. Real estate can yield a monthly return without appreciation, it has much more stable returns, and much more of it can also be built tomorrow. There are a plethora of other differences. I would say it's closer to a very unproven gold. As @Michael Heisterkamp was pointing out, it has a finite supply (no more than 21 million can ever be in circulation, like gold is hard to mine..). It is not accepted for many typical transactions (just like gold). There is no "midas touch", alchemy, or central bank that can expand the supply of either of them infinitely.

The fact that it is decentralized and not "backed" (aka controlled by) a central authority is viewed by most users as one of its strengths - not one of its weaknesses. Gold is not backed by any government either, and the days when the dollar was "backed" and convertible to gold is LONG gone. It is traded freely on the open market for anyone who would like to buy it in a private transaction. It only has value because of its limited supply and thousands of years as a use of store of value. Besides the small amount used in electronics, its next best usefulness is hanging it around your neck to look shiny..

Bitcoin is different in that it is intangible. But when gold's next best use it to look shiny, it's hard to hang my hat on its tangibility as a necessity to its value. A share of an ETF for gold is just as good as gold in many ways, and you can neither touch it nor see it. It has lower holding costs than physical gold, lower transaction costs to buy and sell, and can be exchanged to USD and transferred around the world in any currency quickly. Much like BitCoin. The biggest difference? Bitcoin has only been around for a few years vs thousands, so is highly untested in its durability of people's views as a store of value, and perhaps more often in the future as a medium of exchange... You are right. It does depend on people believing in it as a store of value.. And that varies wildly from day to day. I'm not advocating anyone to purchase it unless they are gambling, but it's interesting and just trying to explain people's perspective on it.

Greenspan said almost the exact thing you said the other day regarding it needing to be "backed" by a govt, so what you're saying is not off the mark from a highly (formerly?) respected economist.. But it's exactly why so many people want it..

@Michaela G. , you are right individuals can still trade it online. But Chinese financial institutions and businesses aren't supposed to quote in bitcoin. Thus the news with the Baidu subsidiary. The govt is weary of banks getting into trouble dealing with wild investments, and there is some issue with Chinese trying to get out of the yuan w/o controls from the government's perspective I think.. But great discussion. I had to give you a big vote for this one, as I am obviously beyond interested in the Bitcoin / cryptocurrency phenomenon.

@Elizabeth Colegrove

@Ned Carey there is no xmas tree, and the lights are white, so I figured it should be OK... I agree, I think it looks nice at night anyway.. you're right. Not even holiday lights. "Landscaping" lights lol

@Troy Sheets , I probably wouldn't have even thought about doing it if I didn't live here. But I do kind of like the look. We used to have them when we were kids.. so maybe that's part of it. I also agree that the "pride of ownership"/personal touches improve the retention to some extent, but we'll see.. A lot of people say "there is no ROI to it." But I think doing a lot of little nice things through the year doesn't add up to too much money, but coupled with repairing everything quickly, and being friendly, I think it comes into tenant's considerations when they are thinking about moving and remember that one other a**hole landlord compared to how easy and nice everything is here..

@Al Williamson ., I like your philosophy! Actually, some of my neighbors' lights going up is what finally got me up from my laziness to do it. My attention to my property has also caused the adjacent 4plex with a partial shared drive way to shape up their exterior, pick up any trash outside, etc. Actually, as I was putting the lights up this afternoon, the kids were wandering around looking at them with twinkles in their eyes. Then one of my (best-paying) tenants told my handyman that she's excited about the lights and she's been waiting since October for Xmas to come.. So that enjoyment is enough to make it worth it for me, on top of me liking it, maybe a little rub-off on the neighbors, and if it's one of the many little things that helps this family want to stay, that will be a nice kicker...

@Daren Wang , I live here at the property now. So I do collect rent. But they usually come to my unit. I know as a prior renter, I wouldn't want my landlord coming into my apt every month, even if there's nothing wrong.. So I try to find some balance without bothering them too much. Good rents. Easy enough. I have my trusted handyman look around whenever he goes in to fix anything and report back. Did walkthrough before renewing leases a few months back. Between that, and looking during occasional fixing, if that might be enough..

