All Forum Posts by: Lisa Ryan

I thought so & that makes sense, but I was hoping I could put it all on one. Thanks!

If there are two different houses that are across the street from each other that are listed separately but must be sold together, how do closing costs & mortgage work? Is it possible to put them both onto 1 mortgage or do you have to do two different transations with two sets of closing costs?

I personally think you'd be able to install a lock over the thermostat as long as the thermostat was left at an inhabitable temperature.

Per this link:

http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5321.04

"Supply running water, reasonable amounts of hot water, and reasonable heat at all times, except where the building that includes the dwelling unit is not required by law to be equipped for that purpose, or the dwelling unit is so constructed that heat or hot water is generated by an installation within the exclusive control of the tenant and supplied by a direct public utility connection".

You're still supplying it, they just don't have access to change it.

@Matt Roberts

Maybe there are other areas of Kensington I'm not familiar with, but where I would go (the St Francis Inn on Kensington Ave) was definitely not someplace that had experienced a strong upswing yet.

I don't think attempting to bill the tenant for the service is a good idea and doubt it would stand up in court. I imagine the lease would have to explicitly say something like "the Landlord will provide professional lawn maintenance service, costing between $X and $Y per month, and the full amount is to be back-billed to the tenant. The Landlord will provide bills of the services by the 15th of the month and the full amount is payable the subsequent 1st".

I used to do weekly volunteer work in Kensington and to paint the picture (A) half the buildings don't have all 4 walls (B) homeless people everywhere (C) needles all over the sidewalk (D) people literally knock on your windows if you're stopped a red light trying to get money or sell you crack.

That being said, supposedly Kensington is up-and-coming. Fishtown used to be like this too, and now it's more of a transitional area that still has it's issued, but has gotten pricey and the mid-20s college grads are starting to outnumber the section 8.

Rental license and trash for multifamilies. The rental license also takes about 2 months to get if you do it via mail and legally you can't collect rent without it. Not sure about the annual report fee.

I'd stay out of Gray's Ferry in Southwest and Kensington in the North. Google the Philadelphia Badlands.

Philly also has an additional 2% transfer tax when you buy and when you sell real estate.

I think you're screwed on this one for the remainder of the lease.

From the link below, which is specific to Florida -

"Unless the lease states otherwise, all lawn and landscaping maintenance is the landlord's duty."

http://www.evict.com/?page=legnew1005

Downsides to multifamilies -

1. A lot of them are in areas that maybe you wouldn't otherwise choose to live.

2. Since you're right there, your tenants might make more mundane requests. Or you could become a little too friendly with them which could make enforcing late fees or other violations more difficult.

Overall I'd say that's about it for the downsides. I'd certainly be willing to live with those two things. Good luck!