All Forum Posts by: Waleep Alvi

I got a couple quotes to install 4 smoke detectors - $1200 and $750. This seems a lot.. Is this normal? 1 smoke detector costs me ~$50 where I live, so hard to justify the rest as labor.

@Greg Scott So I had a technician go out because tenant says the air wasn't working. It seemed like they were talking about AC. Is the furnace and AC somehow connected? I always thought they were different units.

As title says, my tenant has not been paying rent since April and is in eviction. My furnace is out and needs to be replaced. How long can I wait until I replace the furnace?

@Nathan Gesner great point. I got some feedback saying just stick to 1 year leases or less for reasons that include exactly what you said.

Prior to this I was paying 8% and 1 months rent. Here are new terms:

-9% per month

-1 month rent when leased for 0-12 months

-1.5 month rent when leased for 18-24 months.

I never seen the 1.5 month rent for 18-24 months with my other PMs. Does anyone else have this and is it something I should negotiate on?

So, I am in escrow and all contingencies is expired. I also waived appraisal which came in wayy low and now I have to bring in almost 30k extra. I doubt contesting the appraisal will do much. And the seller is not willing to negotiate lower price, so I am pondering the repercussions on backing out now. Reading my purchase contract, it seems like seller will most likely take the earnest. But they can go sue more if they choose. How likely is this to happen? Have any of you experienced this scenario?

If the tenant staying can afford the lease by themselves, I'd rewrite the lease agreement and move on. This stuff happens. The faster you resolve it, the faster it's over.

This has happened to me. I just had the staying tenant re-sign a new agreement. It was fine. Further, you simply need to expect this stuff to happen.

We try to make sure that all occupants together have a minimum of 3x rent. When they are married, it seems that this is fine but when they are not married, I up the minimum standard higher - 4-5x together. Ours is dependent on credit and background. Another thought is to up the security deposit for an additional month.

This business is tough. There is no question about that. I always believe that before you start as a landlord, you need to know yourself and your own personal thresholds. It helps decide if a property manager is best for you or if you can self manage. Honesty with yourself is very important.

On sale at Costco for $1.50 sf. So easy to install and seems to be wearing very well. There are about 15 DIFFERENT planks. Most of the higher price stuff have just a few so you will notice the repetition in a large room. Longevity is nice but remember styles change. I can remember when nice hardwood floors were covered with wall to wall shag carpet. Go figure.