All Forum Posts by: Ron Averill

Does the garage owner need to have additional insurance to cover the contents, or does the lease specify that the owner is responsible for damage, theft, etc. ?

James, Thanks for the response. This makes perfect sense.

I was teasing my wife saying that we should eventually try to buy the whole street. Then we could cut continuous long strips with the lawnmower, saving all that turning time.

Thanks for all the great feedback! Here is a little more information about the current situation, which I should have provided in the original post. 

The four houses are all duplexes, and they would be rentals. Our strategy is to buy and hold forever, unless circumstances change in the future and indicate that an exit is preferable. We have multiple potential exit strategies. 

Most, if not all, of the houses on the street are rentals. We live in a college town, and there is consistently high demand for rental houses, especially among students. Duplexes tend to do as well as SFH's. These duplexes are very nice 3BR/1.5Ba on each side, and could be rented to upper level students, young professionals or families. There is a mixture of all these situations on this street.

I can think of some pros and some cons of having four houses on this same street. A few of these were mentioned in the above responses, and some new ones were mentioned that I had not thought about. I'd love to get even more opinions on this situation. If I decide to move forward, I'll be negotiating this deal in the coming week.

I'm considering the purchase of a package deal of four houses on the same street. There are 18 houses total on this street. 

What are the pros / cons of owning multiple properties this close together?

Paul, You are the target customer I'm concerned about -- the parent of someone who will rent the house from me. Thank you for sharing your experience. 

I was worried about the presence of a mitigation system. Now I'm starting to think that I should add them to my other properties as a competitive advantage, even though they have all been tested and are below the recommended limit. :)

Thomas, I may be worrying more than I should about this. Or, maybe I'm not giving my potential tenants enough credit. 

I have to disclose the presence of the mitigation system, as the mitigation system (pipe and pump) is visible on the back of the house. The conversation will happen at some point, so my plan is to turn it into a positive. 

I have not bought the house, yet.

Dell, That's good to hear. I'm encouraged by all the feedback so far. 

My analogy is this: Mold is not good, so we install sump pumps, dehumidifiers and roofs to keep things dry. No one ever complains about sump pumps, dehumidifiers and roofs because people understand a little about mold, its dangers and how to prevent it. 

The radon situation is similar in some ways. Hopefully this analogy and some added education will help to alleviate some of the fears in the Michigan population, who does not know as much about radon as some other parts of the country. 

Michelle, That's a good idea to provide the EPA booklet. Thanks. 

Wendy, Radon is a naturally occurring gas that is released from the ground. It can be dangerous at high levels. The EPA web site has lots of information about it. Here is a link to a basic fact sheet: 

http://www.epa.gov/radon/pdfs/basic_radon_facts.pd...

Thomas, Thanks for the opinion. I tend to think like you on this topic. However, radon issues are much more prevalent in Colorado than in Michigan. My concern is not about the radon itself as long as it is controlled, but rather about the perceptions that people may have if they don't know much about radon. I will probably have to educate potential tenants to alleviate their fears. 

I recently walked through a SFH that I am considering buying as a college student rental property, and I noticed that there is a radon mitigation system installed. This is not a common feature in this area, since radon is not a huge problem.

My gut tells me that the presence of a radon mitigation system may be a deterrent to renters, even though the property "may" be much safer than surrounding properties. The natural instinct of some may be to falsely assume that the house is unsafe because it requires a mitigation system.

1. Do you think a radon mitigation system would scare off potential tenants?

2. Are there any liability concerns in renting such a property?

3. Would you buy this property?