All Forum Posts by: Matt R.

It depends on your local market.  Around here (Kansas City), I would expect some $89K houses to have washer and dryer hookups, but not the actual appliances; the other houses at that price might not even have the hookups.

If the laundry area is sized such that only a stacked washer and dryer will fit, that might lean a little bit towards you supplying them, because most people probably don't have stackables already, and they are more expensive than the regular ones.  But again, in an $89K house, maybe all you need to supply is the hookups.

Ask the bank if there's some kind of "memo" field they can fill in when they take the deposit, and that will show up on your statements.  If they can't do it, ask the other banks in town, and move your account to one that can.

The renters may not like the extra cost, but every US Post Office sells money orders for $1.25, and most Walmarts sell money orders for less than $1.  Make sure your bank doesn't have any fees for cashing these before you go this route.

Disclaimer: I only have one property so far. I am not affiliated with any sites mentioned.

I use Cozy.co for background and credit checks, and collecting rent. The tenants pay for the background and credit check when they apply; rent collection is free.  I don't use the other features they offer (application, maintenance requests, document sharing, listing syndication). I wrote a detailed post about it here:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Disclaimer: I am not a professional tax person.

My understanding is that what used to happen for jobs like this, was that you were always taxed on the fixed part of the wage.  You were supposed to report the value of all your cash tips on your income taxes, and pay tax on the tips, too.  Of course, either nobody reported any tip income, or they only reported half of their cash tips, to dodge the taxes.

What happens now (I think), is that you're taxed on the fixed part of your wage, AND on the tips you "should" be making when doing that job.  If you make a lot more tips than that, I think you're still supposed to report them and pay tax on them, and I don't know how common that is.  But the part that shows up on a W-2 is supposed to be closer to reality than it was years ago.

If they're tending bar at a hotel that's part of a national chain, or a big franchise restaurant, or some other "big" operation, I would guess that their W-2 is reasonably close to reality.  Places like that tend to have accounting systems to make sure people don't skip out on their taxes.  If they're working at Bob's Tavern downtown, and that's the only business Bob owns, then there is slightly more scope for creativity.

In some cities or states, I understand that you have to remove any lead-based paint before you rent the place out.  The rules may also be different for larger multi-family, vs. a duplex or single-family house.  Even if there is no requirement to fix it, you do have to give the tenants the EPA booklet about it, and sign a disclosure form; you can download the booklet for free from the EPA and print it.

Also, in the United States, anyone can sue you at any time for any reason. This is why you have insurance. Some landlords also like to have their properties be owned by a limited-liability company (LLC) instead of personally owning them; there is debate among landlords regarding whether an LLC or a big insurance policy is better.

If you don't yet have a "business" bank account for this, open one.  It will help you keep the flip expenses separate from your personal stuff.  Make sure the debit card for the new account looks different than your personal one - that way you are less likely to swipe the wrong one at the store.  If the bank offers free or really cheap personalization of the card, put a picture of a house on your business debit card.  :)  Ask other area investors which banks are good to work with.

If you think you might buy most of that $6,000 in materials from one store, you might ask around at the stores in your area (Home Depot, Lowe's, possibly Menards) to see if they have some kind of volume discount or contractor program.  Sometimes you can get a flat percentage off or as a rebate; sometimes they'll send your order to their commercial desk and bid a slightly lower price.

Like @Brian Pulaski said, start up some file folders and spreadsheets.  GET A RECEIPT FOR EVERYTHING and save it!

You might look into what the expense categories are for when you file your taxes.  When I started rehabbing my rental, I kept all the physical receipts, and put them in a spreadsheet, but I didn't categorize them.  At my first tax time, I had to go back through all of them and put them in the right categories.  Now, I put the receipt in the correct category within a few days of when I get it, so I'm ready to go at tax time.

If you know you will need some new tools or equipment to finish the work, keep your eyes peeled for sales, especially here on Labor Day weekend.  It's easy to go crazy with tools, but simple stuff like a new set of drill bits or screwdriver bits can make things go better during the rehab.  You didn't mention appliances, but that's another thing to look for sales on.

How did you figure this out?  I don't doubt it, but I kept Googling on APCO and variations of that, and I couldn't find anything.

For a Weather King, the serial number appears to match "Style 3" listed at https://www.building-center.or... .  So the "2567" in the serial number means it was built in late June, 1967.  That means this unit is 52 years old.

When I bought my rental, the previous owners had installed a rather nice stainless-front dishwasher that was only a couple of years old, so I kept it, and I haven't had any trouble out of it in 2+ years.

Around here (Kansas City), it wasn't until around the late 1970s or early 1980s that houses started being built with dishwashers in them.  Houses older than that often have DIY dishwasher installs that you may have to work on a little.

I made sure the dishwasher drain hose went from the dishwasher, all the way up to the underside of the countertop, and then back down to the drain connection on the disposer under the sink. This keeps sink water from siphoning into the bottom of the dishwasher.  A lot of DIY installs don't do this.

I also replaced the flexible connector between the dishwasher water valve and the house plumbing, in an attempt to prevent leaks.

Finally, the dishwasher was put on its own circuit.  It was previously on the same circuit as the disposer and one of the bedrooms; I'm pretty sure if anybody tried to do anything in that bedroom when the dishwasher was running, it would have popped the breaker.  Luckily the dishwasher was only about 15 feet away from the breaker panel, over an unfinished part of the basement, so there was a clear shot at running the new cable.

Disclaimer: I only have one property so far. I am not affiliated with any sites mentioned.

I use Cozy.co for background checks and collecting rent. I don't use the other features they offer (application, maintenance requests, document sharing, listing syndication). I wrote a detailed post about it here:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

@Sai T. I did a lot of Googling and I can't even come up with a manufacturer for that thing.  It might be APCO, or it might be something else.  Since it uses R-22, it's probably from before the mid-1990s or so.  I think your best bet is going to be painting the parts you have - take it apart, sand/sandblast it, paint it, put it back together.