All Forum Posts by: Arthur Banks

...following...

@Brie Schmidt @Brandon Hall @Joshua D. 

Thanks for the advice!

@Jonathan C. I want to be like you when I grow up.

I'm currently "house hacking" a 2 unit. I was planning on staying only one year before moving on to the next to repeat.  But I may stay another year.  Anyway, the question is since this is my 'home', I want it to look nice, so there are some improvements I was considering.  But I don't quite know where the line is for improving on my dime or the rental income. For instance, I want to redo the blacktop driveway, add some landscape (shrubs and things that won't need a lot of care when I move), replace windows, paint floors/walls and finish some missing drywall in the basement. Things like that.  What have you done in this situation?

What I was thinking is... I have never in all my 40+ years living in IL  had  insulated pipes in any home I lived in, the basement stays fairly warm, I live in the home and am constantly in the basement, the insulating was more of a cost savings (keep the water warm(er) more so than a "I'm worried the pipes will freeze".  And yes, I figured, I would be doing the tenants a favor if there was even a slight decrease in their gas bill because again of the above-mentioned line of thinking.

I currently owner occupy a 2 unit.  With winter being here, I plan to insulate the water lines. The question is do I go ahead and insulate the tenants lines on "my" dime, or ask would they want their lines done and pass the cost on to them?

Thanks.  The storage rooms in my unit are in the basement/laundry area. I think there should be no need to inspect the storage unless some funny business is going on. There aren't any areas of concern (plumbing, etc.) that need to be constantly monitored.

@Jeremy Tillotson Is that your concern when doing inspections or entry when the tenant isn't home?

I'm currently updating keyed door knobs throughout my unit and I wondered, on the basement storage area should I put a keyed knob or a standard knob and allow the tenant to use a padlock.  I'm believing just as I have keys to their unit, I should also have keys to the storage so I can include in my random/routine inspection.  Yes?

I have a future tenant who I've conversed with on a few occasions via email and text.  The question I have is, where do you draw the line with friendly comments/remarks?  For instance, she concluded an email the other day stating "I hope you're staying warm and enjoying those Bulls wins." GO BULLS!!! I was stuck on whether to reply to that comment or not.   Not just because of that, but she commented on my facebook page of about the rehab job we did on her place.  She checked out my LinkedIn page.  I don't have any issues with her doing her due diligence on me.  In fact, I welcome it. It says to me she wants to know who I am and what kind of business I run just as much as I want to know who she is.  So back to my question, where do you draw the line and how do you respond to such friendly chat/comments?  I want to make sure I keep it professional.  But I don't want to be stuffy either.  Oh, before anyone suggests, it's not flirtatious in anyway.