All Forum Posts by: Samantha Klein

You need to set an amount that the PM can use for repairs before you have to approve. I self manage but mine would be $100. Anything over that would require my approval. If your just starting out, I'd suggest you take over the management and start making money.

@Daniel Hyman Thank you for the reply. I have contacted him and he says he will comply and come pick it up from me to fill out. I will be forwarding all of my future W-9s to my CPA from now on for the file. 

I have texted him and heard nothing back. Would my next move be a certified letter to his address? That way it's documented that I tried to get him to comply? I can still 1099 him without his SSN but I heard the IRS frowns upon that. 

I hired a contractor back in October and he did some work for me on multiple properties to the tune of around 4k. I had him fill out a W-9 tax form. I recently had to fire him due to his quality of work lowered and he was unreliable. I can't seem to find the W-9 form I had him fill out. I have his name and address, but not his SSN. What are my options if I cannot locate the W-9? I could ask him to fill it out again but not sure how cooperative he'll be since we did not end our relationship on good terms.

I would use B or C. I used Lifeproof from Home depot on a recent remodel and was very impressed.

I've had a frozen washer drain and lines coming into the same building froze along with the water meter. I wasn't prepared like I should have been. I unthawed the frozen supply lines and heat taped them all. It was -15 the next day and they didn't freeze. I have 6 properties and only had trouble with one of them.

I'm in the exact same situation. The drain is frozen and my tenants are completely understanding about it and have been using the laundrymat in town. Unless you can get the drain unfrozen and keep it that way, using the laundrymat for a couple loads doesn't seem unreasonable to me. You could offer $20 off rent for the inconvenience. We're getting hit pretty hard with this stretch of cold weather.

How well are the pipes insulated? I had pipes in a basement freeze a few days ago that only had foam insulation on them. I unthawed the frozen section and added heat tape to all of them. It was around 0 that day and they had froze and the next day it was -15 and they were fine with the heat tape keeping them warm.

You've gotten advice from people on both sides on this and I'll join the 30 year side ...I am trying to build a portfolio of 15 leveraged properties within 10 years...if I got 15 year mortgages with higher payments it would take me much longer to save more for the down payments and ultimately would lose alot of opportunity and time. It sounds nice thinking you might save interest go with a shorter term but all your really doing is holding yourself back from growing. If you happen to be found negligent in some manner down the road, a lawyer is going to love that you have paid off property, but if you had high debt and still cash flow well, you would not be a likely target. Let's say you pay off the mortgage and own a 100k property free and clear, your payment lets say for easy math was $500 a month. You are now keeping $500 more in your pocket each month which sounds nice but your forgetting that you have 100k sitting in dead equity that could've been deployed for more rentals earning anywhere from 12-25% or more with leverage. If you are OK with building wealth slowly then the plan works fine but it will hinder your growth with higher payments.

I used Lifeproof vinyl plank in my last rental rehab and am glad I did! I had a 2nd floor shower drain leak and water coming through the ceiling and puddle on the living room floor but the flooring held up very well and there was no damage. It paid for itself right there. Also, a little tip for your guys installing the Lifeproof, it is much easier to cut with a utility knife if you use a heat gun to heat up where you're making the cut, it slices much easier.