All Forum Posts by: Sergio A. Chucaralao

I bought a house in upstate NzY recently without an inspection , due to low price offer .

tenants have moved in and found There is a leak under the washing machine.
My lease does not mention anything about washer / dryer,. 

who is responsible to repair or replace? Thanks very much!

If you got the property with the machine and the tenant is not claiming it. The responsibility is yours you can fix it replace it as someone had said before, if it is a old one replace it. Also make sure you update that lease with how moving foward will be addressed any future repair or replacement on the machines.  Best of luck!

 They admitted to breaking water line, and fixed it. There is one water meter at the front of the lot by the “main house” the house on the back has it’s own shut off valve - that’s the one when closed meter stop running meaning the issue is on the back house but no leaks found, only change was the new sewer line.

I hired a big known company to check a clogging issue, I have a 1 acre lot with two homes on it, the home towards the back had the continues clogging issue, so company said I need it new sewer line, I installed it but after installing my water bill went from $200 to $800!! When front house has water and back house water valve is off, the meter stops spinning, it starts spinning like crazy once I open water valve for back home where the sewer line was installed. Plumber did not find any leaks inside the home and I know they broke a water line while digging , I made them dig again to expose water line, they dig only the back where they did the work  and still no visible leaks! I don’t know what could gone wrong but meter running high  happened the same day of the sewer installation. Water pressure is good but is also not as strong .

If they did dig the area they worked on and there is no leak wouldn't that proof they didn't break it? When you say you close the water are you closing before the meter or after the meter. If you are closing before the meter it won't give you a accurate result to know if the meter is working properly. 

Hi all! We have a really hard time finding a general contractor for our repair project in a buy & hold SFH in Kansas City, MO. We hired a property manager after purchasing the house and both contractors they sent in are "skeptical about providing a quote if they cannot use their own materials". In their experience "it has lead to a lot of headaches and delays with the project". We are out of state investors and were going to stick to David Green's advise of getting quotes without the materials for fair comparison + being able to select the material we want, put it on our credit cards. Do you think it's reasonable for contractors to refuse a quote without materials? Should we keep looking?

Hi BP fam, 
I’m closing on my first multi family soon and but am a first generation homebuyer and am doing this completely on my own at 26. I know the little I know but doing some research online, but know I probably have to do some real self-education from here.

it’s a 2 unit with a remodeled attic which I will be living in, and renting 1 unit while slowly remodeling the second one. 

 anyone else been in the same boat? Would really appreciate any advice. 

@Sergio A. Chucaralao 

Hi, thanks, this post has been very helpful. The property was built in 1957 and the first opinion was from general home inspection and the second opinion came from a structural engineer company who quoted about 5,000 for adding beams to foundation. Should I get another opinion besides those two?

And yes I plan to keep the property until I decide to retire so it is a good idea to just keep documentation in hand for whenever I want to sell it.

We don't have a pre-screening process. We do screening.

Unless you have specific, written criteria for what constitutes acceptable answers to the 25 questions, you open yourself up for a Fair Housing violation complaint.  Having an open-ended interview process with no set criteria sounds like an easy way for an attorney to argue for discrimination, whether or not any actually occurred. 

@Sergio A. Chucaralao

I have never done a pre-screening questionnaire, or even heard of it. When I self-managed C Class properties, I would put the requirements for tenancy in the rental listing (3x rent in income, 1-month security deposit, criminal check, etc.), and then when the potential tenants called in, I would speak to them for a few minutes, explain the requirements, get some sort of verbal confirmation on some or all of the requirements, and then invite them to different showing times I had set up. If they liked the apartment, they could apply (pay the application fee per adult, and complete the application), and I would perform screening, and provide an answer within 24-48 hours.

This process allows for a few different filters. First is the initial call. You will filter out people just by talking to them for a couple of minutes (people trying to negotiate your terms, storytelling, or people being just plain rude). 

The next filter is them showing up at the set time for the apartment showing. I usually would put the appointments 15 minutes apart, and do a few at once unless I get a very good feeling about an applicant. 

The next filter is them applying. They like the unit, they like the neighborhood, etc., and they are willing to apply. They are putting money out there to get approved.

The final filter is your screening after they formally apply. 

With C Class properties, you will start with a large funnel to get it down to a couple of actual people showing up to see the unit (and no one else will call to formally cancel). The goal of this whole process is to find good tenants who will pay rent on time, respect the property, and respect their neighbors. 

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie, and I got an offer accepted. However, during inspection the property showed foundation problems.  Two of the walls have 3/4 of an inch out of plumb. The reason for this is most associated with poor grade or pitch which caused  excessive soil /water pressure against the wall resulting in incremental displacement as wall yields to horizontal earth pressure. IF LEFT unchecked then it could lead to structural problems. Per structural engineer this could be fixed and would cost about $5.000 to fix. 

MY CONCERN is if I buy and fix it and keep the property for a while, then at the time to sell, will people walk away if they know this had foundation problems that were fixed?  IS IT COMMON for people to buy properties with foundation problems? Will foundation affect plumbing? What would anyone recommend in this case ? I've always heard that if a property has foundation problems to walk away so I am not sure whether to keep the property or move on ?