All Forum Posts by: Victor N.

I've had issues with leaks caused by poor satellite dish installation. So now, I have a specific restriction: No dish on the roof. There are other places where the dish can be installed effectively.

As others have suggested, you should keep the double sink. I would keep the old cabinet too since you mentioned that it is in good shape. Just bite the bullet and buy the double sink. My personal preference is that 1 nice cabinet with 1 seamless counter top looks better than 2 cabinets put together.

If you have an Ikea store near you, they sell some double sinks at reasonable price! Also, you might be able to contact a granite counter maker and get a deal using one of their remnants since you do not need a full slab.

@Matt Lane, Im a landlord who has section 8 and non section tenants.

Your first action should be to contact the city's Housing Authority ( you can google it or just go to the property, introduce yourself to the tenants as the new owner and ask for the section 8 phone # and case manager name(s)). When you call the Housing Authority, give them the address and apt # and they will put you in contact with the case manager(s) of all the section 8 tenants. Tell them you are the new owner and provide them with some proof. They usually ask for a copy of the deed.

Once that's done, you can ask them which tenant has a year lease and which ones are month to month. Note that when a new tenant moves in, the initial lease is 1 year. After that, the owner can either re-sign a 1 year lease or go to month to month.

With the proof of ownership, they should be able to change the paperwork ( read you will have to sign new contracts with them)  and start paying you at the beginning of the following month. The sooner you contact them the better or they might keep paying the previous owner.

If you decide that you want them all out, you might be able to negotiate with the housing authority. Keep in mind that they might not be willing to do so until the lease expires which would be their right since the lease must be enforced regardless of the ownership. The tenants who are on month to month are easier to get out. The Housing Authority will just issue them a new voucher and they will need to find a new place. For the rest, you can find out how many months are left on their lease.

After you speak with the HA you should contact the tenants ( go to the property) and introduce yourself.

You do not need to consult a lawyer ( at least not at this time) and you do not need to do a cash for keys transaction which might be illegal for section 8. Good luck!

@Chris Bingham 

Your best bet is Levelquik and you can find it at a big box store. It is rapid setting and self leveling. There is a primer of the same brand that you need to apply first for a strong bond to the concrete floor ( you can brush or roll it ). 

When you're done mixing with water, all you do is pour it at the lowest point which will be filled until it is leveled with the rest of the floor.

Fantastic product. I just used it to level the floor of a bathroom before tiling.

I always request a full security deposit to hold an apt. Im only willing to do so for a valid reason such as potential tenant wants to give the previous landlord a minimum 30 days notice ( which also means that this tenant will be considerate enough to give me 30 days notice when my lease is over and they want to move out). Or if its a section 8 tenant and the inspection cannot be scheduled right away. 

I never hold an apt if the issue is money, ie  I dont have the money now etc. If you have money issues before moving in then you cannot afford the apt.

I also have a non refundable fee to hold the apt. Tenant is credited the entire fee when they move in. They lose the fee is they dont move in.

@Jade Wong, you should contact the Housing Authority and explain the situation with the tenant and the fact that he wont let you make the repairs that he requested. They won't contact the tenant but when the tenant calls them to complain you won't look like a bad landlord.

You can also contact the section 8 office and find out if you have an annual lease or month to month. Usually, the initial lease is an annual one then it automatically reverts to month to month unless you requested a new 1 year lease.

Your initial lease will tell you how much time you need to provide the tenant when ending a month to month lease. So check your lease or you can call section 8 and come to an agreement as to when the tenant should move out.

Just be careful trying to evict the tenant after he has filed a complaint about the apt because it could look like retaliation.

To terminate the lease,you need to contact section 8. Tenant will be issued a new housing voucher and can find a new apt. You do not need to evict the tenant.

FYI... if the tenant owes you rent, you should start the eviction process. In my area ( I assume its the same everywhere) if a tenant is evicted due to non payment of rent, they will automatically lose  their section 8 voucher. So that's a great incentive for them to pay  the money they owe you.

