All Forum Posts by: Maura O'Connor

Sam Leon:  Thank you for the timely answer to my question.  I very much appreciate your taking the time to post.  I agree with your analysis.

 Other tenants are complaining, and there are some other factors, which is why I have been seeking a recommendation.

Matt K., thank you for the only recommendation received that actually answered my question.  I will look into that detector.  I appreciate very much your taking time to answer the question I asked.

Happy to evict if necessary.  My building is nonsmoking for the reasons other folks have alluded to above.  However, I don't want to evict tenant B if tenant A on the same floor is smoking in his/her unit.  An onsite inspection/test for nicotine might be effective, but I'm looking for a detector recommendation.  While a tenant might just rip out a detector, that would give me grounds to evict.  Without some evidence, eviction may not work.  So, again, while I appreciate all the thoughts, what I'm looking for is a recommendation for a smoke detector that detects cigarette smoke and either transmits a notice by WiFi or keeps a record that can be used to support an eviction.

I would appreciate any recommendation for a cigarette smoke detector that either can be checked remotely by WiFi or that has a memory function.  I have a tenant in one of my units in a nonsmoking building who is smoking.  I am remote, however; my contractor doing the rehab can't smell; and the property manager is not on site.  So we have no PROOF she is smoking.  I need to install some sort of smoke detector that will pick up cigarette smoke and will alert the property manager when someone smokes in the unit.  Can anyone recommend such a detector?

Depends on which is a higher priority for you, lower interest rate, or more long-term interest rate stability, and how long you plan to hold the property.  I'd run the numbers if I were you (a great source for free online mortgage calculators is HughChou.com), and figure out how stable your rent stream is likely to be.  

Many folks think that rates are likely to go up over time, as we've been in a long period of the Fed holding interest rates pretty low.  And we are at a point in the cycle where prices seem pretty high to me.  I'd be a bit worried about having to refi in 5 years, so would probably take one of the other options.  I'm personally quite conservative, and am in the middle of a refi on an investment property; I'm going for a 20 year fixed, at 4.75%, fully amortized over 20 years, and diminishing fees for prepayment for the first five years, because I'm not planning to sell; and I'm highly confident that the rents will generously support the loan.  Most importantly, I don't want to have to cough up cash to support the loan -- I want it to be on auto-pay-for-itself.

Hope this helps you think through your options!