All Forum Posts by: Adam Smith

@John Kesner

That is another option I didn't consider.  Thank you for the suggestion.  I will have to look into the cost of installation and the cost of running electric baseboard heaters.  Typically in our area there is gas forced air and water baseboard heat.  I will take a look at all options.

@Account Closed

Thank you for the information.  I was just reading about the dampers.  This could be a possibility based on our knowledge of the existing system.  Our neighbor owns an HVAC company.  I will talk to him soon and get his opinion.  Thanks for the suggestion!

@Chris T.

I agree that tenants that don't pay their own utilities do not conserve.  I am not exactly how old the furnace is.  If I had to guess I would say about 15 years old.  We have not been in the house yet and are just running our preliminary numbers.  The current owner has family living in the basement therefore most likely ok that there is one furnace.

The additional HVAC Duct work may be extensive since it is a finished basement.  Thank you for making me think about other things.

@Account Closed

I am not familiar with a zone control system.  Two thermostats and one furnace I am guessing the duct work would need to be separated so that if only the basement unit was calling for heat it only goes through the duct work to the basement?  I will look into that as it would (or could) mean duct work but if I can keep the same furnace at least for awhile then that would help.  I would still have to pay for the heat along with water and gas so that is something else to consider as well.

Thank you both for helping me think outside the box.  This would be our 3rd and 4th unit and deals are hard to come by in our area so I want to be creative but reasonable.

Hello BP! We are looking at a SFR that has been split into two units. It has only one water, gas and electric meter (i.e.- one furnace and one water heater). Wondering how this would work with having two separate tenants.

The water (as long as the water heater is large enough) and electric bill I could just include in the cost of the rent (one option) but the one furnace is what I think I would need to figure out.  One unit is on the main level and the other is the basement so the temperature difference could be around 8 degrees based on our personal home.

I am sure I am not the first person who has come across this.  Just wondering what ideas people have.  Obviously, another furnace would solve the problem but any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Adam

I have heard about the other mall but where is the northern tech center located?

Thanks

We just tried to get a heloc on one of our investment properties in Colorado and we could not find a bank or credit union that could do it. We talked to multiple local regional banks and credit unions.  We were told multiple times that they would only do a heloc on our personal occupied home. 

I would love to find a bank that will though! Please update this thread if you find one. 

@Shawn Breyer  In our area we find that tenants typically do the math to determine which is a better deal for them.  For example, they will look at a rental that is $1,500 per month (no utilities) and add the typical costs of utilities and compare that to a rental that includes utilities to see what is the better deal.  There are other factors as well like location, garage, etc.

This being said our area is 90% SFH which typically the tenant pays the utilities. Our Town does not allow the water or sewer bill to be in the tenants name so it has become a hassle to have the tenant reimburse us for these two utilities.

Good Luck!

We do the same as @Jerry W. We are under market rent but we have great renters that are actually landscaping the front and back yard on their dime.  Yes, we will approve everything but it is worth loosing $100/month in rent when they treat the home as their own.

@Derik S.  I think it comes down to your goals which leads into the business plan question.  If you are the person who has some cash to invest and doesn't want to be involved in the day to day or month to month interaction with the tenants then investing out of state may work for you.  As others have said you have to have a team on the ground that you can trust.  This could involve some out of state travel to drive the areas, meet with people, etc.

Personally, we don't have an official business plan (we only have one rental now) but we do have a few spreadsheets that line out our goals, rentals, etc.  This is just to have a general roadmap of where we would like to be in 10 years (ie-number of rentals, income, expenses, payoff, etc.)  We don't want to get caught up in the details of future properties.  We know our goals and minimum criteria for purchasing another rental and when we find one that meets our criteria then we buy it.  (This has only happened once but we are close to rental #2)

I am not familiar with the Fort Collins market but it seems that you could find some areas within 1 hour that would have a cheaper price point if you wanted to be more involved in the rental.  We are in Firestone and while I don't know for sure but I am assuming that it is a cheaper market.  There are a few smaller towns not to far east of I25 that are cheaper but are "bedroom communities" to Fort Collins, Loveland, Longmont, etc. that are cheaper but current rents are high.  15-years ago I was told and I think it still holds true...if you want to find cheaper housing just go north and east of Denver.

This is just my 2 cents.  Good Luck!  I am sure you will do well since you are asking the questions.

@Jeff L. While looking for SFR and multifamily properties we contacted a handful of banks/credit unions and they all had the same policy. 20% down for SFR and 25% down for MF. We ultimately found a great deal on a SFR so we didn't pursue the MF.

Not saying that you can't find it but that is our experience in north Denver.

Good Luck!