All Forum Posts by: Chan K.

@Tim Johnson For now, I am not asking them for refin, I am asking them for 2nd mortgage more or private loan. Literally, leaving the first/current mortgage untouched, but lending me xxx amount on the side at 5% and 15-30 years fixed rate. 

Hello Everyone,

A private lender is offering a home equity loan on my old single family residence.

I am assuming he will put a lien on it with a 2nd position, correct?

It is 5% and 15 years term

What kind of information am I expecting him/them to ask me for?

FYI: The lender is out of state. I found him through a landlord connect page/group.

I never done something like this before.  

So in general, what should I watch out for or should keep an eye out for?

Any scary scam story about private lending out there .......

Hello Experience Landlord,

So I bought a mixed used property, 3-plex and 1-commercial space. 

The commercial space used to be a business, and it is closed permanently.

The commercial space has two bathrooms and no kitchen/sink.

Discussion:

- I would like to convert it into a studio (residential unit). So practically, I want to convert one of the bathrooms into a shower, and break the wall between the two bathrooms. I also want to put a stove, refrigerator, and sink in there. So, it will become a complete studio. 

Ideally, I can break the wall, add the sink, and bring in the stove/refrigerator in there. 

My question:

1) Do I need to get a permit from the town or/and notify the town development department?

2) Can I do the above myself or I have to hire a license contractor?

3) Would it be possible for me to do everything without discussing it with the town (pretty much not pulling the permit or discussing this change with the town.. etc)?

I just want to know your thought on this, and to see if anyone had done something like this before.

Thanks ahead of time

@Joe Splitrock I agreed with you on some of these plumbers. They are a bad car mechanic. 

Yeah, I don't know where they got the idea from. Landlord is a tough job with little to no pay besides the principle pay down.

@Sam Shueh a second opinion is good for big size project. For a multifamily landlord, it can be cumbersome with coordinating and all. 

Some update here guy: 

So the company sent the plumber back. He spent about 2-3 hours re-configured the pipe. It turned out that the pipe he found to be an issue is a gas pipe. I have not got the bill yet, but it is a piece of mind. I guess I will keep an eye out to see if something like this will happen all the time with this company (finding an additional issue to fix constantly). 

@Robert S. thanks Robert for the information and clarification. That makes me feel better. Initially, I was afraid that if they show up, and they found something else is out of code, that would be bad. It is like open up a can of worm especially in the old building. 

@Dennis M. I did not cancel the appointment. I will see how this will play out. I used this company in the past. Last job, they fixed a gas leak, and they brought in a city inspector to inspect the work. They were in there for 2 days, and cost me about $700 ish. 

@Karen O. the property located in Central Ma. Yeah, most houses there are old. I believe it would be grandfather in. This is why I am OK let them in to see how this would play out. I can also call it off as it is in the basement. I don't believe it is anything to do with lead pipe. It sound like a pipe configuration that is out of code. 

@Thomas S. This company is strange. I used them in the past, and they always call the inspector to come in after all the pipe work. It ends up costing me more due to this, because they have to wait for the inspector.. etc. I should consider using other company in the future. 

@Matt A. I don't believe this is a union town. Plumber related to the inspector, who knew... Yeah, I agreed. code "violations" are daily occurrence, this is so true with old house. 

@Michael Noto Apart of me, I think the company/worker tried to get more money. Apart of me can't ignore it that I knew this. I wish he never brought it up, and understand that the code is out of date and can be grandfather in. 

@Joe Splitrock This is the reason why I did not cancel the appointment and to see how this would play out. I am planning on calling them back when they are back onsite tomorrow to get the quote. Worse case, I can order the work to stop if it takes more than 1-2 days. This might cost me up to $1k or so assuming $65/hour. 

@Robert S.I think that might only work when they bit out for a project. In case of the service call, I don't think plumber company would do that. Either you fix it or not.

