But after we had tenants whose various dogs ate my porch swing, the plug off a window air conditioner (haven't a clue why the dog didn't fry himself on that one), dug holes in carpets down to the subfloor, ate the bottom off a closet door, chewed open a door and got under the house in the summer heat to stay cool and crushed a duct pipe and (in one case) were kept under the house so I got to clean feces and urine out from under there on my hands and knees....we rethought our  idea of the need for a pet fee.Gail

She is dropping 6k tomorrow to convert from oil to gas heat, so her costs right now are scaring her.Waiting 2 weeks with a lower price would still mean it was empty on October 1 which is her self imposed deadline for rental.  

House we just bought has problems with it's gas heater heat exchanger being rusted and possibly a source of CO. 

SELLER agrees that the heating and cooling unit that was removed from the DWELLING’S front room shall be returned in good working order.

It has some very stringent rules that must be adhered and it is more expensive than a straight exchange but it can be the answer to getting a quality property in a heated market.  

If you're in the HVAC business I'm sure you know it's not cheap to heat a house built in 1890 in Connecticut.

{When looking at smaller multifamily (i.e <16-20 units) with central heating, the operating costs are likely to run closer to 60%)The 50% "guideline" is a quick, in-your-head, means of performing triage on a property and deciding whether it warrants further examination.  

Here is the list of problems: The front door barely opens, NONE of the doors close correctly, garage door has been replaced but the electrical still needs tackled, no doorbell, no fire alarms or carbon monoxide alarm, no working outside lights, a severe mice infestation (who have now raided my brand new couch), no insulation in the mudroom which is allowing cold air into the house and raising my heating (propane!)

We are in a vacation town and airbnb apartments are doing well here) 2BR: $1200 (basement apartment. probably capped at $1200) 3BR: $1700 (potential for raising to $2000) Two 1BRs renting at $875 (we think rent could easily be $1000-$1100) Taxes $9300 (ughh, Vermont) Insurance $1600 (might be a little more since we'd be owner occupied and current owner is not) Heat $1878 (current owner pays heat- place has new windows and new insulation in basement apartment.

I'd like to respond to each reply--and I hope to do so later--but right now I'm in the heat of getting two units under contract.Yes, I got enough good applicants to make selections.