All Forum Posts by: Michael Campbell

Thanks everyone for the advice.  I will do what I can to try to encourage him to clean up and I'll definitely be modifying my lease agreement.

 Unfortunately my lease does not say anything specifically about keeping the unit clean. 

Hello,

I own a live-in duplex and I rent out the second unit.  My tenant notified me today that he has been seeing roaches around so I told him that I would get some roach baits and put them around the house.  Well, I just walked into his unit (which I have not been into in a few months) and the place was absolutely filthy (he was not home at the time).  I was only in the kitchen, but there was food everywhere and the place was completely disgusting. 

I immediately sent him a text message letting him know that the condition that he is keeping my house in is unacceptable.  I have no doubt that the roaches are due to his filth.  I told him he needs to clean up and I will be doing periodic inspections going forward.  Is there anything else I can do?  My lease does not say anything about inspections, just that I will provide 24 hours notice if I need to go in there for any reason.

The lease ends January 31, and at this point that cannot come soon enough for me.  

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike C

If I were you I would do a quick search of multifamily properties under $400k, see what's available and check out those neighborhoods.  Personlly I would be looking at West Philadelphia near University City, Brewerytown, Fishtown, Port Richmond, and Point Breeze.

Hi Percy,  I'm a local wannabe investor and would love to take you up on this offer

Oops - just realized that I wrote "It is very pretty right now"... I meant to say that Chestnut Hill is very expensive right now so it may be difficult to find an affordable multifamily property.

 I could be off, but I get the feeling that Philadelphia is steadily improving as a whole.  The nicer neighborhoods seem to be extending further and the rougher neighborhoods seem to be improving to me.  I don't know much about Mount Airy, but Chestnut Hill is a very nice area and I don't see it going downhill anytime soon.  It is very pretty right now, so finding an affordable multifamily property might be difficult.

Hi Yazeed,

While I'm certainly not the most experienced investor (I currently own a duplex - living in one, renting out the other unit), I'd be happy to offer some advice on the Philadelphia area if you have any specific questions.  I've been keeping an eye on the properties that become available as I'd like to purchase my second property soon.

You need to come up with an estimate for the rehab costs and base your offer on that, as well as closing costs and holding costs.  Can you get into the house?  

There's clearly a lot of criticism in this thread about hiring contractors and what to expect.  But what can we learn from this experience?  Here's are two of my takeaways:

Whenever hiring a contractor, you need a detailed scope of work before agreeing on a price.  The scope of work in this situation probably should have stated whether or not all materials were included in the job by the homeowner or if the contractor was providing some of the materials.

It's important to have an understanding of what a job should cost.  A lot of people are stating that $250 is a ridiculously low price for installing an HVAC unit.  This is obviously going to vary based on the type of unit.  If it's a through-the-wall PTAC, then $250 is not ridiculous at all to replace an existing unit.  That wouldn't take more than a few hours.  If it's a whole-home air handler and condenser, then clearly $250 is way too low.  The scope of work should state the type and size of the units being installed to avoid any confusion.  If you have a basic understanding of the work that is required, it will allow you to understand when a contractor's bid is unrealistically low.

Anyway - just my two cents.