All Forum Posts by: Steve Balinski

My calculator has another spot for insurance, management, taxes, turnover etc. So for all maintenance/repairs/CapEx your total would be around 12%? I've got a 4-unit C-class property in pretty good shape, built in 1990

 for what specifically?  

I hear ya, but as I mentioned that 35-50% is including taxes, insurance etc. I'm just looking for a % to calculate for maintenance and repairs + capex so I no longer need to calculate each % for "Repairs, Maintenance, CapEx ,Etc"..

Hello everyone.  I have a rental calculator that is very detailed, been using it for quite a while but it is different than most rental calculators out there because it asks for a dollar amount for each month/year to set aside vs a % like most calculators use.  

That being said, for CapEx/Yard Maintenance/Repairs/Overall Maintenance is there a general % that all comes out to? I'd like to modify my calculator to just enter a % of rental income to set aside for all. I've seen other calculators and articles stating 50%, but the 50% includes insurance/taxes etc, I've already got a different section for that.

I've seen 8-10% for maintenance, 8-10% for CapEx, 8-10% for repairs. Is 30% a good number (obviously this can change depending on the age/condition). I have a 4 unit property generating 4200/month in rent. 10% just for maintenance is $5k a year which seems REALLY high....that'd mean I put away 15K/yr for maintenance, repairs, CapEx.....seems unreasonably high, no?

Hello everyone, there is a duplex in the NorthWest Chicago suburbs that I'm very interested in, listed for 250K, rents total for about 2500-2600/month combined for both units.  Its a complete remodel (don't know about electrical/plumbing yet), building is 100 yrs old.

My only concern is it doesn't have central A/C, would have to get window units.  How much does this effect the $$$ monthly rent you can charge and hurt finding tenants?  Its a "C-class" neighborhood, average home price is probably around 250K, older smaller town.  

Unfortunately for me there is no fine indicated in the lease it just says no pets.

I'm just wondering should I send him an eviction notice if the pet is not removed. Should I just call him and talk to him about the incident? Should I modify the lease? Should I do anything at all if I noticed the pet is gone after today?  Should I send him a picture of the security camera or is that going too far?

Hello everyone and Happy Easter!

it seems one of my tenants has a guest with a puppy staying over the weekend. I sent him an email first thing yesterday morning saying zero tolerance for the pet policy which is in the lease.

My security camera shows as of midnight someone taking the dog out to go to the bathroom and then walking back in the unit.  He has been a good tenant, but I want to make it clear to respect the rules of the lease, especially the not pet policy.  What do you advise?

 Ohh they do in mine, lease has paint in there.  If they move into a freshly painted unit and I need to re-paint it, thats on them.  I've lived in my place for several years and there is hardly  a single mark on the walls, I expect people living in my building to treat it as I would.  I let them know I don't play around when they move in.

Hello everyone,

I'm curious how many people paint in between each tenant? Surely depends on condition, but if it has some basic scrapes and marks here and there, do you repaint for each tenant?

im calculating the costs of I do this every time.  Leasing fee is 1100/month, paint is $1500 for the whole place.  This means for each tenant I'm immediately $2600 in the hole.  For those who shoot for $200-400 per door, how do you even break even just with these costs alone? That's 7 months of rental income just to pay off the move-in costs alone.  

I understand some of this is subject to state laws, but just want to get a general idea of where to go with this

2 tenants, both of them weren't getting along and decided one of them was going to move out, so I gave the other a 30 day notice to leave and signed the new lease with the one who was staying.  Today is day 28, the one who was supposed to leave is saying his plans fell through and he will need another month.  I had a bad feeling this person was going to end up being a squatter from the beginning, and now here we are.  I really don't want him to stay, but he basically told me he is staying and will need another month to come up with plan B and agreed by Nov. 1st he will be out.  Current lease states anyone living there not on the lease will incur a $xx/day fine.

My questions are: Can I amend a 1 year lease contract with the other person and make an amendment for the other person to stay for 1 month?

Can I charge an additional security deposit (month rent x2) because now I see him as very high risk?

How would I go about removing him without removing the good tenant who I re-signed with, is it the same eviction process?