All Forum Posts by: Scott Seydor

You're all over the place, and as suggested above, need a plan.  Perkiomenville, Collegeville, Norristown and Pottstown are all in Montgomery County... and are vastly different places with completely different markets.  Who's your market?  I've lived in Montgomery County for 25+ years and do everything I can to not go into Philadelphia.  Taking it one step further, the vast majority of my tenants don't work, so the commute time discussion is completely moot as far as my plan is concerned.

What part of town?  

@Clark Kirkpatrick and everyone else:

I'm still struggling to decide what to do with the 2nd floor unit.  My gut tells me more bedrooms means more income, but not having a living room is weird and I feel it'll likely impact my rentability.  With that in mind, I've been looking at other options.  What makes more sense in the long run: 

Opt. 01:  A nice large one-bedroom, large living room, huge kitchen.

Opt. 02:  Two VERY small bedrooms with a small living room, and a huge kitchen.

Opt. 03:  Two nice size bedrooms, no living room, and a huge kitchen ("Proposed" drawing from my initial post).

Queen beds and table shown in kitchen for reference.

Thanks for the feedback!  “Ref” is the refrigerator.  Definitely a big kitchen with room for a table and chairs.  

Thoughts on the lack of a living room or spot for a couch and tv? Going to impact my ability to rent? 

I bought a triplex in Pottstown, PA in January with a wonky layout.  It's a three-story building and each floor has a 1/1.  I got two of the tenants out on Saturday and am planning to do some renovations before getting it on the market to new tenants.  Both of the empty units have an awkward room that isn't a bedroom and isn't a living room.  I'm considering converting both to proper bedrooms (doors, closet) and listing them as two-bedroom units.  An apartment in this area with a second bedroom gets an extra $250/mo.  My question is:  what's more weird, the current layout, or my proposed layout that doesn't include a living room sort of space?  The other thing I could do is leave them 1/1s and do something to open them up and create a living space.  I just don't know what makes the most sense.

Notes: The existing hallway in the second floor unit is only 24" wide(!?!) and it needs new floors throughout, so I'll be doing work regardless of the ultimate layout.  On the third floor, the only real change shown is flipping the tub and sink so you can get to the bathroom from the hall.  

Keep digging, as the rental application form is ambiguous and contradicts the Borough's zoning code.  I'd think the zoning code takes precedence and states:

No residential rental registration or residential rental license shall be issued to any residential rental unit owned or operated by a person residing outside the Borough of Pottstown (hereinafter referred to as “absentee owner/operator”) unless there is provided to the Licensing and Inspections Office the name, mailing address, actual street address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address of a designated responsible agent residing or working within the Borough of Pottstown authorized to accept service of process on behalf of the legal owner of said residential rental unit. For the purposes of this Section, a post office box is not acceptable for the designated responsible agent’s address.[Amended by Ord. 2078, 10/12/2010, § 6; and by Ord. 2137, 6/8/2015]

Link to zoning code

I've got a duplex and triplex in Pottstown and am not aware of a way around that requirement.  The Borough is tough on landlords... very pro-renter.  

One final update on this one... score 1 for the good-guys!

I've been busy and forgot to bring you all along for the ride.  Long story short... tenant is long gone, place was trashed, renovated top-to-bottom, insurance covered everything including lost rent during renovations (actually netted $4K on the renovations from the insurance settlement), bumped rent up $200/mo to new/current rents and have a sweet older lady moving in any day.  It was a rocky start for our first deal, but I couldn't be happier with how things went, learned a ton along the way about the legal system/process, and would do it all over again for the same outcome.

Funny thing about my now-evicted tenant:  he got evicted from his last place 2 days before signing my lease, which explains why it didn't show up on the background check at the time.  When I met the sheriff (and real estate investor on the side) out there to confirm the tenant was gone he clued me in on a free PA criminal history app he uses called PAeDocket that's run by the PA Courts System.  It's pretty great, covers everything and is very up-to-date.  Check it out if you're in PA, or see if your State has something similar.

On to the next one... just had our offer on a triplex accepted Monday :)  

Update:

I misunderstood the removal timeline.  I went back to file for possession on 08/26 and the 72 hours was for the Sheriff to post the County vacate edict (which he did on Monday 08/29), not for my deadbeat to be out in 72 hours.  The County gives the tenant 2 weeks to get out.  The Court reached out to me and directed me to meet the Sheriff next Monday 09/12 at 8:00 am to change the locks.  

On a side note, I went into the apartment on 08/26 to make sure he was still there before filing for possession.  The place is trashed.  Holes in the walls and ceilings, all of the interior doors were kicked down and smashed.  A complete disaster.  The neighbors have had the police out there 3-4 more times in the past week on disturbance calls and one of the neighbors told me they can hear plaster falling down between the walls as this animal keeps punching/kicking them in.  

Making matters worse... I did a background, criminal and eviction check on this guy before renting to him.  Everything was great.  10 years at the same job making good money (got W2s and recent pay stubs), just two apartments in the past 10-12 years, no evictions.  This was mid-April.  I got a postcard from a company last week that was advertising for their background check services that said my tenant (by name) has an eviction on his record from February of this year.  So either evictions take time to show up on a record, or my background check was crap?!?  

I'll circle back next week once he's out and I can assess the damage, but it's not good.  

Circling back on this thread to provide an update that might help others in a similar situation.  I went against the majority here and proceeded without an attorney on the eviction process.  It was a learning experience and in my case, it was fairly painless.  I had all of my ducks in a row going into it.  After posting the 15-Day Notice to Quit I pulled together all of my evidence including screenshots of texts between me and my other tenant that documented all of the disturbance calls and police interactions (8 in two months!).  I filed for eviction at the District Court on the 16th day and my hearing was sent for 7 days later (August 10th).  The tenant never showed, so I simply explained the situation to the judge.  I assumed he'd rule on the spot, but instead, it took three days for his ruling.  The judge ruled in my favor for both possession and money due (including court costs).  He didn't really have a choice in the matter, as in addition to not abiding by my written lease, this guy was also violating the Borough Zoning Code with respect to disturbing the peace - which was included as part of my evidence.  The tenant was directed by the court to vacate by yesterday (08/25).  He hasn't left yet, so this afternoon I'm headed back to the District Court to file for possession.  With this, the Judge will order the sheriff to forcibly remove the tenant within 72 hours.

It's not over yet, but everything thus far is going as well as it could be in my particular situation.