All Forum Posts by: Mark Green

Hello!

I own a 4 unit building in Pawtucket Rhode Island, and I HAVE BEDBUGS! Well, not me personally, but they are in every unit. I understand bed bugs are pesky to get rid of and expensive. 3 of my tenants are clean, and keep to themselves. One family though are called "the smelly people" by neighbors and former owner. They are nice, but very dirty. I can not prove that they brought the bed bugs in, but there is no way they will have their house in order for the extermination team to properly clean. 

I fear this leads me to (at least) beginning the eviction process. I have called all numbers associated with the unit, to no avail. The other tenants want action, so I will pay a local company $450 to come in and spray, but it really wont do anything with that unit is utter distress. All units are month to month, with one on Pawtucket Housing. I live an hour north in Boston. 

Does anyone have any advice, tips, or tricks to get out of this slippery mess!

Cheers!

Mark 

Hi all,

So I just purchased my first buy and hold down in Pawtucket, RI. It's no taj mahal, but needs no major updates/upgrades. It came with 4 long term tenants (6 years to 19(!!!) years) on the property. All have paid on time (some bi-weekly/some 2 days late) but never had issues with a need for eviction, and are all tenant at will. 

It's turning a profit, and I'm very happy with my purchase, but the average rent is 850, with the average rent for a 2 bed 1 bath in that area according to rentometer is 1250. I spoke with some locals, and they said 1150 is a bit more accurate. None of the properties have really been upgraded in a while, but with long term tenants I am concerned with raising the rent, but the former owner had not raised the rent in years. 

 I'm looking to increase the rent to 900 in february. In a perfect world, I'd look to have them sign 12 month leases in August/September so if they move out it would be easier to increase rent. With that lease agreement I would be looking to increase rent again. I understand this would certainly rock the boat. 

I have a few questions. I'm going to paint the interior hallways for sure, but I want to make some other improvements to justify raising the rent. I plan on painting the interior hallways and I originally wanted to replace the carpets with LVP, but I may wait until spring and get one last use out of the carpets. I was thinking of maybe updating a bathroom or a kitchen here and there, but interrupting the tenants could cause issues. In a perfect world, one would leave and I could fully update a unit, and rent it at a higher rate. I certainly don't want to rock the boat with the current tenants, but what other updates/upgrades have you guys done that had minimal impact on the tenant, but added equity to the property? 

Any other ideas are welcome, it's my first time as a landlord and my ears are wide open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks!

Mark

Hi all,

First post, but I've been following for a long time. Listened and read as much as I could, and I pounced on an opportunity on a 4plex in Pawtucket RI. Got a great deal, but the closing costs are roughly 15k, which seems high to me, but I was told that's pretty normal for Rhode Island. I snagged it at 318, and put 25% down. Anyone find the closing costs to be a bit high, or is that the norm for rhode island?

Thanks!

Mark