@Evan Hooks I am planning on calling the company and asking them to let me talk to the plumber once he is onsite. I will tell them to tell me how much first before they start the work. In any event, I can just pay them for the 1-hour that they show up to give me the quote. This can also be the company bad practice or employee bad practice, where they always try to find something wrong and ask to fix it. It is like taking your car to a bad mechanic.

@John Clark From listening to everyone, it sounds like they need to give me a quote before the work can be started. Right before this discussion, I did not know about the concept of grandfather in. I was afraid that if I ignore his finding, he would report me to the city, then it would cost more complication. I think I will call them tomorrow to ask more details about the code violation and the cost to fix it. This is why I did not cancel the appointment, because I want to see how it would play out. If it is only costing a few hundreds, then I am OK with it. From listening to everyone comment, it sounds like I need to press for quote and details on the code violation. At this point, came to think of it, I don't know if it is a gas pipe or water pipe.

@Drew Dillon you might be correct. Either the company or the worker does sound like a bad mechanic or a salesmen. This is why I have to press them for a quote before they start working tomorrow. 

Overall, it sound like I need a new plumbing company. If they have to call an inspector to come see their working every time they touch a plumbing work, it can become costly just on the wait time. This could be bs or could be legit. It is hard to tell... I am willing to let them go through with it if it only costs me a few hundred bucks. But it sounds like I need to press them for the quote and the details of code violation.

@Mary M. Mary, I am a member of the local landlord association. Yeah, I do ask and get referral from them. It is a miss and hit sometime. Thanks for mentioning it

@Robert S. Yeah Robert, thanks for the reference document. This is what I am afraid of, open up a can of worm. I am not remodeling - just a pipe leak fix, hopefully whatever they find after this one encounter, I don't have to go through with it even with the inspector tagging along (even if it is not up to code, it should be grandfather in, old house ...etc)

@Kate J. I agreed. Some handyman people are great. Very honest and straight forward. I experienced that as well. Some licence contractor/local plumber (have sticky fingers). I can see the problem, because we are not interviewing them. The plumber company is the one that is hiring them, and the worker does not seem to care about the relationship. As for the handyman people, they are more incentive to be straight, because they work for us directly. Literally, I enjoy working with handyman people than local company. 

@Max T. I will look up the sensor. Feel free to drop the exact name here if you came across it. 

Yeah, I have to do a good job labeling my shut off knob. With the multifamily, there are so many knobs. 

@Robert Biggerstaff I will see if I can find other landlords in the town. It is not a simple way to do though.... I can randomly walk into the building, but none of them would put their contact information in the hallway.

@Matthew Paul thanks Matt for clarifying this. Yeah, I am not doing any remodeling. I called this guy initially to fix one of the leaky pipe. 

@Tim Johnson so Tim, I called the company to fix a sudden pipe leak, then the plumber found this non-compliance code pipe adjacent to the pipe that he came to fix. I tried to ask the help desk lady for the price, but she was vague about it, and won't be able to give it to me until they start fixing it. 

@Matthew PaulI told them I bought the house like this. I was implying that all the pipe under the wall was unknown to me. Those pipes probably should be grandfather in. I agreed with your conclusion on the code. It is an old house as new laws /coded are derived, old house is getting out of sync. Yeah let's hope it does not cost 10k

@Robert Biggerstaff, @Thomas S., @Dennis M. 

This is the exact feeling I was getting (fire him or never let him in again, but I already have an appointment with the company to come back this Friday). That is why I discussing it here.

I am also kind like curious to see how this will play out. If it costs me a few hundreds, and the inspector comes by and check it off, then I would be fine with it. I don't want to know about it and not doing anything about it. Then if it is gas and something ended happening to the building/tenant, this can be really bad outcome if I ignore it. 

What I am afraid off is that .. it is an old house .. inspector is coming by and he would see other violation things behind the wall .. who knew what else he will find or chase for when he is in there..

Like this guy he came to fix a leak and saw other pipe adjacent to it ... and he evaluated that to be out of code without my asking .....

@Mike McCarthy yeah it is an old house, everything can be out of code. Whenever the trouble non-payment tenant called the board of health, little thing is non-compliance.