@Edward Burns , there is no furnace or HVAC. In-ceiling electric heat, but not needed often around here. A/C is not typical either, because it doesn't get all that hot, and good insulation in the building. I usually ask them when they pay rent if there's anything they need fixed. Most of the time, they don't, so it's nice to get the goodwill of showing you care, without having to do fixes all that often.. I really do try to fix everything immediately, keep a nice clean yard and beautiful garden. Motion sensor and other lights, all working. Paint good condition. I really believe in "pride of ownership" and its impact on vacancy/rents and resale value (both having a well-maintained building with a low Section 1 termite report and pleasant, long-term tenants paying healthy market rents - they come with the building).

Funny you mention that @James Wise ,.. I was going to put "holiday" lights, so as not to offend anyone, but some get offended that you avoid using Xmas, or Xmas instead of Christmas. To each their own. I'll just call them "festive" lights. I agree no one is going to stay here an extra year because there are Xmas lights up. But tenants have specifically mentioned they appreciate some of the other little things I do, and a lot people stop by and ask if there are any units open because of how nice it is always kept in the yard and outside relative to other places in the neighborhood. But you may be right that it may just be a nice gesture.. I don't really mind that either if there might be some side benefit.. And since I live here for now, I'll get some slight satisfaction out of it.. ;)

While my 4plex is in a "C" neighborhood, I like it to be the nicest place on the block. I think it helps attract good tenants, better rents, less vacancy, and less headaches in the long run. I have a nice garden that's not too much to maintain, lots of rose bushes the tenants can cut and bring inside, flowering vines on the fence (and take care of any repairs/issues around the building - real "pride of ownership"). I'm thinking about dropping a few bucks on some xmas lights to string around the front of the building, and up the staircase to brighten things up for the holidays.

About $30 for a decent amount of lights, and I assume the electricity isn't that much for the tiny little lights.. The tenants have kids, and I like to keep everyone happy and remind them of all the little reasons why this is a better place to live than most.. The kind of place you're proud to have friends/family over for the holidays, or anytime for that matter..

Does anyone take the time to put up/taken down xmas lights on their multifamily? I was thinking about maybe giving a couple cheap packages of lights to my SFR renters, but don't want someone falling off a ladder and saying I encouraged it! (And thought it would be weird to go over to their house to put them up..)

One of my tenants recently told me that a dark spot appeared to be growing each day during the rain, until they woke up with water leaking onto their bed..

As I was contemplating how many days it had been getting wet, I thought I would call/text the rest of my tenants and remind them to notify me immediately if they see any dark spots on the ceiling or water around the windowsills, to avoid having anything leak that could ruin their stuff or bother them with additional work if it gets worse. I think I'm going to do it today..

Do any other landlords/investors out there remind their tenants at the beginning of winter, or periodically, about calling if there are any leaks? I figure telling them why it makes it easier for them (less potential work to do, avoid getting their stuff wet) would help motivate them to actually do it.

Anyone else do this? Thoughts? Any other pro-active tips for tenants/maintenance? (Besides inspecting the exterior/rooof, etc periodically. I'm more thinking about the inside). Does anyone do walk-throughs of the apartment every 6 months or something? I did it last time I renewed leases, but haven't necessarily established a set schedule..

@Daren Wang , yes, you can create a master lease where everyone is responsible for all of the rent (joint and several). This is somewhat common in San Francisco, where living with strangers from Craigslist is not very unusual. But when I see it out here in Richmond (suburb in Bay Area), they are only responsible for their portion of the rent. But listen to everyone else on here. Not everyone will get along and you might have lots of headaches, but probably higher monthly rents.

I saw a 4plex the other day with 4 x 4 bedroom, 1.5ba units. The owner had rented each bedroom separately, for a total of 16 tenants. And only 1 shower per 4 tenants per unit. None of them know each other.. 16 rent checks/cash etc to collect. 5 of them $75 late every month.. I can't even imagine the headaches/vacancies/problems etc. But the units were bringing in about 30-40% higher rents than market for a single rental unit... What are the potential headaches and turnover worth to you..?