All Forum Posts by: Matt T.

Jon, do you mean on the line immediately leaving the water heater? The idea is that this would mix hot and cold early in the line so that all faucets and showers would remain at a certain temperature? Is this a pretty straight forward installation?

All water lines in this house are embedded in thick iron reenforced masonry walls, and digging into them to change the actual bathtub valve, especially while the tenants are living there would be really difficult?

In any case, the consensus here is that I can't address this will a form or a letter; I've got to actually make the water safe?

Thanks for all the responses.

I've got a young couple living in a SFH built in the 1940s. Many of the walls in the house are masonry, so replacing plumbing is prohibitive. The bathtub has the old style valves—one for hot and one for cold, and there's no limiter on the hot water.

Anyhow, these tenants are having a baby soon and I wonder how I might protect the tenants from accidentally letting the baby get scaulded, and also protect myself from any lawsuites resulitng from scaulding water.

Does anyone have any ideas? Should I just send them a letter, stipulating that the hot water heater be kept low, etc?

I ask because, years ago, a poster here wrote about how, in one of his houses, a grandmother bathing an infant had left the room and the infant/toddler had been able to turn the hot water on. This resulted in significant burns to the child and a lawsuit for the landlord. I don't know how it turned out in the end.

Thanks.

Thanks, you guys.

Thanks, everyone.

I'm only meeting the wife, and am hoping not to drive out there (one hour) a second time to get the husband's signature on a rider.

Any advice on how to write a rider that simply states that they are responsible for the place as of tomorrow, though the contract starts them on the 21st? And does it seem reasonable to just get the wife's signature?

I've just collected the first month, the deposit, and the pro-rated rent for the remaining days of August on my first rental.

Tomorrow I do the walkthrough with the wife (tenants are husband and wife).

The contract states that the lease starts on August 21, but I would just like to give the keys to the wife tomorrow--the 16th.

If I do that, do I need to have her amend the contract in some way? Or do I need to create a special document just for this purpose?

The place is vacant and I'd rather they were in there than leave the place vacant.

To make matters a bit more muddy, I let slip the statement that "I'll probably give you the keys a couple days early so you can start moving in" when we signed the contract a week ago.

This, I think, is Jon's point about zero appreciation. At 4%, money loses half its value every 18 years. So doubling in price every 20 years is effectively zero increase in value.

NY Times article about corporations buying up huge bundles of houses with the intention of renting them all out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/business/investors-are-looking-to-buy-homes-by-the-thousands.html

Thanks, all.

Looking forward to responses. Trulia's estimates are higher than Zillow's in my area. I wonder it that will be the trend around the country.

I'm just starting out and am in the process of closing on a SFH in California's central valley.

I’m reading the NOLO “Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide” and have a question about net operating losses and the $25K offset.

Importantly, we live in California and my wife and I make more than 150K/year.

As I understand it, because we make more than 150K/year, we won’t be able to take advantage of any net operating losses we have on paper. Is this correct?

I saw a reference on another forum (it was not credibly cited) that suggested that if you can’t take advantage of the 25K offset, then you can add any losses back into the building’s cost basis? Is there any truth to this?

So, to sum up, I’m wondering if there is any benefit for those of us living in high-income areas (I’m not rich—I’m a high school teacher) to show a net operating loss on paper?

Thanks.