All Forum Posts by: Zach Nelson

Thank you all for your help!

  @Patrick M. do you place the dehumidifier in the corner of one of the rooms and ask the tenants not to block it? Or do you have any built-in to the unit option? As my case is an occupied basement it may be awkward to try to place a free-standing one in one of the rooms.  The tenant pays the electric, which has added to the incentive not to run the A/C.

@Andrew B. as you guessed, nothing in the lease mentions a requirement to run the A/C, it was just a verbal discussion.  I think you're right that I'm probably out of luck in billing anything back.

Thankfully, the mold report didn't turn up any dangerous molds and it's not too widespread, I think I'll be able to clean this one up myself and then use a mold-spore killing bomb when the tenant moves out.

Also, should I just replace the A/C unit with a dehumidifier?  The tenants may be more likely to use it and it seems the A/C unit is overkill 99% of the time, although it will probably hurt marketability to not have A/C.

I have a tenant who lives in a walk-out basement unit in central IL.  She rarely runs her heat and hasn't used the A/C once in the two years she's lived there since being sunken into the earth keeps the unit fairly comfortable.  The major drawback to this is it stays very humid during the summers down there, also due to it being a basement unit.  I verbally warned her when she moved in to make sure she ran the A/C periodically to keep it dry, but she hasn't, and recently she found mold on a lot of her shoes and clothing.  I paid to have a mold inspector come out and while the spread of the mold wasn't severe, their proposed remediation is $2,000.  

The other catch is she is moving out in a month.

How do I handle this?  Do I bill the inspection fee ($200) and the remediation to the tenant?  She tried to run the A/C for the first time now after the inspection and all the refrigerant has leaked out (it was working when she moved in, not sure if it failed from sitting dormant), so that's also going to require a $2000-4000 repair after we find the leak.

Any advice is appreciated!

Thank you all for your help!  I appreciate you taking the time to point me in the right direction.

Hi all,

I'm looking for a great CPA in the Chicago area that has experience with filing taxes for traditional buy-and-hold rentals and for Airbnb properties.  Even better if they are familiar with splitting out expenses on a house-hacked property (partly owner-occupied).  Does anyone have any recommendations?

I know Peoria requires landlords to register their rental properties, and they make the list of Non-Owner Occupied Property available to the public.  You can find that here:  http://www.peoriagov.org/peoria-rental-information...

I've never checked to see in Bloomington/Normal has a similar list, but Peoria is just a short drive away so you could try mailing to that list if you're willing to buy in that market.

Hi @John Van Uytven,

I recently used Dan Schroeder in Peoria, IL for assistance with my lease.  He was very knowledgeable and experienced.  It's a different application than what you are looking for, but he may be worth a shot.

http://www.hrbklaw.com/dSchroeder.shtml

@Greg 

@Greg Myroth I bought a duplex in Peoria about a year ago and my insurance company told me they won't insure the property if there are not at least two exits from each unit.  So even if the egress windows pass code, you'll want to run it by an insurance agent to make sure they accept those exits.  An agent will likely be able to answer some of your questions about fire code as well.

I might be interested or know someone who is.  Can you post or send to me your analysis of the properties so I can take a look?  What crossroads are the properties near?

Hi James,

I personally don't have enough experience to answer your question, but there is some helpful stuff in a similar discussion here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1779...

You will find related discussions to any forum discussion you are reading at the bottom of each forum discussion page, and they can often help you find posts that answer your question.  

Good luck!