All Forum Posts by: Michael Karl

@Brandon V. @Hank Silva the way the building codes are written are sometimes difficult to read but @Jim Adrian is correct, it is a clear opening, so the easiest way to accomplish this with the current opening you have would be put a single opening window such as a single casement window.  The code actually has a lot of different requirements such as minimum height of the window(24") and minimum width of the window(20"), there is also requirements on the distance the window can be from the floor and all this could be different if your local building department has a different requirement. 

As far as the attic supporting weight this is something you will probably need to have an engineer look at, your local building department will be able to refer you to different people for this task as they are going to require you to prove it can support the weight before you are approved to start the project. 

Your question regarding the slope of the roof line which will become your ceiling area,  are you talking about a 12x12 pitch or something not quite that steep? You have a few different things to consider, I believe the rule is once the ceiling is less then 5ft you can not count the square footage as part of the bedroom and you need a minimum of 70sq ft for the room to be a legal bedroom

@Shane Dunlap, I don't think you need to get too technical here, I would just word the lease as to say "the garage space located on 123 Main St"  you may want to add some wordage saying something along the lines of the lease is for access and usage of the garage area only and does not grant the tenant access to the living area of either 123 main st or 125 main st.  

@Emily Poplawski, are you house hacking and renting out rooms in a single family home, or are you house hacking one unit in a multi unit property?  if it is a single family I would say that you would be able to not claim the depreciation and avoid the gains later.   But if it is a multi unit property you will have to claim the depreciation, I am not a tax expert by any means but this is how it has been explained to me from my accountant.  With a multifamily property, even if you live in one unit you are still using a portion of the property as a rental, even if you decide not to claim the depreciation on the other units, it will still be charged back to you when you decide to sell the property.

@John D. the cost of removal is going to be very location specific,  seeing that you are in PA and the property is in NJ I would assume it is something you are not going to tackle yourself, even though you are posting in the DIY forum.  If I was doing the work myself in my area you can get a dumpster for concrete waste for $250-$300  and rent a Bobcat or mini excavator for a weekend for $500-$1000.  but that is only for the removal.

your best option would be to contact a few concrete and request pricing for the new work with removal included.  as for pricing it is also very location specific and I cant help you with guessing on that.  But you are also correct to assume that this project gets more difficult as the weather gets colder,  if you can put it off till spring do that.  But if it need to addressed now they concrete companies do have additives that can be added to the concrete for working in colder weather, I don't know much about it because I have not needed to use it before but I do know it is an option.

As for the option of just removing it and planting grass, if I was in your shoes I would stay away from this option for a few reasons.  First if your current tenants are accustom to having this space for parking, this could be a negative in their opinion and they could decide not to renew when that time comes.  Second thing to consider is if you plant grass in this area its that much more green space you will need to account for during the summer months possible increasing your lawn maintenance costs.

@Preston Rhone you have some good advice already in here, @Account Closed is correct make sure you read every word of the warranty, many companies put in a clause for commercial or rental applications.  The quality of rental you have and the quality tenant you are looking for also should be considered.   The most durable flooring might be your best option.  You need to know your market and figure out if the price increase for the higher end flooring will allow you to charge more for rent.  Something to remember with rental property is you don't need to spend extra money to make the house meet your taste unless you plan on living there at some point, what you need to do is figure out what will give you the most bang for our buck.

@Niyi Adewole  have you attempted to contact your water supply company? not sure how it works in your are but where I live water is supplied by a county authority, and I can contact them to have water service changed from on meter to multiple meters.  there is a fee per meter and you will either need to do the reworking of the piping or hire a plumber to install it.

well I am not a tax expert by any means but I have had a similar conversation with my accountant recently.  If your only reason for the out of town travel is for looking at property, document any realtor you met with and any properties you looked at and you can write off all of the travel.  If you are traveling for another reason like a vacation and you are just looking at property casually, I would keep track of how much time you spend looking at the properties and give that info to you accountant and they can determine what percent of the trip can be written off.

@Wilson Churchill, the only difference between refrigeration tubing and plumbing tubing is the way the pipe is listed in sizing, refrigeration tubing is measured in OD and plumbing is measured in ID  so your standard 3/4" plumbing tubing is 7/8" refrigeration tubing.  it is literally the same pipe just listed different.  So what you are saying is 3/4" OD would be a 5/8" plumbing fitting.  you may have to find a local plumbing supply house for a 5/8" shut off.

@Art Maydan there is a lot of good advise on here for you to choose from, I do agree that you need to find someone that can help you get a little more familiar with construction and building materials.   I have a question regarding the "after" picture who is the paper on the front of the drywall ripped so much and why are the holes so big if you just used the anchors that came with the shelving brackets.  it seems like something else went wrong when that shelf fell.  You also mentioned that this is a duplex, I am assuming you are living in one side and renting the other?  if this is the case you should go over to the other unit and remove the shelving until you can properly install them, the last thing you want is something to fall on a tenant and you end up with an injury.

@Joe Lee, if you have created the LLC and transferred ownership from yourself personally into the name of the LLC you should have the tenants sign a new contract. You can keep them month to month if you so choose, you do not need to have them sign a long term lease, but I would have a new rental agreement signed. Think about why you have created the LLC in the first place, for legal protection right? If someone gets hurt on your property and you are named on the lease agreement not the company they can go after you personally.

As far as your side question,  if you are comfortable accepting cash from your tenants I would recommend getting a receipt book and keep a copy for yourself and issue a copy to the tenant.