@Account Closed Im in CT and had to deal with similar situations in term of the gas company requirements. Here, the utilities companies require a contractor to test the electrical system and gas lines ONLY if the house/ apt has been unoccupied for 6 months or longer. It is simply a safety requirement. Once the contractor confirms that there are no issues, he will obtain a permit with the city to come out and inspect/ test and re-confirm that indeed everything is ok. If there is no problem with the gas line all he needs is a permit so that the city inspector can come over and verify that everything is ok. 

It sounds like your plumber is not too excited about obtaining the permit. Did you confirm that he is licensed? If he is, is his license still active ( not expired)? He needs an active license to pull a permit. As  a couple of people suggested, I think you should contact other plumbers willing to see this through for you. 

The issue for the gas line is to make sure that there is no leak. Usually, you hook up a  gauge + compressor to the gas line and add a certain amount of pound of pressure which varies from state to state and even from cities to cities. you come back several hours later or preferably the next day to check and make sure the gauge reads the same amount of pressure which means that there is no leak. 

You should call the city permit office and ask them for an estimated time frame for a utilities inspection. I wouldnt worry too much about ConEd at this point. You need to concentrate on getting help from the permit office, maybe even take a trip there. Im pretty sure it wont take 2 months for someone to come out specially when they know that you need the inspection to get heat. Call them ASAP.

In the mean time, there are hard wired electric heating options that only use 120 V. they can be recessed into the wall and wired to a regular outlet. They usually have a built -in fan which greatly help with the distribution of heat. Check Amazon, I bought a couple of them this summer to be used in case of an emergency. The regular electric baseboards draw too much electricity!

Im currently using a basic Excel spreadsheet to keep track of my properties and tenants. My file is detailed but not enough. Im looking for a software that can help me better manage the finances as well as tenants for each property. Being able to pull reports such as P&L, cost of repairs, etc is important. I also need the ability to download credit card and bank statements into the software so that I have a one stop shop!

So, Im settling on Quickbooks ( I think). I know there will be a learning curve and Im ready to put in the effort. I have an accountant who takes care of my taxes, so right now, all the info I need is just for my personal education to make me a better investor because numbers dont lie!

My question is which version of Quickbooks to use? Desktop or Online? It looks like Quickbooks Online ( QBO) will work for my needs but I read that the cost will be high in the long run and it lacks some features. 

Those of you using Quickbooks or any other software, what do you think? All suggestions welcome!

Also, if you have low income tenants ie section 8, there are programs out there that can help you update your property at no/or minimal cost to you. Usually, the requirement is that you do not sell the property for a certain number of years based on the amount of money you received + keep renting to low income families.

Im currently using such a program to renovate a large duplex I own, which is also a historic home ( expensive all wood - no vinyl- new windows, de-leading, etc...). Very expensive! Both apts have section 8 tenants. THERE ARE DEFINITELY SOME ADVANTAGES TO RENTING TO SECTION 8 TENANTS...

@Account Closed,  I know every housing authority handling section vouchers is different and it is sometimes very frustrating to work with them. I have a few section 8 tenants and my experience with section 8 so far has been generally positive so dont give up yet!

For example, regarding a tenant wanting to move out early, I had that situation a few months ago. The initial 12 month lease had expired and I had not signed a new lease with the tenant. So per my own lease we were  automatically defaulted to a month to month lease with 30 days notice by either party to stop the contract ( I had incorrectly assumed that the section 8 docs represented a new lease). This was my fault for not paying attention.

Tenant gave me 27 days notice. When I called the Housing Authority about it, they agreed with me and did not allow tenant to move until tenant had provided me with a minimum of 30 days notice. Not exactly a similar situation to yours but it shows that it is possible to have contracts enforced with section 8. That was plenty of time for me to find a new tenant at a higher rent. Also, when the annual inspection was done, I failed due to some floor damages caused by the tenant. The inspector noted on his report that the tenant was responsible for those damages, so the tenant needed to make the repairs within 30 days or lose their voucher.

If you fail the annual inspection, you usually only have 30 days to make the repairs and it doesnt matter what the tenant says. But if you fail the re-inspection then they will give a new voucher to the tenant to move! is that what happened in your case?

The key is to know how section 8 works, and have a great working relationship with the case managers.