All Forum Posts by: Rumen Mladenov

I guess the "fix-it" spray refers to Nu Calgon's Easy Seal. It supposedly works for very small leaks but not for bigger ones. There is also the concern that it may gum up the metering device, which is probably what the "jacked up" comment refers to. I would only use it as a temporary solution on a system that is on its last leg, to get a few weeks/months of service out of it until I am ready to replace it. 

Short in the system is a concern though, it is usually not just shorted wires. It could be a number of things, the worst of which is a short in the compressor which would require it to be replaced as well ($$$). 

$1,400 does not sound terribly high for a proper repair - replacing the evap coil, flushing the system, pressure testing, evacuating and charging it, AND fixing whatever the short is. However, if that unit is as old as the home (10 years), it may make more sense to just replace the entire system. 

It's expensive, I know. So expensive that at some point I got fed up, signed up for a HVAC training in the local vo-tech, and got EPA certified. The first system I replaced myself more than paid for all the training costs I incurred :)

How many properties do you have, @Bethany Peysen? I guess your method works well for a couple, but I imagine it would be a nightmare once you have more than a dozen. 

I use a business credit card that requires a PO number to be entered every time I swipe it. I just put the respective property address as a PO, and that helps me keep track of it. I also get some cash back, which you probably don't with a debit card. 1-2% does not seem like much, but it adds up. 

I got one for $25,199. Back at the bottom of the crash of 2010-2012, when the properties in that neighborhood were going for as low as $50,000 each. It was listed on Auction.com in a weird format, no time limit/first acceptable offer. As soon as I saw it listed, someone had it under contract for $24,000. I put a back-up offer just in case, and 2 days later got an email asking me if the back-up offer was still valid. Of course it was!

Renovation was about 20k, and it's been rented for the past 10 years for over $1,000 a month. Now those townhouses are selling for about 150-180k depending on condition.

I was in the same boat at some point. Couldn't qualify for any more rental property loans due to the weird way they calculated my DTI. I ended up buying one in my wife's name, I mean my wife bought one because she is not on any of my mortgages and her DTI was fantastic. After that I moved on to DSCR loans from a local credit union, and have never had an issue since - the rates are a bit higher and are not fixed for 15-30 years, but I know that as soon as I get the property fixed up and rented out, I would be able to BRRR and pull my money out.

My wife still owns that property btw, and it's performing very well for her. It's almost paid off - 12 years into a 15 year mortgage. Consistently cash flowed for those 12 years. I always semi-joke that if I get sued and lose everything, at least we'll have that property to fall back on. 

@Natalie Schanne Something doesn't add up. A rotten flange can cause raw sewage to get into the basement, water damage and what not, but it should have zero effect on the water bill. The actual water consumption would be the same whether all of the flush goes in the sewer, or some of it in the basement... There were probably issues other than that causing the high bill. 

@Michael Lynch Joe is trying to stress the power of compounding. If you have a dollar and double it every year for 30 years, you will end up with 1,073,751,824 dollars. 

My approach is very similar to @John Underwood. Only two differences - I do my own taxes, and at some point I switched from a spreadsheet to Quickbooks. Spreadsheets worked well enough for 5-10 properties, beyond that they become cumbersome. 

I use the desktop version of QB, not QBO. Takes a while to initially set it up, but once everything is set up it is quite convenient. 

Yeah, that is a tricky one. A while ago one of the big banks I applied with asked me that question, and I answered that I planned to use the funds to buy my next rental property. Application denied. I told them I changed my mind and will actually blow it all on a fancy vacation, since apparently they think this is a better way to spend the home equity... Still got denied because they already knew I planned to invest it :(

Anyway, moved on to smaller banks and credit unions, and they have no problem with this. +1 for PenFed, you can qualify even if you're not military by making a one time donation to a related charity. They have great auto loans too, I planned to buy a car cash but figured I'd rather use the cash for real estate investments and get an auto loan with rate way below my HELOCs. As a side bonus, my credit score went up - apparently having that auto loan on my credit improved my credit mix (a bunch of real estate loans and zero balance credit cards with no installment loans is bad apparently). 

If your rental market is as hot as mine, you may consider looking for a tenant willing to do a lot of the finishing touches themselves, possibly for some kind of break on the first month's rent. Painting, cleaning up, etc - stuff that takes a lot of time but doesn't require specialized skills, and even if done poorly would not cause serious damage. People are willing to make a lot of compromises when they've been looking for 8+ months for rentals in their price range with no luck...

Not sure how they do it in Florida but in my county in Delaware, you can look up prior year's tax bill on any property by entering the address in the County web site. It also tells you if the taxes are paid up or delinquent. Check your County web site.