All Forum Posts by: Michael Bowser

@Parker Dresser I never look up that way, thank you for correcting me. I always look in the greater Portland area so it always has its price tag.

I just bought a Duplex myself "House Hacked" in late 2015. I just remolded the side I was living in from top to bottom. new floors, paint, bathrooms, tile, doors, .. so on. If you plan to do it all yourself like I did. I would suggest that if you go with hardwood floors to go Click floors, they are extremely easy to put in and they look just as great!! Next (be Warned) If you go to war with your Bathroom it will fight back. The one place I ran into the most issues was the bathroom. Keep in mind it was nothing painful just gets frustrating when the old piping doesn't fit and you have to make 5 trips to home depot. I have now learned the hard way of how to avoid this going forward.

If I was to do it over, the only thing I would change would be (Nothing) It has come out great through the ups and down, and was a great learning experience. I would suggest finding someone who has done things before so you can nitpick their brain for knowledge and tips.

Good LUCK!

I could just give you a number of what I would pay. But what I will pay here in Maine to what you will pay will change. I mean here in Maine I could pay up to 700K for a nice 4 Unit, or on the low side 350K that could need work. Also depending on the location and how in demand that unit could be you could get more or less rent for the property which would instantly change the price you would want to pay or be willing to pay.

I would suggest to look into the market area you are looking at and compare all the rents that are up and find out what the value of each of those buildings are. I would also calculate all your expenses against the 40K you are bringing in, to make sure you net out where you want to be.

You don't want to be in over your head.

I could do two things with 250K - 1 Pay off all my debts and live comfortably then buy another Multi Unit with the lack of debt. OR (the option I would take) is to just buy 1-2 more apartment buildings as investment properties using the money for down payments to create a nice cash flow for steady income. Same thing with the $500K with the exception I would buy 3-4 buildings. All else equal would look at a NET Cash flow of 1K - 4K depending on location per month.

 I am one for future planning, not to put a temporary band aid on it for today.

Thank you! The Checklist is very well put together, and I definitely look forward to using it!

It is a possibility they were not installed correctly. I just put down new bamboo floors that click (Floating floor) and if there was not enough room on the edges of the room for the floor to expand and contract then it makes the floor buckle like that.

Fixing it - I personally never have fixed the problem before, but going off of what I said before. you might have to remove the trim and make sure the floor was laid out right.

Hope this helps.

Hello BP,

I have just bought my first Duplex back in December and I have almost finished remodeling the half I am going to move into. I am wondering if anyone has tips for me in regards to ways to keep budget, good landlord to renter tips, and best practices.

Thank you

Thank you! I just was unsure because you can right off "Office Space" in your house.

So I read somewhere it might be beneficial to rent from yourself because then you can right of more expenses? is this the case or does it not equal itself out because you are also collecting an income? Thoughts?

Thank you

Thank you for the clarification Patrick. I am still trying to understand the difference between what some right offs do for your taxes and what others do.  I.e some reduce the taxes you pay by lowering your income, some just remove the taxes you have to pay.