All Forum Posts by: Petur Karlsson

Hey everyone! 

At this point, I've cast a wide net and still no luck finding an insurance broker to "add to my team", so to speak. My rehab insurance is running out, my investment property is almost rent-ready and my current insurance broker is being unresponsive. I need to find myself a great deal on landlord insurance, umbrella coverage and a platform to send my tenants to for renters insurance.

 Does anyone experienced here mind sharing with us how they went about finding their rock star go to insurance guy/gal? need inspiration and insights to help me get over this stumbling block. Am I better off connecting with the big names in the insurance industry (State Farm, Nationwide etc.) or is there true benefit in finding a local broker that will do the leg of the work for me comparing rates and such?

Any insights are very much appreciated, thank you so much!

@Michael Chang

What town in Bucks county? According to inspectors and officials in my town (also in Bucks), wet basements are very common due to the shallow bedrock and ground moisture.

I have water trickling from small cracks in the basement of my investment property, especially during rains obviously, but it never entirely floods the basement and a sump pump + dehumidifier combo take care of it all along with additional (simple) drainage we built that carries the water from the pump away from the building. We are about to do some repairs to the floor of the basement but our house is also built in 1910.

It may look like a big problem but it can also be easily manageable. Ask the neighbors if they have the same experience? I know the people around me are in the same shoes. Having someone experienced take a look will definitely give you "concrete" answers and peace of mind, however. I personally wouldn't touch anything with real foundation issues.

@Todd Silance

@Nathan G.

Thank you so much for the responses, Todd and Nathan. They are exactly what I needed to hear to feel comfortable using the forms.

Todd, would you mind sharing with us what those amendments were? That information might also be very helpful to rookies like myself and others who may stumble into this thread.

Hey everyone!

I'm nearing completion on my first rehab in Sellersville, Bucks county, PA, and already have someone asking to rent the property. 

I am going to use Rentredi to self manage the property but I need a lease agreement for the tenant. I've read through the 2020 Lease Agreement for Pennsylvania (provided through Bigger Pockets pro membership) several times and it seems perfect for the job! 

Who here has used the BP landlord documents for their tenants? Can you share your experience with us? The good and the bad please (+ tips & tricks if you have any).

I guess my biggest question is... Should I have a real estate attorney verify the legality of the BP lease agreement or am I safe to just go ahead and use it? (I'm assuming it's already verified by an RE attorney specializing in PA state laws)

Bonus points: If you have been using rentredi to manage your rentals, please share your experience and give us rookies tips & tricks if you've got them.

Thank you, community! I know I'm still just at the beginning point of my REI career, but without your support I would never have made it this far.

Hey, Josh! 

We live in Bucks county, PA, but my wife lived in Pittsburgh for 6 years (studied at University of Pitt) and it is one of the markets that we are very interested in expanding into. We are also friends with a local investor that owns multiple rental properties there.

Lets link up, we will be exploring Pittsburgh for our next deal after we finish our current rehab in the next couple of months.

Thank you so much for the input! I highly value your insights and caution.

I will definitely discuss this thoroughly with a local real estate attorney and maybe even my solar installer to get their perspective, I know they've worked on local commercial projects and they may have experience with real estate investors as well. 

My intention was to advertise the solar output as free and included in the rent, but charge a slight premium to the market rent for comparable properties and have the tenant pay any excess balance. I don't plan to necessarily profit from the panels, just pencil them out and enjoy the alternative energy credits, the cap-ex tax deduction and the higher property appraisal (this is an evolving concept for appraisers, but so far it's been common to appraise the panels for 10-15 years worth of electric output at market rate for kilowatt hours). I still need to verify if that would trigger the local government to consider me as a utility provider, as you said, and if so, what the implications will be.

On that note, I read that with Trump's new tax code, the panels fall into the 5 year cap-ex depreciation schedule so I can take a first year 100% deduction on the full price of the panels, minus 50% of the federal income tax break that I received. That means I'd get an 85% deduction on the full cost, multiplied by our highest federal and state tax brackets. 

@Tanya F. What's your experience with depreciation and local laws? Have you run into any problems with having the solar panels on your rental?

Nice! Is that an accurate amount compared to the output of the panels or are they netting cheaper living expenses as a result? 

Hello everyone! 

I'm set to convert my primary residence into a long term rental property. I installed solar panels on the roof back in August 2019 and over one year, the panels produced over 11 MW of electricity, minimizing our electric bills (ZERO for the summer and much lower for the winter). The internal rate of return is anywhere from 7 - 10%. 

My plan is to bake the electric output into the rent and have the tenant charge the difference, ie. whatever amount comes up on the utility bill. 

Do you have any experience with solar panels on a rental property? If so, what approach do you take? I'm actually interested in repeating this approach with future rentals, as I love to be environmentally friendly and imagine solar panels becoming more trendy in the future. 

If the government also returns to a policy of federal income tax breaks for the full ticket price for the solar panels, it could be a healthy fit to proactive tax planning as well. We got a 30% tax break for the cost of the system and I used a home equity loan to pay for it, thank you IRS for the free money! 

The panels also generate alternative energy credits, which utility companies pay for to offset their own emissions. I get 11 credits or so per year, which (in my state) cost anywhere from $25 - $50 each currently.

Another thing I'm wondering about; can I depreciate the panels over a set amount of time, considering they are being used for business purposes? If that's possible, installing solar panels on rentals is an amazing strategy, given that the roof is ideally angled and sloped. 

Thanks for reading, everyone, I appreciate any input to the discussion!

 Thank you very much for the response, Natalie!

I am a stay at home dad with no employment otherwise, so I don't have to cover more than 750 hours of real estate work to qualify for the real estate professional status. I am reading the book on advanced tax strategies, sold here in the bigger pockets library and written by Real Estate Expert CPA's, and the book states that I can do various real estate specific work NOT directly related to the rental property and STILL qualify the hours for the status, as long as at least 500 of those hours are directly connected to it. I'm surprised that you tell me this is incorrect, or am I misunderstanding what you are saying?

I am logging phone calls and emails to subcontractors, lenders, insurance agents, bookkeeping sessions related to my real estate (the one property), drives to and from the property for rehab work sessions (I have a home office so its going from Business location A to business location B) and more things that you could easily claim are related to my investment property. I have business meetings with my wife who is directly involved in the decision making for the property as well as my contractor who manages the rehab with me. You don't think those meetings qualify if they are always about the property? Discussing my property here on Bigger Pockets should also qualify for consultations directly related to the property or would you say that is a stretch? I've applied the information directly to it as a result.

Thanks again for your insightful response.

Mike and Michael, duly noted.

I had planned to have the back splash for the shower unit and bathtub tiled. Maybe I should indeed have both bathroom floors tiled, but again, I will see what comes from those bids. 

Porcelain will definitely be my material of choice for the back splash, and in subway style...? I hear that is a timeless design that works well for investment properties. Do you have any opinion on the tile design I should use for a long term rental?