All Forum Posts by: Peace Lily

@Thomas S. Thanks for you feedback. We are still exploring this. I agree with you. Eventually we would like to switch each of them pays the utilities by splitting the bills. The current situation is that each one’s lease starts at different time so it is hard to split overall expenses at a fair amount... if they all start and end at the same time, it will be good to just have them spit the expenses.

@Nathan G. Thank you Nathan! Great advice. I will look into that!

@Anthony Wick we rent out to students per individual room so it is easier for the rent to include all expenses.

@Nathan G.thank you. I heard this kind of manual timer could be stuck sometimes so the heater fan potentially last for a long time and it is less desirable than digital timer. Have you heard about that? Thank you!

@Kyle McKnett Thank you for your recommendation. I will look not that!

@Kyle McKnett   Thank you.  Wouldn't that cost more since the baseboard heater will be on at all times. The bathroom is not very cold since it is small and the heat does come in from the living room, but just needs a bit heat to take the chill out...  

Dear BP Members,

We installed a ceiling heater and exhaust fans for a small bathroom for our rental property. There is no heat source in the bathroom. That is why we took the suggestion from our contractor. However, we feel that the tenants (students) can keep the heat switch on for a while or forget to turn it off etc. Since we are paying the electricity, we are concerned that it may end up costly. We thought about setting the timer but the duration can still be as long as 30 min. It is a small bathroom and the heat can come in from the living room. All it needs is just a bit heat to take the chill out at times. Is there any other option to heat up a small bathroom without costing much on electricity?  Thank you!  

yes, the tenant said having laundry machines provided is the reason why he would like to stay. I told him if there is any problem I will always try to fix it. Another tenant mis used the dryer last time and I had my handyman fix it on the same day. Both washer and dryer are only one year old so in great condition. Then tenant also said if there is any odd chance he is no longer had access to the laundry machine, he would like me to compensate and drop the rent for certain amount on the laundromat, which I will no agree. I already offered him the same rent as last year.  

Dear BP Members,

On my Rental Lease Agreement, there is a clause, "if any, are used at Tenant's risk and cost. Instructions must be followed.  Landlord may stop their use at any time." 

My rent includes the use of laundry machines at free of charge. I rent the apartment per room basis (majority graduate/post doc students).  This tenant asked me to remove this clause before his lease renewal.  Do any other landlords have this clause on their lease for protection purpose? What should I address to the tenant? He has been a good tenant for the 1st year so far although he can be picky... 

Thank you very much for your advise in advance!    

@Jeff Onofrio @Diana Muresan Thank you all for the feedbacks and recommendations! It has been stressful and this process has been continuing. I hope it has to come into conclusions next week. These options are provided by mortgage brokers: Option 1. One bank will do 85% LTV with interest rate about 7.7% (what! Haven’t heard about such high interest rate recently!) then, I could refinance out of the loan after closing a few months later. *** I don’t like this option because it is such a high rate and what if I cannot get refinance out later for whatever unforeseen reasons? Option 2. Seller is willing to provide financing 5% of the loan. I’ve never done this before. I read articles and it has both pros and cons. My maximum of down now is really 10%, I came into this whole mortgage process being told I could do 3.5% down then long story short, I have been up to 10%. Now I have to go up to 15 or 20% down, it is just tiring. I could potentially borrow loan against my 401k to meet 15 or 20% down to get this house but that being said I would squeeze all cash to buy this house and may not have some cash cushions if I need to do any reno afterwards even though it would have decent cash flow. I am puzzled... My questions are: if I accept Seller financing eg. 5-10%, I wonder what the rate and other costs involved, and it could be high... compared to I may just borrow against my 401K so I pay myself interest and minImum cost Involed? Thank you all for your patience and taking time to answer!