All Forum Posts by: Ryan Scott Isacksen

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/11/02/editorial-r...

Hi Kevin,

I work with properties in Oakland and Berkeley.  The advantage of this area is the *incredibly low vacancy rate* that a property will have (as long as you aren't overly ambitious with your rent).  The problem is going to be that you will have tenants that may be entrenched for most of their life in an apartment. 

Do the numbers on your property you are looking at and make sure that it works where it currently stands. When you are fortunate to have a long-term tenant move out, then you will need to plan on spending a chunk on a turnover to update the apartment to make it attractive enough to command market rent.

Your vacancy rate will be the amount of time it takes you to get your unit ready.

The politics in the area is rather anti-landlord.  That discourages development so it is going to remain a low supply market for some time.  Count on the city to come up with new fees to tack onto you here and there.

Good luck. 

I don't know about your area, but you may want to add something to craigslist as well.  That is -the- source of apartment listings where I am at.

Looking at a map with Cincinnati apartments I do not see a listing for anything listed in that town.  
http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/search/apa

I agree with Martin on the price being a very good one if it is a full system.  
The repair on a single part of the system is over 25% of the cost to replace.  
The tenant in the place will have to call you less, you won't have to worry about it for some time, and if you sell/refinance, a relatively new HVAC system will not be a turn off to a lender/buyer.

Also, make sure to have the filter on your system changed / cleaned once a year.  Dirty filters can kill a system.

There should be a note from a doctor that the animal is a service animal.  

You may not be obligated to provide that accommodation depending on the type of unit.
A single family home that you are renting out yourself would not be required to allow the service animal.

This is what the humane society has to say about the question:
http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tip...

I have a packet near my desk from a moisture control company in my area that at least has some information that can help out in addition to the great advice everyone has contributed.  This info may help in coming up with the solution that works for you.

http://bayareamoisturecontrol.com/crawl-space-encapsulation

I wanted to share with the community some low cost added security you can put into your rentals (or even your own home).  I received this recommendation from an insurance company for a set of properties the management company I work for helps take care of.

This is a device that hangs over a vent hood and has sort of a fuse that a stove top fire will set off to drop fire suppressant and protect both your property and people inside.  You may be able to get a discount on your insurance with them too.

A few options out there are:

• Stovetop Firestop (http://www.stovetopfirestop.com/) - available from HD supply
• Auto-Out (http://auto-out.com/) - sells direct
• SmartX (http://www.smartx.net/html/how_it_works_the__smartx_autom.html)

Hope this info helps someone.

Hello Biggerpockets Community.

My wife and I live in the East bay in Northern California.  I have about 10 years of property management experience working with condos and aparments.

I have done a bit of studying market cycles and am working on putting everything in place for my first multi-unit investment.  I'll probably have some questions related to that.

People with questions related to management or repairs are welcome to messahe me as a resource that may be able to provide some advice.

-Scott

I understand some lenders want 'seasoned' funds.  Does heloc cout as that from the point you take it out?

I am working on finding a lender to be sure I am looking at properties within my reach.

Thank you for any info.