All Forum Posts by: Wendy Hoechstetter

Like I said about 6 hours earlier ;-)

Robert,

As long as you apply the same standards to everyone you rent to (and spell them out clearly in your lease along with any associated penalties for failure to meet those terms, including possible eviction, which you have probably already done anyways), that should not be an issue.  

Nothing about being disabled excuses a person from taking appropriate care of the property, whether they do it themselves, have to hire help, or need to request reasonable accommodations from you for certain things (which is a whole topic by itself). 

If you try to hold a disabled person to higher standards than you hold others to, however, that is when you could definitely get into trouble for discrimination. 

Of course, some will still try to scream discrimination even when you have a perfectly legitimate reason to evict or not return security deposits, but clear policies and consistent application of them should defuse most of these. 

If you want to, you can certainly cut disabled tenants an extra break without them having to ask for it, but even appearing to go the other way can be the kiss of death.  

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, of course.  This is, however,  an issue I've dealt with as part of doing some legal advocacy work with people who have service animals when the question of damage done by the animal is raised by a landlord or property manager. 

Yikes, my bad!  I was actually thinking about what can and cannot be added to the basis with residential property one lives in.  

Thanks for the corrections, folks - and the link to the IRS publication.  

Sorry for any confusion my post may have created. I'll go crawl back under my rock now. 

Yes, it is almost undoubtedly a repair.  Carpet, like many other elements in a house, does need to be replaced periodicallly, like windshield wipers on your car, which is why no warranty on a car will cover things like that.  That is part of normal wear and tear, and basic maintenance of a home, and adds no value.  It's really no different than refinishing existing flooring or repainting, replacing a broken window, or buying a new washing machine when the existing one dies.

Now if you were to do something like upgrade to hardwood floors from carpet, that might be a different story.  That is much more likely to be considered a capital improvement, at least in part.  Ditto with things like adding a washing machine or dishwasher where there wasn't already one before, installing new windows as part of a major kitchen remodel that requires their reconfiguration, and so forth.  Understand the difference? 

Not everything is very black and white, however, and a lot may depend in some situations on how much useful, depreciable life is considered to be left in the asset replaced.  Useful life is entirely a tax concept that determines how long you can deduct a given investment in an asset, and has nothing to do with how long something will actually last and be serviceable. 

Now if you've just bought the place and have to rehab/remodel it, as opposed to work done on a property you've already owned for a while, I don't know how it would be treated.  It might be different, but I don't know.

In any event, I would listen to your accountant, because he has a far better idea of what the IRS will have to say, than we do, particularly in any given situation, and the IRS's opinion is what counts.

I would highly recommend, however, that you not install anything *over* carpet.  That will cause almost anything to fail and wear out far faster than normal, probably void any warranties, plus will likely create a trip hazard at doorways and perhaps unsteady walking conditions across the expanse of the flooring, which would be a hazard to health and safety in itself and expose you to liability if someone were to get hurt as a result.  Pull the carpet up, prep and level the subfloor appropriately, then lay the new flooring, whatever you choose.

If they do allow renters, find out what percentage of the complex/development is owner-occupied vs rented out.  That will affect the loans you are able to get if you use conventional financing, and it also affects the desirability of the complex at resale as well as how it is kept up overall, not to mention resale value.  Banks don't like complexes that have high percentages of renters and often won't lend on them past a certain level, which will obviously further narrow the pool of potential buyers once you are ready to sell.

You also need to find out what the HOA covers in terms of updates, repairs, landscaping, etc. - and what process you will need to go through to make any of the changes you want to do that are not covered by the HOA. They may only review architectural and other change requests at their monthly meetings, in which case, you will have to be prepared to carry the property for a month or three while you wait for the next meeting and they debate whether or not to let you do what you want, and the terms they will require, before you can even start. You may have to be prepared with architectural drawings, and will have to comply with any requirements they have regarding details and materials, as well as tell them which *licensed* contractor you intend to use. In the event that they require changes, you may have to wait for the next meeting for them to review the new drawings, if those are needed.

Find out if you will have to get their additional approval if for some reason you decide to (or have to) change contractors, and what will have to happen if you run into issues that require further changes that were not covered in the original application.  When I upgraded my windows (and therefore the siding) in my house, for example, the building inspector wouldn't sign off on the job unless I added a front stoop instead of just the steps up to the front door, so I had jump through all of the hoops all over again to get an additional approval for that.

Additionally, you will want to know if you can make interior changes without approvals, or if you will also have to request approvals for those.

If you decide to make changes to elements that they normally cover but you want done before they schedule them, at your own expense, assuming they approve it, you will likely also become responsible for the upkeep of those elements forevermore, with that obligation passing to whomever you ultimately sell the place to.  That in turn may affect whether a new buyer will want to commit himself to that property.  

These caveats will definitely apply to condos and co-ops, maybe PUDS, and may or may not with single family developments, but you will want to find out.

If you make your offer contingent upon approval of all of the governing documents (as well as any inspections you need), the seller will provide them for you.  They should be provided anyways as part of their routine disclosures.

Thank you very much, @Joe Fairless!

Thank you all so much for your welcomes, kind words, and offers of assistance!

I'm in Shadyside, and grew up in Squirrel Hill.  While I would very much prefer to focus my investing in this area, I just don't have the money, and don't know if I can find it.  Rental rates around here are climbing quite substantially, and it is a huge market, thanks to all of the local universities, but the up front costs are daunting.

I've been researching other areas that are much less expensive to get into as a result.  I *thought* I was going to start in Lawrenceville, but I'm not sure the value is still there, given the price inflation and the fact that the better parts of the area seem to be fairly well tapped-out and already renovated. 

I've been considering other up-and-coming areas, but have been concerned about my safety doing so, particularly after a tour a couple of weeks ago with Joe Calloway turned up a squatter in one of his properties that we were in, and his saying that he now requires two people to enter any of his vacant properties.

It's also great to see other Marin denizens, and other "boomerang" kids!  

@Daniel Ryu, unfortunately, we never got to go to Korea ourselves, but we did meet with a number of country product reps, which was fun by itself.  One of the other designers in our office is himself Korean, so we had a terrific introduction to Korean culture and business practices thanks to him.  The developer was Gangwondo Development; the resort name is Alpensia.  The architect was the renowned Bull Stockwell Allen of San Francisco.  The homes we designed are the Alpensia Troon Estate referenced in the video on the site below at the Troon Country Club. http://www.alpensiaresort.co.kr/EnInfoAlpInfoIntro.gdc

Debbie, just out of curiosity, what did you *think* you were signing, if not a contract?

Never, ever sign *anything* that you a) have not read thoroughly, and b) do not fully understand.

I also qualified for a real estate license in California many years ago, but went another direction.  I am contemplating getting my license here, but haven't fully decided on that yet.