All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

How incredible. That man was very smart in 2009.

The difficulty he is going to face is that he can't sell his full Bitcoin Wallet at once. If he were to do so the value of the BTC would drop real quick. He would need to sell them one transaction at a time over the course of some period of time. Otherwise this would end up like the Ethereum Crash that we just experienced.

But aren't spreadsheets so much fun?!

I'm actually interested in this as well. Sounds like there is a market to make investing a little more fun. :)

When I think of staying in a short term rental, I don't personally look for whether or not the place has cable as the media I watch is usually streamed, or I bring it with me. Usually with short-term rentals I am more interested in if there is wifi / internet provided as I can stream the media off of my devices (phone, tablet, computer, streaming device (I just lug around my Apple TV)). A low cost internet connection through your local ISP (internet Service provider) can provide a low cost internet package (looking for upwards of 5Mb per second plans) to stream decent quality content.

As for providing an actual Netflix subscription, I personally feel that it isn't needed as people who want to use it have their own account. You could consider providing a device (streaming device such as a Roku, Chromecast, etc.) that the short-term tenant can log into on their account to view the media. Just make sure that they are logged out before the next tenant comes in.

This sounds like a really tricky situation as their are many pros and cons with taking out a personal loan to fund a down payment. This will require some attention to details, especially all the numbers involved.

You want to make sure you run the numbers before diving head in first. Make sure to factor in the personal loan along with the mortgage payment, the PMI, CapEx, Insurance, Utilities, HOA dues, mgmt fees, repairs, and other misc items. Run the numbers many times and I would suggest not being too frugal with your numbers as reality often times not as good as it is on paper.

If you need more assistance, there is a thread on Biggerpockets all about getting help analyzing deals. I'd recommend if you have any additional questions, post in that forum and you can second pairs of eyes to look over what idea.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! :)

Are the requests for maintenance due to the property falling apart, or is it due to tenant's breaking stuff?

Ideally you would want to identify the what is causing the money being sucked from your pocket and get rid of, or fix that issue in all the units at once.

Edit: I would add, ideally, you would want to minimize your expenses. If there is a way to rid yourself of the expenses for items, like as you mentioned utilities, to the tenant's responsibility, that would save you some of your cash flow as well.

2nd Edit: To go off of what I just mentioned, you need to make sure that it's all stated in the signed agreement / contract between the landlord (you) and the tenant.

@Adam Detig, make sure he throws in an extra 5% on top to cover for the "Awesome Brother" tax.

Something you might consider is putting ice melt / salt into the actual gutter. That will 'eat' through the ice pretty quick. But you'll need to keep adding salt every so often as it will become diluted with the melted water. I occasionally have to throw a handfull of slat in our home's gutters to help water to start flowing.

I hope you either write a book, blog, or produce a documentary about this, as I'm interested to see from beginning to end this renovation!

@Tyler Brown You could bill the tenants for their usage specific to a known factor (square footage, occupants, etc). I've previously listed in another post some of the methods that utility management companies use to determine how much of the bill goes where. I've copied it below:

Common equations to determine utility billing:

Ratio based on Square footage: = Bill total * (Unit Square Footage / Total Square footage)

Example: Unit 1 has 1000 Sqft, Unit 2 has 500 sqft. Water bill for the month is $100.
Unit 1: $100 * (1000 sqft /1500 sqft) = $66.67
Unit 2: $100 * (500 sqft/1500 sqft) = $33.33

Ratio based on Number of occupants: = Bill Total * (Number of Occupants in Unit / Total Number of Occupants)

Example: Unit 1 has 2 tenants, Unit 2 has 3 tenants. Water bill for the month is $100.
Unit 1: $100 * (2 tenants / 5 tenants) = $40.00
Unit 2: $100 * (3 tenants / 5 tenants) = $60.00

Ratio based on half square footage, half occupants (50/50 method): = (Utility bill * 1/2)*( Unit Tenants / Total Tenants) + (Utility Bill * 1/2)*(Unit Sqft / Total Sqft)

Example: Unit 1 has 2 tenants, 1000 sqft. Unit 2 has 3 tenants, 500 sqft. Water bill for the month is $100.
Unit 1: ($100 * 1/2) * (2 tenants / 5 tenants) + ($100 * 1/2) * (1000 sqft / 1500 sqft) = $63.33
Unit 2: ($100 * 1/2) * (3 tenants / 5 tenants) + ($100 * 1/2) * (500 sqft / 1500 sqft) = $36.67

This third method is much more complex to do, but a simple Excel spreadsheet can help alleviate the headache of doing this monthly.

There are other ones you can do, like bathroom total ratios, dishwasher vs no dishwasher / washing machine vs no washing machine if the units differ.

In the end, you recoup the full cost of the utility bills and bill it as rent + Utility usage (variable) (Check with local landlord laws to determine if you are able to do this).

A majority of the time with a single family residence the utility company won't install a second meter to service your property. But, because you have a duplex, it's not unheard-of for utility companies to have a second meter to be installed at the property. It costs an arm, and half a leg, but at least you can remove the liability from your shoulders and make the tenants responsible for their usage.

Some other options that you could have is to install a water/gas/electric sub-meter system. These could be quite pricey, and are more common for larger multi-family units with one meter servicing an entire building. With a sub-meter ( a meter you have installed on the property side of the provider's meter) you can track usage of each unit, and know EXACTLY how to bill a property.

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EDIT: To answer your question, in my opinion, try to get it so the tenants can place services in their name, and make it so they are responsible for their usage. If the utility providers, or even General Contractors have issue with this, most states allow for up to a certain amount to be charged as a flat rate for utility usage alongside their rent. Check with an attorney proficient with landlord-tenant laws in your state / city and see if this is an option in your area.

The biggest thing I would suggest is to check that the sub flooring is secured to the floor joists. It's not fun in the wee-hours of the morning to wake up to creaking as someone is walking through their unit. My wife and I are in the process of securing the sub floor to the joists in our home so as to not wake up the baby when we lay him down for a nap.