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All Forum Posts by: Matt R.

Matt R. has started 16 posts and replied 478 times.

Post: Encasting Washer and Dryer in Kitchen

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

I'll add my voice to the "make the countertop easily removable" chorus.  This also makes it possible for you or a future tenant to put in a top-loading washer later if they want one.

Look in the manuals for your washer and dryer, or download them from the manufacturer's site.  Somewhere in there it should list a minimum clearance if you want to build them in to a cabinet.  Sometimes the distance is different for the top vs. the sides.

On the dryer side, you might nail a 2x2 or similar to the left and right sides of your new cabinet, on the inside, a few inches forward from the back wall.  This prevents somebody from pushing the dryer so far back that it squishes the vent hose, if the vent is flexible.  (Without the countertop there, you can just peek over the back of the dryer to make sure you're not squishing the hose.)  You can do the same for the washer if you're concerned about squishing the supply or drain hoses.

If the hookups are already low on the wall, this is harder to fix, but: I would put the hookups (water/electric/gas) above the countertop, and maybe notch the back of the countertop so the hoses/wires can go down to where the machines are.  If one of the washer supply hoses breaks, or something inside the washer breaks, then you will want to shut off the water in a hurry.  If the hookups are above the counter, this is easy.  As pictured, you get to pull a plugged-in washer out of the hole, with water spraying around, to get to the shutoff valves and unplug it.

If possible, try to have a regular outlet (120 V) available for the countertop as well - especially if the ironing board will fit in the laundry area.  Eventually somebody will want to iron something that just came out of the wash.  In your case, it might be handy to just plug the iron into one of the kitchen countertop outlets.

Post: Looking for advice for ceiling repair

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

Disclaimer: I am not a professional contractor.  I've had to research this stuff when looking at old houses before, though.

Are they about 8 or 9 inches square?  I've seen ceiling tiles like that before in a basement that was finished sometime between the mid-50s and mid-70s.  They nailed 1x2 furring strips to the bottom of the joists, and then used long staples to attach the tiles to the furring strips.  I believe these could have also been installed over drywall, plaster, etc, using an adhesive like Liquid Nails or similar.  If you take one down (but please don't do that yet), it's similar material to the 2'x4' drop ceiling panels you can get today, but a little thinner.

The problem is that some of these tiles contained the all-purpose miracle material, asbestos.  If they're from the late 70s or before they might; if they're newer than the early 80s or so, they might not.  The only way to know for sure is to (carefully) get a piece of the tile off the ceiling and get it tested.

If the tiles don't contain asbestos, then you can pretty much do what you want.  If they look like fiberglass, it's a good idea to use a respirator, long sleeves, etc if you tear them out - just like dealing with fiberglass insulation.  I would probably try to take one or two of them off - either one that's already loose, or one in a corner or closet if available - and see what the ceiling is above that.  If it's drywall or plaster, you might think about demoing the part of the ceiling where the water leak was, just so you can be sure that it's all dried out and no funky things are growing in there.

If they do contain asbestos, life is harder.  I know that when I had an asbestos popcorn ceiling in a previous residence, one of the legal options was just to paint over it without disturbing it, but I don't know if that applies to the tiles.  It might also be an option to paint it (to seal in the asbestos), get a good studfinder and some really long eye screws, install the eye screws through the tile into the joists, and then hang a modern drop ceiling like you normally would (so it looks better).  I don't know if you need the full bunny suit routine to install those eye screws or not.

More information here - I am not affiliated with this site: http://inspectapedia.com/hazmat/Asbestos_Ceiling_T...

Post: Independence Property Inspectors

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

See my response in this nearby thread: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/706/topics/45...

You're probably wanting to do a pre-purchase inspection.  Since June 1, 2017, the city of Independence also requires another interior inspection before you can get your landlord business license - they call it the "Rental Ready" program.  As I understand it, only about 6 or 7 inspectors / inspection companies are approved by the city to do these inspections.  It may be worthwhile to ask prospective inspectors if they can also do the Independence Rental Ready inspection.  (This inspection would happen after any rehab you're doing to the property.)

Post: Those of you who invest in KC how do you get comps?

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

I don't have access to the MLS myself. I do what @Kim Tucker said with Zillow and Trulia - ignore the estimate but look at recent sales nearby.  You have to pay attention to the map, though.  For instance, my rental house is at the west edge of a 1950s subdivision, and it backs up to the east edge of a 1970s subdivision with much larger houses and lots.  Sometimes Zillow or Trulia will include those 70s houses with ones like mine, and tell me that the comps are either $90k or $150k.  :D

Sometimes I also look at the Jackson County GIS maps - Google "Jackson County Parcel Viewer" to find the main one.  This gives you the county appraised value (current and a few years back), which isn't perfect, but better than nothing.  It's also good for finding the year builts, square footage, etc.

