All Forum Posts by: Scott Lewis

@Ryan Kopf

The federal credit is nice when you install them if you owe that year. Be ready to get a calls about the “solar panels are broke, please fix” every time the grid is down for an hour or two.

@Ayana Morali

I was in this same situation not to long ago. Have you looked at installing solar panels on your primary house and use the credit to offset what you could owe due to the cap gains? Not sure if it would be allowed and such where you live, but if you expect to owe a lot at the end of the year, it might help and be feasible. Good luck.

@Joaquin Camarasa

Had a tenant burn down half my duplex, just after fixing it up myself. Same unit where the previous tenant stabbed the other tenant in the kitchen. Seemed crazy to me at the time but others on here have more sinister stories.

@Trent Arey. I’ve had a few student housing units for a about 7 years and have not had any major issues with damages. No more than any other type of tenant. From my perspective, you are overly concerned.

My typical turnover is 2 years.

@Mitchlyn D.

I had this exact problem with a duplex. I ended up buying the side with the pit bulls at market rate to solve the problem. It’s going to be impossible to find a decent tenant with those dogs roaming around. The late night barking is a major problem too.

The tenants that had the pit bulls left the dogs inside for a few days while they where out of town. The dogs literally chewed through the walls to get outside then chewed up the HVAC and then started working on the 10ft reinforced fence I put up to shield my tenants. It was really bad. At lot of damage and insulation everywhere.

Just call animal control? - they were no help with the issue. They were more sympathetic to the dogs than they were to me. It was very disappointing. This depends on where you live.

The slumlord who owned it was no help. Besides the dogs, I had other issues with the tenants and owner not related to the dogs I’m not going to go into on here.

My suggestion is to cancel the deal unless you can buy the unit with the pit bulls.

@Jessica M. I had a tenant like this. A very spoiled college girl. I basically went down there one day and went through every request and showed her how ridiculous they were. I was clear that if it is not essential, I’m not going to do it. I also advised her rent was 20% below market and can move out yesterday if she wants.

I didn’t have any issues after. Good luck with your tenant.

@Bryan Terry

I own one of these. We call it a “split duplex” or basically attached townhouses. Physically it is an ordinary duplex.

Since they are on separate parcels and deeds, they will need to get separate loans for each side. However, if you really really want to, you can file with the county or whatever to have the 2 lots made continuous (I think that was the term) under one owner/parcel, then get one loan. The fee with the county is small.

However, you should keep them separate, the total value of both is higher this way and if you ever get in a rut, you can sell one side.

The insurance company views it as one duplex and insured both sides as one unit, which is much cheaper per unit than my other townhome.

@Logan Hassinger I’ll look into that. Interesting.

@Eamonn McElroy Hi, yes maxing out both the 401k and Roth. The capital gains tax is going to be about $6k, so not a big deal in the grand scheme. The solar credit would cover it he hit 100%, but I don’t want panels. Some other credit similar to the solar credit that would work would be ideal.

@Mike Barry thanks Mike. Yes, I own a couple more but spending capex on them would only help a little this year since I have to depreciate the capex over such a long period of time.