All Forum Posts by: Sasha Fukuda

So, I have a triplex rental property in Keene, New Hampshire that has a unit on each floor. I got woken up at 3:30 am this morning by a phone call from the second floor tenant. Apparently the 3rd floor tenant left the water on and a sink overflowed. The water seeped thru her floors and into the 2nd floor unit, destroying a lot of their personal possessions and damaging the property. Luckily, the 3rd floor tenant has tenant insurance (i think they both do). I'm pretty sure that my own insurance won't cover damage done by a tenant. I'm just wondering what else i have to do today/ tomorrow. It's been really difficult to find contractors. I think everyone is booked out way in advance these days, and i don't have anyone i regularly go to. It took me half a year to get quotes to get a shower replaced and i still don't have it under contract, so i kind of dread having to find people to help me with this. Additionally, i'm not sure what has to be done. It sounds like the ceiling panels are soaked, carpeting is soaked. I don't know what else. Has anyone gone thru this before, or have any advice?

It sounds like you would recommend hiring a pro. I've never done that before. It's an old building that was owned by a slumlord and there are a lot of pets living there. I was afraid that a pro would either use harmful chemicals that would hurt the pets or that they'd simply be unable to seal the building to keep mice out in the future. But perhaps the pros are better than I realized.

I have a four unit building and i was told by one of the tenants that she recently got a mouse infestation. I asked the previous property manager and she said that it happens every year, and that since the property is right by a mountain/ woods and mice are prominent in the area there's not much that can be done. Relatives have told me that it's a common problem just in general, as mice enter houses during the winter to get out of the cold. I was thinking of telling the tenant to put out mouse traps with peanut butter, and of me doing the same in common areas like the basement, but i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions? How do you deal with this problem?

Wow, it's so weird to look back on this post i started years ago. Well, if anyone's curious for an update, I'm about to turn 39 this month. I'm still single, living with my mom, and working in the same industry (although i'm working more hours now and am probably closer to $45k/ year). I got out of crypto and bonds a long time ago. I currently have index funds/ etfs, individual stocks that my grandfather gave me a long time ago and which would incur taxes were i to sell them, and 3 local, small multi family investment properties that i manage myself. My net worth is currently more than triple what it was back then, which i guess is a testament to the power of time, consistency, and the happenstance of investing before the current run up in stock market and housing prices. I still have no idea how to meet women and i still question my decision to remain in my job field sometimes. It’s not high earning, and maybe not the greatest fit from a passion or personality perspective, but it’s not bad either. It’s easy, relatively entertaining, i like my coworkers, and the pay has improved. I’m kind of the living stereotype of someone that’s profoundly mediocre, but saves more than he earns and invests the difference over a period spanning years. I think that some people would look at that and find it impressive, while others would find me pathetic.

If she wasnt paying, then I would have started eviction already, and this would all be a lot more straightforward. But she actually is paying every month. She's just doing it late. She always pays the late fee and I think she's doing her best. I just worry that she wont be able to sustain it. 

So, i bought a property not that long ago. I'd heard that it had good tenants, so i viewed it as a positive that i inherited the existing tenants. There's just one problem. One of the tenants has had trouble finding work recently. It's somewhat related to covid in that she writes grants for a living, and the economic insecurity of covid has made people more reluctant to donate to charities i guess. She said something like that anyway. She's just not able to find any work in her specialty in this small city in New Hampshire. She also isn't able to get an unskilled job that requires lifting heavy objects, working on your feet for long periods of time, etc. When i first bought the property, the rents were way under market. She was paying $750 for a small two bedroom unit. Now, i'm willing to raise rent gradually for good long term tenants. In addition, i underestimated how quickly market prices would rise in this weird period we're living in. Therefore i only raised it to $850 when it was time to renew the lease. Market rate is currently around $1,100- 1,200. I know i cost myself money, but i think i'm ok with that, because if i had jacked up rent i don't think she would have had anywhere to go. However, the problem that has arisen is that in the last few months, she's consistently paid rent late/ mid month. Before the due date, she'll tell me exactly when she'll be able to make the payment, she always follows thru, and she always pays the $50 late fee without question. However, she's still paying mid month every month because she can't find steady work. I'm concerned that a single financial emergency may set her off track completely. Also, the weather is getting cold, and she'll soon be paying heating bills. I can picture this situation getting worse and worse. 

I've thought about asking her to look into section 8, but i was trying to avoid renting to anyone with section 8. I don't want to be subject to additional rules and regulations. I also thought about covid relief, but don't know whether she'd qualify, and if she did, i suspect it would be a one time payment that wouldn't solve the underlying problem. She also got angry with me the last time i brought up the subject, which makes me hesitant to discuss it with her in the future. Part of me wants to sit back and do nothing until things get worse, but part of me feels like i should be more proactive. Any advice would be appreciated.  

To start with, I would send them a list of current rental listings on the market of units comparable to the one they're currently in. I might ask them what they think a fair price would be. I think that many tenants, if they can afford the increase and are faced with evidence that the unit they're currently renting for $400 usually goes for $750- $800, would ask for something like $700. If they're the one that comes up with the number and you agree to it, it'll be hard for them to hold a grudge. However, i say this as someone who doesn't mind giving a slight discount to long term tenants. You might feel differently. I also wouldn't mind increasing the rent gradually- like from $470 to $600 the first year with the understanding that there'd be another large increase the next year. That's just me though. 

Red states are more investor friendly than blue states. I can't tell you the specifics but i can tell you that much. 

When it comes to questions like this, i'd apply the Bogleheads philosophy. It's a philosophy for stocks, but i think it's equally applicable to real estate.

1) The future is largely unknowable. There's no point in waiting on the sidelines for prices to come down because you don't know how much higher they'll rise or when they'll go down or how much. And while you have your money on the sidelines, your money isn't making you more money. 

2) When one asset's overpriced, usually they all are. If you don't put your money in real estate, where will you put it? Will you put it in stocks which are at historical highs themselves? Or maybe bonds, which don't give you much of a return?

3) Time in the market is more important than timing the market. The longer you own a rental property, the more you will benefit from paying down the mortgage. The longer you own a rental property, the more you will benefit from inflation which will help appreciate the value of your home and allow you to raise rents over time even as the mortgage payment on your fixed rate mortgage stays the same. 

So i have a unit that i rent out to an town government department that takes care of disabled residents. They've moved the current residents out and in a week, they've going to be moving some new ones in. In the meantime, they've asked me to do some repairs. One of the issues is that the paint on the (i think it's cast iron) bathtub has chipped. At first i was thinking of hiring a company to reline the tub. There's a company called Bathfitter that does it and offers a lifetime warranty. It's supposed to be something like $400 though. Then i was thinking, maybe i could remove the paint and refinish it myself. However, i'm having no luck scraping it off. Judging from youtube videos, it seems that some people can get it off using citristrip. However, most need to use really hazardous chemicals while wearing a respirator and using a machine to ventilate the fumes out of the building. And then even after they've removed the old paint and refinished it with new paint, there's quite a few people who report that the new paint doesn't last. I try to do as much work on my houses myself as i can, but i'm feeling a little out of my depth here, and wondering if i should just hire this out? I was curious what other people do when they have this issue?