All Forum Posts by: Laura Bottorff

Hi @Jon Kopp,

This original chain was a while ago - but what did you end up doing? Did you go forward with a high velocity system or choose something else? I am also looking at this option for an older building in chicago. 

Thank

It's also worth noting that as Clara already mentioned, you need to claim and pay federal taxes on 33% of the income each tax year during the 3yrs (so, you'll pay income taxes on 1/3 of it each year). When you pay the money back to your 401k/IRA, you must then file an amended return for any of the tax years you had to pay these taxes on in order to recoup the taxes paid.

Thanks for the update, @Vijay T.! It's really helpful to know how other people decided. 

@John Warren: Thank you for chiming in! Would you have a moment to give your opinion on my specific issue (details below)?

I'm owner-occupying my 4-unit, and it is otherwise currently unrented while I work on other needed repairs. I recently had one of my steam pipes leak and then break (I found it on Thanksgiving...a wonderful holiday surprise!) which steamed my entire basement, buckled the hardwood flooring in Unit 1 above, and sent steam through the back wall (all my walls are hollow/uninsulated here in a 100 year old brick building) all the way through up Unit 1, 2, and 3. So...I have a bunch of flooring out right now in Unit 1 and at least some plaster and drywall rehab to complete in all of the units through that insurance claim now. I was going to wait to do a forced air/heat install until the next time I needed to replace one of the unit's floors (estimated at 4-5yrs from now)...but that decision timeline has now been accelerated because of the water damage disaster floor removal. The steam system has been giving me problems in general since I bought the place, and I am concerned about having future leaks/damaging events like the one I'm going through now. 

The 3 main units are large (3-bedroom, all Queen+ sized) with separate dining and living rooms - so I feel that Electric heating will be too pricey - especially considering that the vinyl windows are not very well sealed and I do not currently have the budget to replace. Electric does sound like a good choice for the 1-bedroom Garden/Basement unit. Cooking gas is already separated for Units 2 & 3 and I had intended to work on getting a separate meter for Unit 1 (probably leave G on the building meter). Electric is separate for all units and I recently increased my service to 400 AMP while completing a necessary electrical box repair.

The building is definitely not in an A-class neighborhood, but it's been gentrifying and was recently reclassified as West Town (was considered part of Humboldt Park when I purchased). It's probably somewhere around B. Previous tenants have had to purchase 6-8 window air conditioning units for summer...which seems like an unreasonable ask to me, but I'm not originally from the Midwest so I'm not sure what the perception on that type of purchase typically is here among natives. 

@Vijay T. What did you end up deciding on this? I’m also a landlord currently paying for single-system heat on a 4-unit building in Chicago and you had a pretty good outline of the possible options I have also found.