All Forum Posts by: Leslie Crosten

We are under contract on an over/under duplex and in a sticky situation... I need help! So, we were supposed to close on this property Friday Sept 4th. However, closing was pushed back maybe a week or so according to the bank (their problem, they couldn't get it ready in time and lots of closings were delayed). 

The sellers signed an early occupancy agreement so we moved our stuff in this past week on Tuesday (we had moved it from out of state and in a uhaul and did not want to have to move it out of the uhaul and into another storage unit only to move it again or pay to keep the uhaul a long time until we closed and were able to move it in). So they let us move our stuff in the vacant unit early. Now that closing is pushed for at least another week or so, its a little tricky because we are living here, but it's not technically "ours" yet.

We moved out of the apartment we were renting yesterday and stayed out first night in this "soon to be ours" duplex. We are house-hacking and living in the lower level with an established tenant upstairs who is great.

The problem--- we stayed here for the first time last night and used the shower. Water began leaking from under the trim around the wall which encloses the shower piping (they did some updates to this unit before selling, but things appear very cheap, not done professionally and pretty much used peel and stick everything). I was able to access the panel behind the shower head/faucet from the opposite wall in the hallway and see there is water leaking from the pipes, very rusted material and it does not look pretty. 

This is not even technically our home yet and I have no clue what to do- I hate even using the shower knowing there is a leak. This could be very spendy to fix, and I feel like I can't even call a plumber to come take a look because it isn't even our house! We love the layout and location of this duplex, it is in pretty good shape (or so appeared to be) other than some cosmetic things they did a cheap job updating. The house DOES make sense with the numbers being where they are now, but not with a potential huge thing to fix right away. The seller was so upset about the closing being delayed he wanted to call the whole thing off anyway and has been a huge pain to deal with the whole time- its a FSBO and its been a nightmare from day 1. Maybe this is our chance to get out before signing the papers and yes, lose our earnest money, but take it as a loss and move on, knowing we dodged a bullet??? I need all the help I can get and FAST- I have no idea what to do.

Thank you guys! 

@Jake King Roberts hello! Awesome strategy and that is what my wife and I are currently doing. 31 years old and just bought first duplex, going to house hack one of the units for at least a year then try to get another.

Question about insurance- who do you go with or have found to be cheapest/best homeowners/landlord insurance? And did you have to have two separate policies?

Thanks!

Basically this wall with the upper row of cabinets and the door needs to go, or at least be opened up half way. Also the bedroom wall that is directly behind it on the other side of the hall needs to be opened up so we can turn that bedroom into a living space.... hope that makes sense! 

@Theresa Harris yes!! That's kind of what I was thinking, too. We wouldn't necessarily need to take down the entire wall, maybe leave some. Just need to open it up more than it is now...

@Joe Splitrock thanks for your reply! In short, I do NOT know 100% they are load bearing YET, we are having someone come take a look. Yes, we did offer on this house either way because it was such a great deal. But I definitely understand that if they are load bearing, it will make a big difference and there are lots of other things to think about when tearing down a wall (electric, HVAC, etc like you mentioned). Unfortunately, (I will upload pictures to better explain the layout) there is absolutely no seating place and someone would essentially be making a "living room" out of a bedroom if we did not do this, and it would be very separated and well, weird. 

To me and potential renters, this is a turnoff and just doesn't make sense. Our real estate agent (who is also a REI herself and owns 30+ rentals) agrees that the functionality does not make sense as a 4 bedroom. I do understand a 4 bedroom would of course usually rent for more than a 3 bedroom, but thats a 4 bedroom where the layout makes sense and has a living room I assume? :)

@Dutch Langley great reply! Thanks for all the insight. Yes it is definitely not a "one cost fits all" type question, I was more or less trying to confirm the price ranges I have seen online. It is a big job with lots of little pieces one may not initially think about. Again, Let me get a couple pictures uploaded for a better perspective! We are definitely going to get some reputable contractors/handymen in to take a look and get some quotes. I am just inpatient and wanted to know other peoples' costs when removing walls to have some numbers in my head... We would not be doing it ourselves. 