I don't know why the KC-area realtors treat the MLS like a big secret. I used to live in Tulsa, and the MLS in that area had its own website that anybody could use - not affiliated with any one particular realtor. It probably didn't show you all the numbers that a realtor could see, but it seemed like it provided good info - although I wasn't investing at that time.

Post: Raytown, Independence and Grandview

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

Independence: North and West is not so great.  South and East is better.  I personally don't look at too many houses north of 23rd Street, but that's me.  Another way to put it: try to be in the Truman High catchment area, or the part of the Blue Springs school district that is in Independence.  (Look at greatschools.org for maps.)

Raytown: I don't have much specific, recent data.  In general, Raytown is probably better than the east side of KC, but not as good as (say) Lee's Summit.

Grandview: Again, no specific, recent data.  One oddity to watch out for in Grandview is that it is home to a church called "International House of Prayer".  They also have a theology school, and lots of college-age people move to Grandview to attend.  IHOP* likes to buy houses near their school and then rent them out, cramming as many kids into one house as the building code will allow (and sometimes more).  I get the impression that it's hard to get into this "by accident", but if you are looking for a house in Grandview, it might help to specify that you're not looking to put 9 people in an 800-sq-ft house.  :)

*Yes, just like the pancake restaurant.  There has been at least one trademark lawsuit.

Source: I grew up in Independence and now live in Blue Springs.  My rental property is in Independence.

Post: Praire Village / Waldo / Brookside Buy/Rehab/Hold

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

If your potential tenants/buyers also work in KCMO, then they can't dodge the 1% city income tax.  If they don't work in KCMO, then Prairie Village has a slight advantage over Brookside or Waldo.

Brookside and Waldo will also be in the KCMO school district.  This basically means your tenants/buyers need to not have kids, or need to be OK with paying for private school, or need to be OK with moving right before the kids hit school age.  Prairie Village will have Shawnee Mission schools, which are fine.

On average, Brookside is probably going to have the oldest houses, followed by Waldo, and then Prairie Village.  Older isn't necessarily bad - some people prefer the exterior look / style of older homes and are willing to pay for it - but it means you have to spend a little more time in inspections and maybe in rehab.

I hope this helps!

Post: Appraisers & Home Inspectors in Kansas City

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

For inspections, I have hired Norm Clark twice now and been happy with his service. Once was for my residence and once was for a rental property. His office is in Kansas but he does inspections in both Kansas and Missouri.

I will mention that he is a little pessimistic on furnaces. He recommended replacement on both houses, which I did, but I also looked at both old furnaces after they came out. One of them definitely had a rusted heat exchanger and needed replacing for sure. The other one may have been OK. I consoled myself with the knowledge that now I probably won't get a "help, I'm cold" call in the middle of January. :)

I am not affiliated with Norm Clark in any way, other than as a previous customer.

Post: New (Aug 2016) security deposit law question.

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

What I've heard is that what the Missouri Legislature was trying to do was require that the tenants' security deposits be kept in a separate bank account, and not mixed in with a landlord's other funds.

However, calling it a "trust" in the legislation technically means you need to get a lawyer and set up a trustee and file some paperwork and a bunch of good stuff that costs at least a few hundred dollars.

The landlords I know around the KC area have been taking one of two approaches:

1) Set up a separate bank account at the place where you do your landlord banking.  Some people like to put a name on that account like "Gary Bennett Trust", or "Acme Real Estate Trust", even if the account is held by you personally and not a full legal trust.  Then, the security deposits, and nothing else, go into this account.

2) Ignore it.  The basis for this idea is that there's no penalty for not doing it.

I'm not sure if you need multiple accounts (one per property), or if you can put the security deposits from all your properties in one account.  I think people that are setting up a separate account are just doing one account and putting deposits from all their properties in it.

There was a little bit of motion towards changing this in Jeff City earlier this year, but it disappeared among the general train wreck that was the 2017 Missouri legislative session.

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

Post: Bare Breasts Never a Dull Day in REI

Matt R.Posted
  • Blue Springs, MO
  • Posts 481
  • Votes 313

If she was breastfeeding a human baby, then hey, it's a natural thing.

If she was breastfeeding the cat or something, that's a little strange.

If she was trying to breastfeed *you*... I dunno, man.  What's the lease say?  :D

IMHO: If you're not currently getting paid by your corporate job, don't list them as income on your applications.  Just list the $7.5k/month you're getting from your own company.

Like @Jieh Larson said, having proof of funds from the bank is a good idea.  Banks know about this; go into a branch and ask, and they will probably print it out on letterhead and sign it for you.

Probably the only thing your corporate HR will give out is your hire date and the fact that you still work there.  (If you quit or get fired, they'll give that date too, but they probably won't say which it was.)

From what I understand, Austin is reasonably popular for startups, so you probably aren't the first person who's had this kind of problem.  If there is some kind of social/networking group for startups in Austin, maybe ask there if there's a particular leasing/property management company that is known to be good at dealing with people in your situation.

I hope this helps!