All Forum Posts by: Meredith Mihm

@Al H., Thanks for the reply! I just heard an ad for a water submetering company on the newest bigger pockets podcast this morning-- I will look into it.  The electric can't be put in the tenants name because it's not split.  The trash is a dumpster, and I'm not sure about the cost yet (we just threw $100/month in as an estimate.  If we don't end up submetering the electric, I think a utility fee will make more sense than submetering the other things, because we'll be able to recover more of the cost that way.  But ideally, we can submeter everything. 

We're quite close to making an offer on a 6-plex where owner pays ALL utilities.  It is not common in the area for utilities to be included, and all units are under market rent.  The building is 100+ years old, so I assume that the cost of splitting the electric/gas/water would be astronomical.  There are lots of people saying that only novices buy properties where utilities are not split... and that has me a bit scared.  I'd like to implement RUBS (ratio utility billing system) for electric/water/trash, but it's illegal for electric in my area. so that leaves me with either the expense of paying the electric bill, again, assuming that the cost to rewire separately is prohibitive. 

Semi-conservative analysis puts cash flow at $272 as-is (including property management). 

Should I: 

1. NOT buy it

2. Plan to implement RUBS

3. Plan to add a utility fee 

4. Plan to spend the rehab money on splitting electrical (possibly instead of adding an attic apartment)   ...

or some other solution that I haven't thought of?   Thanks in advance! 

@Paul Cox, that helps a lot-- thanks so much! As it turns out, we jumped the gun a bit-- there are only 60 vacation rental licenses for the whole town of Duluth. I suppose those "too good to be true" deals often are just that. 

Now it's time to start educating ourselves about STRs! 

John Underwood, yes, good stuff.  Also wondering about cleaning expenses  and management costs (compared to yearly rentals-- still 10%ish??)...

We're on vacation here in Duluth this week, and we're tempted to look at a couple of places. We're totally new to vacation rentals, so I'm  not even sure how to run numbers. Any perspective is appreciated! 

@Lynette E., yes, I've been thinking about extra friends/family members. I will have to be very clear about that in the lease. Great advice about soap, outlets, etc.-- thanks! 

I Know this will be controversial... I'm considering renting to applicants who I'm relatively sure are not here legally. They have lived in the same place (in the US) for the last 7 years, and have an employer that can verify income. I haven't talked to their previous landlord yet, but I'm seriously considering renting to them if their previous landlord vouches for them. I realize that this is a risk, and I've been combing through the forum posts on this topic.  My feeling is that anyone who would leave everything familiar behind to come to a new place must be brave, ambitious, and goal-oriented, and I've read lots of good stories. I have yet to find anyone who actually did have bad experiences with illegal immigrants. So I just thought I'd ask: how many of is have taken this risk and been burned by it?? Thanks! 

Amazing, thanks for sharing this! 

We just finished our first total gut renovation, and I'm in the process of listing it for rent (it's a BRRR). While I think facebook marketplace is probably the best place to market it in our area, I started with a cozy listing. I'd love to have your input on the pictures, wording, and any other advice for this about-to-become landlord!

Here it is-- thanks! https://home.cozy.co/apply/#!/...

That helps so much, thanks. I would have overestimated. Sounds like you are doing well there. Is there a bad part of town? Anything else to watch out for?