All Forum Posts by: Kevin Coleman

@Chris Seveney Thanks. I didn't think of that.

@Chris Seveney@Jerry N. Thanks. Yea...I am worried about them getting stuck in there, specifically if the heat runs. 

@Kevin Berry Thank you. I will give that shot tomorrow. The tenants have not complained about hearing the noise over the weekend. I will look for a wildlife removal service in the morning after the holiday weekend. I went to the building and saw where they can get into the building but not necessarily the vents.

I have a 3 unit property in Chicago. The tenants stated they heard birds in the vents. I went there yesterday and heard what they were talking about. There are definitely bird(s) in the HVAC. I specifically heard and briefly saw a bird in the return vent.

Anyone had this issue before? I'm not sure who I should reach out to? HVAC company?, roofer to see if they are getting into the exhaust vent on the roof? etc

@Elbert O. I just sent my thoughts to you DM.

I have a heat pump/mini split for my 2 unit. It produces heat down to -13F and works well for my home. The city required supplemental heat in case it gets below that so I have a hardwired wall heater as a backup that looks like a small HVAC return.

There are quite a few factors to consider with the minisplit system, specifically for a multi unit(new build and older building). I am more than happy to share if anyone is interested. 

I agree with @John Warren. I am from the south and grew up in a home my parents purchased new. Pretty much everyone I knew had central AC. It was not until I moved to Chicago in 2012 that I realized window units were not as uncommon as I once thought. While it will certainly help to have window AC units, if it is not the norm in the neighborhood at said pricepoint then it maybe just fine. I will say that $250k seems low to me but I may be biased by City of Chicago prices. 

My units do not have central AC. I purchase one large(minimum 10k btu) window AC unit for the living and advertise that I will put it up and taken it down once a year. Tenants seem to like that.

You are probably going to have a hard time getting it registered with the city. Airbnb will not allow you to post without first receiving a registration number. 1.5years ago I registered the basement unit of a 2flat I am hacking. I made the mistake of thinking the renewal fees would autodraft my account on a yearly basis. It didn't so my registration lapsed in September.  I re-applied and was denied so I had to appeal. The Alderman submitted a note in support of my registration during the appeal process to no avail. The city still denied me.

I said that to say, I do not know how they will approve someone who doesn't own the property.

@Ben Kauffman I don't know if you are still looking for a lender but I did not go forward with the heloc as I no longer need one.  I will reach out to the lenders suggested here when I do. 

Thanks everyone for the responses!