All Forum Posts by: Andrew Cameron

@Thomas Hickey  The issue you've probably heard about is them cutting out at certain temperatures, correct?  This is true.  A lot of the newer high quality units cut out at -20 or -30 Celsius.  However they get less efficient the colder the air temperature gets.  BUT...  The efficiency of a heat pump can be 200% plus (some significantly more), this means that you power in 1 unit of energy in you get 2 units of heat out.  Electric baseboards are 100% efficient - 1 unit in 1 unit out, and energy efficient oil furnaces are ~90% efficient - 1 unit in, 0.90 units of heat out.

Yes, the heat pump will become less efficient in the coldest time of the year, and all that means is you use the old less efficient system for a portion of the year.  Meaning your cost of heat should be no worse in the coldest months.  But, the heat pumps work beautifully in September, October, November December, January, March, April and May.  In the shoulder heating seasons you could be reducing your heat costs significantly.  

Don't forget to focus on the expense side of things either. That can have a dramatic increase in property values. For example if you can decrease expenses by $5,000/year with an 8% cap rate you just increased the value by $62,500. I'm in winteryCanada so the first thing I always look at is reducing heat costs. I see your in Massachusetts, so this will probably apply to you too. I always check to see how it's heated and see if I can replace the whole system with a large heat pump. If I can't do that I usually look to install mini-split heat pumps in the units. If I can't do that I'll look to update the heating system to a more efficient boiler or fuel source. Then I apply the same analysis to the hot water source. Other things I look at are: - Installing low flow faucets and shower heads - LED or CFL lights - hot water blankets - new low flow toilets - new energy efficient appliances, etc. - occupancy sensors in common areas In Nova Scotia, there is Efficiency Nova Scotia which is tasked with helping control energy demand. They have a number of programs one can tap in to to replace old light bulbs, install low flow shower heads, etc. Do you have anything like this organization in Mass?

@Paul MacInnis Was the 8-unit building you almost bought in yarmouth the one downtown on Cliff St?  

Right now we do annual winter inspections.  We go in and do the following:

- replace smoke detector batteries

- clean the filters in the air exchangers

- Clean the filter and trap in the dryer

- Clean the bathroom fans

- Check the caulking on any tub surrounds

We also ask them questions about minor problems that may become problems later on, such as, if their drains are running smooth, is their toilet leaking, etc.  Then if they say their drains are running slowly we pour some draino down to take care of any issue before it becomes a middle of the night flood.

We also take a look around to make sure there isn't anything else amiss in the unit.  The other thing we use this time for is to talk to our tenants and build that relationship.  

I'd like to do more regular inspections, I just haven't gotten organized to do it.  

@Thomas S.  Do you have different reasons to do inspections each quarter, or do you just go in and do them?

Ben McMahon thanks for the welcome. I'm glad to hear you had a great time on the Cabot Trail. Did you take the Ferry over, fly in or drive around?

Paul MacInnis I always joke, my Mom and Dad own the units - I just do all the work for them! Actually, we have about 40 of them in Amherst and the rest are in Yarmouth. I drive right by you in Windsor quite often on my way back and forth! Murdock Smith congratulations on the purchase of your unit. Where exactly did you buy ?

I've done two subdivisions so far - one with 15 four-unit buildings and one with 9 four unit buildings and 16 houses. Small compared to the big cities, large for my neck of the woods. The trouble I've found is it takes a lot of capital and then a long time to get your cash back. You can't get in to it, have 100' of sewer pipe laid and then back out. You're in until it's done. To give you a sense of the money required, The typical quote for building all the infrastructure, including water, sewer, storm, street base, asphalt and curbs is $700/ft. That doesn't include cost of land or any of the soft costs to get going. It gets expensive quickly to develop a subdivision. If you come from the Real Estate Agent side, and are getting property management experience, are there any large development companies that you could go work for? A lot of the big companies around here, design and build the subdivision. Then they either sell the houses, or rent the Apartment. This could be a way for you to experience the development world without having to put your own money into it.

Our target demographic is seniors, so we put stand up showers in our units. Then we always talk about how this best for people with mobility issues, and how they won't have to worry about getting in and out of the tub anymore. This works really well for us. This could be a good marketing feature if you'd like to target seniors.

Good afternoon everyone.

I'm Andrew Cameron in Nova Scotia, Canada.  I look after 133 apartments and am pumped to get on to the Forums and learn from and help other landlords.