All Forum Posts by: Seth B.

 The tenant sent me an email saying Charter was at their place because the internet stopped working. The guy discovered the coax outlet no longer worked, and told the tenant it would be best to get an electrician out here to get that fixed. Sorry for the confusion!

Hi All! Thanks for all the responses I really appreciate it! One detail I left out that I should have put in is that the cable company was over at their place yesterday, and they recommended that we reach out to an electrician. I believe there is no signal coming from that connection anymore. Does that change anything?

Hi All,

Just received an angry email from tenant last night. Apparently the coax cable outlet in the master bedroom went out (how does that even happen??), and they are asking that we get an electrician to fix it. I plan on doing what's right and calling an electrician, but for my own knowledge is this something that HAS to be fixed? I don't really recall my lease mentioning the usability of electrical outlets like coax cable so I feel like this is a grey area.

That all being said, does anyone know of a good electrical person that isn't too expensive in the Madison, WI area that would be able to help out? I'm assuming we'll need to rewire a new coax line down into the basement. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Seth

Hi All,

I'm doing taxes for 2016 and we have an owner occupied duplex that we lived in all last year (we bought Aug '15).

Now I know people that are responding probably aren't going to be certified accountants blah blah blah and that's fine. I have a fairly simple question that I can't seem to find an answer to so I thought I'd ask in here :) and I will not in any case hold anyone responsible!

When writing off expenses, I've been reading I can only write off expenses when it comes to the tenant side and not the side we live on. Is this correct?

So stuff like utilities, paint, etc that we purchases for our side that we live on we can't write off? Even though it's technically for the business(our property mgmt business?). We are looking to spruce up the side we live on then move out to rent it. I thought we'd be able to write this stuff off as expenses.

If this is the case it is a major bummer because it's going to look like we owe A LOT to the tax man..

Hello!

So we have our first tenant and I'm already starting to collect money from them, but I'm not entirely sure how I should handle their money... Do I need to create a business bank account? Can I just create a seperate bank account? I know their is this huge push in the community to go LLC, but right now with one duplex I'm not super interested in making the process even more difficult. So what do I need to do to start cashing these checks?

Thanks!

 Thanks for the quick response! Sorry I don't think I explained my one 'fear' if I send it to them via mail. I just worry there are so many areas to initial by or sign that they miss that stuff leaving it void. 

A buddy just told me about ESign and how there is a 30 day trial for free. I may just go that route and combine it with a Skype call to him. 

So I have 2 tenants that are from out of state from where I am at. They both recently got jobs and they made the trek out here to look at a bunch of places. They decided they wanted to go with us and after running the application on them they are great! 

The challenge is they will not be back until end of July because that is when they are moving up here. How do I get them to sign the lease, or can I just get a written confirmation move in date then have them sign the lease? Please advise

Thanks!

Lol! Yes fair enough. I really don't want to rent out to people with pets either I was more or less curious. Michael, I'll respond to them with that upfront cost. That'll probably get them off my back. Thanks for the suggestion.

Now that I am in the process of looking for a tenant with my duplex I'm starting to get asked a lot if pets are allowed. Someone just inquired and has 2 dogs and 2 cats.. I'm not so sure if I should even consider it but it got me thinking about cats more.

It sounds like these cats are declawed but 15 years old... all I can think about is those two trouble makers puking all over the place, but you can clean up puke. What's worse would be them spraying all over the place. That being said, if a cat does spray or pee somewhere in the house I've been told there is no way to get rid of the smell. I've also been told with today's cleaners and enzymes it's pretty easy to get rid of the smell.

I wish the forums had a voting option, but I wanted to start up a vote to see what the general consensus is.. I'm assuming it's going to be no but maybe I'm wrong and that is why I wanted to ask the forums.

So can you guys please share your stories? Bad or good? Thanks!

So there are a lot of different forms within this website. Do I just select the first one, and that's it? 

I understand these are created by lawyers, but I also want to make sure I have all the extra 'got yas' in there as well, or at the very least be aware of them. 

Thanks!