All Forum Posts by: Lydia Fogo

Thank you all so much for your replies! Its very helpful to hear veteran investor's line of thought of these types of decisions. To those who mentioned they were investing in Chattanooga (@Brian Levredge and @Andrew Ashby I believe), what would you say a 2bd 1.5 ba remodeled duplex in a B neighborhood in Hixson might reasonably rent for? We've put in hardwood floors and it also has a garage and a backyard. Thank you so much for your insight.

And @Andrew Ashby, funny enough we were actually looking at the Sears Scratch & Dent! We were definitely looking at the nicer french door type of fridge, so it's nice to know that you went with the $400 SS fridge for your duplex--we were looking into those options as well. I guess the SS front is more important than it being fancy/huge!

Hello! Right now my partner and I are house hacking a duplex that we hope to move out of and start renting in a year. The duplex is in a solid B neighborhood in Chattanooga, TN and we're hoping to get ~$1000-$1150 a month. It has a backyard, a garage, new bamboo floors, and is a 2 bd 1.5 BA. 

Our decision is this: we'd like to purchase a fridge so that we have two for ourselves. If we're going to take it with us in a year, we'll happily buy a cheap $200 used one off of Craigslist. OR, we could buy a $800 stainless steel French door fridge from our local used appliance store that is discounted from $1,800 and leave it in the rental unit when we move out in hopes of it upping the rent/attracting tenants.  It works great and looks amazing. I guess my question is: is it worth it to pay $600 more for a fridge that is significantly better then the one we have for a rental? Can you actually up the rent because of the fridge/ does it really make a difference to the tenants? If we could charge $25 more a month, the fridge would pay for itself in 2 years... our current fridge is a little typical white two door cheap fridge. 

Thanks for your input!! 

Hello! My partner and I are newbie aspiring real estate investors who currently own our first duplex which we're house hacking. We'll be living in this unit for 1-2 more years, and I'm an artist who currently has more time to donate to our real estate cause then money. My question is this: would it be worth taking the time to install a mural into a rental property? I know if I was a renter, having an interesting original mural could be something that makes my decision and that makes a unit stand out from the rest of the cookie cutter units. As a future landlord however, I know that tenanets tastes will change and the "cookie cutter" feel appeals to a broader range of potential renters. Thoughts?! I suppose I could install it and always paint it over if it seems to be a problem. If it helps, the unit is a 70s style duplex that we're remodeling in Chattanooga, TN. We're hoping to get about $1,200 a month in rent from this unit. I was thinking about installing the mural in the awkward ~8ftx. 3.5ft wall that's above the stairwell. I plan on choosing a design that was modern/minimalistic in style and possibly nature or local skyline inspired. Thanks all!