I seriously think that some landlords (mainly talking about typical private individuals here - not larger management companies) forget about the basics!

Okay the 4 unit buildings when built in 1981 have one meter going in.There is no sub meters.Fulton county water stated that is what the builder requested in 1981.Fast forward to today.Fulton county does not do sub metering for these buildings.The water company stated these buildings only have a 3/4 line meter on one and 1 inch line meter on the others.Water bill has been high.We fixed a bunch of leaks and filed leak adjustments to Fulton county.Water company says they can test meter to make sure it reads right.Previous owner had high readings as well.Some tenants are only supposed to have 2 to 4 people living there on lease.End up having 8 to 10 people and they use the water constantly even with no leaks.Currently we provide water,sewer,trash into the total rent.We have to do it this way because with one line if the 3 tenants pay the bill but one does not the water company will cut off water to the whole building and lien it.Since it is one line into the building even if all leaks are fixed I can't go up to a tenant without proof they are using more water.I can tell tenant with an adjusted lease they are responsible for any usage after 50 bucks a month but they might not pay the difference.My plumber told me of a company that will install individual meters and then bill the tenants directly.Have any of you had experience with these companies?

I deal with Regions bank and they have a charge for bank checks but give me all I want at NC due to my relationship with my banker.

I guess my situation could be worse, but I have a great multifamily under contract which very conservatively needs about $20k worth of work to be 'nicely' fixed up- new stucco, paint, carpet, updating bathrooms and kitchens, etc.The problem is I already have an FHA loan, and won't qualify for the ideal FHA 203k program.

I have the drive and motivation, I just need to find a company who appreciates hard working, honest individuals!

Lots of individual residential and several small subdivisions, retail, plus a good mix of dorky engineering stuff for street reconstructions, forensic studies, etc.

Some people may have a formula for this, but I feel like it is an individual decision, and said formula would be individualized to some degree.If you don't like renting in that neighborhood, find some comps and sell for as high as you can.

Ideally this collateral would be used to secure a line of credit with as few covenants as are feasible.

Well Brian ethics and what it entails is subjective on an individual basis.If you are an astute buyer it is not your job to protect the interests of the seller or school them.What constitutes a fair and equitable deal is in the eye of the beholder.The law and ethics are two very different things.

Even an individual owner of real estate has to answer to someone, or some group (bank, spouse, heirs, etc).