All Forum Posts by: Kelli Gaul

Currently house hacking a duplex. Ours was originally a SFH, so the utilities aren't completely separate. Tenant pays for his electric and gas for stove, we pay all other utilities (our electric, gas (including furnace, water/sewer).

If your utilities are separate, definitely have the tenant pay. If they’re not, you can bill the tenant for utilities or just include them in the rent. 

100% screen the tenant(s) as you would any rental. This is probably even more important since you are the neighbor and you want to give yourself a good neighbor!

It’s so frustrating, but be patient! 

It took us 10 months to find our first house. I don’t even know how many offers we put in and we had 3 that got accepted (2 of which fell through). We were pretty close to giving up on the idea that we’d get the property we were looking for in our budget any time soon. 

Keep looking and the right house for you will come along! Good luck!

@CJ M. I agree that a clause for necessary vs unnecessary service calls leaves too many gray areas. 

@Adam Shelley I think another option for future leases is to have a clause written in that the tenant is responsible for the first X dollars in repairs/services.

Could help minimize “unnecessary” service calls, but not deter them when bigger issues come up.

@Justin Lee thanks! 

@Justin Lee He's finding lenders for either a HELOC or refinance. Normally he wouldn't have us do the HELOC through him, since going straight to a bank will have better rates. Since we couldn't find a bank to lend in our situation, he's helping us. He's been acquiring new connections with lenders that will do HELOC or refinance on investment properties and working to find us a lender.

@Jonathan Valdes $850 seems high. Ours was $525 (in Oct 2017), including Radon test & Wood Destroying Insects inspection. We had a great experience with our inspector:

Mark E. Noble
Nobility Home Inspection Services, LLC
http://nobilityhomeinspections.com/

I don’t know that they’ll have availability so soon, but cancellations happen so you never know. 

@David Acosta thank you!

@Hubert Kim Definitely an important point! From what I’ve read of the laws in NYC, there are no statutes dictating a limit for time frame or amount for rent increases on rent unregulated apartments like mine (only rent controlled & rent regulated). 

@Justin Lee I'm working on trying to get a HELOC on one of my properties now and it's been difficult. We tried calling around, but many lenders don't want to give HELOCS on investment properties or the ones that do want seasoning of at least 6 months, some even 12 months. Using our mortgage broker has been the best option for us in this situation. If you've had the property for a while, it'll be easier than it's been for us!

Really, anyone can sue for whatever they want to. Unfortunately, the lawsuit being filed doesn’t depend on whether or not you’re legally correct. 

If you’re within your legal rights, the suit will probably be in your favor, but there are still fees involved in going to court. 

This may be only a threat to try to push your hand. I’m not giving legal advice (I’m not a lawyer and don’t claim to be). If you’re truly concerned they may sue, it might be good to contact your real estate lawyer to see how they suggest you proceed in dealing with the situation.