All Forum Posts by: Michelle Tucker

Thank you to all who replied- Really helpful advice- I am in discussions now with the tenants- Will update asap. 

Thanks to all for your feedback- I will look into the standards in the area- This is a new venture so alot to learn. 

Seeking advice- We just started renting out a duplex and the tenants are responsible for utilities- Including water and sewer. There is no way to assign these accounts to the tenants directly so -the water and sewer will remain in our name - Any advice on how to appropriately charge back to the two tenants in a equitable fashion?

One tenant is a family of 5 in a 4 bed and one tenant is a single person in a 2 bed.

Appreciate any methodology that has worked for anyone with a similar situation? The prior owner used the duplex for her business so she had no precedent for this-

Thank you in advance! 

Quick question- When I run a report, the annualized returns seem to rise and then diminish over time-  Can anyone explain why this happens? Thank you! I am sure there is a simple explanation!

I’m in Ohio but the transaction and my partner is in PA. We are both repped by the same agency actually~ the sellers have an agent as do we- I appreciate the guidance- not sure it’s worth the money to go to court... just seems wrong - the sellers don’t have a legal leg to stand on- yet through this process they may get some money they don’t have a right to...

Sorry Greg- Definitely meant hand money- or earnest money- the money is being held by the agency in escrow- Basically the money that indicated we were interested. No implication that it was theirs- and I was assured over and over by my agent that we were able to terminate for the issues we cited and that there was no risk of losing that money- thanks in advance for your thoughts

Would greatly appreciate some advice. My partner and I put an offer in on a house in Pittsburgh. We terminated the contract within the timeframe based on electrical and heating issues that were found in the inspection. We followed the letter of the contract but the sellers have now requested mediation. We had been so certain that we wanted the house, that we put 5k down as hand money- which was above what was needed.  Though the mediation clause was clear in the contract, I can't wrap my head around potentially losing any of those funds - From my understanding of mediation, the goal is to 'reach some agreement' - regardless of the actual scenario that has taken place- in other words, the facts. 

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi Jonathan- Just ran across your post as I have been trying to find my way to understand more about zoning in the South Side Flats area of Pittsburgh- I am currently looking to purchase a SFH that the current owners have been operating as a duplex for over 13 years. They do not have a certificate of occupancy and are unwilling to get one- The property is currently only occupied with one tenant- (sellers said other tenant moved out when they decided to put on the mkt).

Just wondered if you had any advice on working through this type of conversion in Pittsburgh- you mentioned having been successful with duplex conversions?

Really appreciate any guidance as the zoning board / license office has been difficult to get straight information from. Thanks in advance-

Thanks again Taylor- Been trying to get the sellers to acknowledge the issue- but they seem to feel that they operated under the radar for 13 years.. so why wouldn't we- Will keep trying to get more information from the city- not easy! 

Thanks Taylor- We have called and found the zoning is for a single family- I am being told that it is possible to get the property listed as a non conforming property -  But I am skeptical about the process and how likely it would be to actually happen. 

The purchase makes sense only if we can have 2 units being rented. I am about to walk away from the deal but wanted to see if anyone had experience working with this type of situation in the Southside flats area?