All Forum Posts by: William Nohmor

Hi.  I am looking for a contractor in the Newark Delaware area who will work on an hourly basis at investor rates and not retail rates.

I am also looking for a referral to a company who can provide a 30ft dumpster there at reasonable rates and who does not make a big fuss about return dates.

thanks

Bill

I am buying a single family house in Newark Delaware and will be renting it.  I need an investor friendly leasing agent to find good tenants and I need a young, low overhead real estate attorney who knows how to do closings and handle landlord tenant matters. For the lawyer, I would like someone who is really active and low overhead/competitive rates - not a big law firm.  Any recs?

I have been looking for a better way to get applications for my apartments and have been messing around with google forms.  I created a form but havent actually used it yet.  Has anyone used google forms and then either decided its great, or decided to move on to something better?  I would be happy to post a link to my draft form if anyone is interested in checking it out.  They are pretty easy to create.

I own a property in Boston and wanted to know how landlords hire contractors for snow shovelling to comply with city ordinances.   Boston  requires the following:

• Remove snow, slush, and ice from sidewalks and curb ramps abutting your property within 3 hours of snowfall ending (or 3 hours from sunrise if snow falls overnight) as required by law. Violators will be fined (see fines below).
• Remove snow, slush, and ice from the full paved width of the sidewalk and curb ramp or a minimum path of 42 inches wide. Narrow paths encumber carriages and wheelchairs, and properly cleared pathways ensure flow and safety of pedestrian traffic.
• Remove ice to bare pavement or make as level as possible and treat with sand, sawdust or similar material.
• Please clear any snow that may be blocking a handicapped ramp, fire hydrant or catch basin.

• Shovel or plow snow into the street: Violators caught shoveling snow from private property into the street will be fined.
• Overexert while shoveling: Excessive strain from the cold and hard labor may cause heart attacks. Please help out elderly or vulnerable neighbors.
• Leave snow or ice on stairways or fire escapes. All common means of egress must be clear.

Im not sure how to price out the services so I can find a contractor.  I dont think it can be done per storm because some storms last a long time.  How much do you pay per service and how do you control how many service visits the contractor makes.

Update on this - I had a really bad experience in Boston trying to find contractors for this type of work on craigslist.  Even though I stated my requirements carefully, there were a lot of people seeking day work, people with no equipment, people who seemed very flaky, and almost noone with an actual landscaping company. The 2 serious replies I did get were way overpriced.  I had a different experience with Craigslist in Delaware recently(same topic) and it worked out great.  Go figure.

 Right.  each of my apartments have a front and back door which are keyed the same.  I usually buy the smartkey rekey kit from home depot or amazon when I turn over the apartments - it costs around 11.00 and comes with 4 keys I think?  It is more expensive than having dupes made but it works and is convenient plus you can have a few in your kit to just use without having to go to the hardware store.  I recently botched a rekey on a smartkey system.  I had to rekey about 8 doors and one of them simply didnt work after I inserted the new key.  The old key didnt  work either.  I had heard about this possibility and had a couple of spares in my car so I removed the lock and installed a spare.  That has been the only drawback I have found so far.  

I have some good lease forms I created in microsoft word.  Has anybody used a solution where you send the files and collect digital signatures?  My plan would be to create the final lease doc, then email it or upload it to some sort of service to get reliable digital signatures.

Just an update to help other investors.  I got the work done for 16.5, brand new service (moved from inside to outside the building), 2 entire 3br apartments with recessed lights in 2 rooms, and feed wires run to the one remaining apartment which is not currently being renovated. 

good idea