@Pat L. wow nice work!!! Thanks for the details with how you guys did it- helpful! 

Hello! I am under contract on an over/under duplex- the downstairs is 4 bedrooms with only 1 (large) bathroom and smaller kitchen area. You can tell it was a SFH turned duplex, and it is very nicely maintained with great potential for cash flow... only issue is the downstairs unit has no true "sitting area" or "living room." We did the math with having the downstairs become a 3 bedroom and it still cash flowed nicely, which is why we offered on it. (We also think it makes more sense having it be a 3/1 since there is only 1 bathroom).

My question is to people who have done rehabs/demos.... what is the average cost of tearing down non-load bearing walls? We want to take down two walls to essentially lose a bedroom and open up the kitchen to have a more open concept kitchen/living room. 

I have never had work like that done before and am seeing a wide range of prices when doing research (which I know it can vary widely depending on a lot of factors). I just wanted some real world examples and costs! Thank you!!

Hi everyone!

I am new(er) to REI, have been doing a lot of learning in the background for a couple years. I recently had a deal on a duplex fall through (seller reasons)... so now I am back on the hunt for another small multi-family (we really want to house hack for at least a year, hence the multi family).

I am wondering if we were to find a good cash-flowing 4 plex (using bigger pocket calculators), would be at all unwise or “too risky” to go with a 4 unit to start off with vs continue looking for a cash flowing duplex, and maybe next year scale up to a 4 plex.

Any thoughts on pros and cons would be appreciated very much!!!

@Heather Hickman on the rental side I'd like to paint, change the carpet to LVP, redo kitchen cabinets and the bathrooms are pretty dated... so it is some extensive-ish work. It's currently very doable and they have already been there over a year, but perhaps if (when) they moved out, we could move into that unit and do updates... 

They MAY be willing to move into the more updated side (the side we will originally be moving into and updating), but it is 1 bedroom smaller and I'm not sure would be a good fit for them and moving all of their things would be a hassle. The side they are currently on is a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom. And the side I will be on is 3 bedroom 2 bathrooms, but noticeably smaller in the main areas of the house. 

@Nicholas S Bond Thank you!! For sure vacancy is a killer... so we for sure want them there as long as possible and if they are happy with what they currently have, great, we will keep the rent fair for similar units in the market. When they moved out we could update, but again, that does mean sacrificing some vacancy to update the unit, but in turn would ideally be able to raise the rent slightly. If we put $8,000 into updating the inside of that unit when they moved out and could raise the rent $200 a month perhaps, we would almost make that back in 3 years and have a nicer unit with more durable materials. 

@Kody Thompson thanks- yeah I agree I'm sure it would be difficult. I would definitely try to plan it as well as I could to limit vacancy. Just wondering if there were some small tasks that I could organize to be completed with them living there that would not be too inconvenient. But might be pretty hard to do, as you said. Wondering what other people have done in this situation, too...

Hello everyone! I just had an offer accepted on a duplex that will be my first investment property and plan on house-hacking for at least a year! The side that is vacant currently will be the side I live in and it was already updated decently before the house was listed to sell (new windows, paint, carpet looks pretty clean). I could do some small cosmetic things while I am living there, but overall not much needs done. The other side, however, is not BAD at all, but it is something I would like to update in the near future (not as much was updated on that side before selling as it is occupied). It is currently rented by a small young family, on a month to month lease. What is the best way to go about doing updates, some bigger and some smaller, while it is occupied? 

Thanks for all the advice and tips!! Excited to start this REI journey! I can also add some pictures of the house and would love some opinions on the updating...

*I also need to remember this is a rental and not my forever home! I can justify putting down some more sturdy flooring in the main areas and getting rid of the carpet there, but do not need to update everything and make it a class A property when it is in more of a class B- neighborhood! *not screw up my return on investment*