All Forum Posts by: Brandon West

Good ideas thank you. 

Hello, I am located in Washington state. I have a property under contract that is accessed by a private railroad overpass crossing. I am in the process of obtaining a permit for residential/farm crossing and am waiting to hear back from them. The bridge is in rough shape and the engineering firm I had looked at it said that it would only support the weight of a pickup truck but would not support the weight of a cement truck or larger weights required for development or required by the fire marshal. The Replacment cost they threw out witch was a very big guess was around 750k. This price would kill the deal. I am exploring getting an easement through adjacent properties for access but I am not holding out much hope for that option. I am wondering if anybody has any experience dealing with a situation like this. Or working with county regulations when there is inadequate access via a bridge. Anything helps thank you.

I recently had a similar issue with a duplex of mine. Like Corby said, I also chose to tackle this project myself. What started out as a daunting task finished with a afternoon on the end of a shovel. There are some great YouTube videos on splicing cast iron with ABS. In the end I was into it for a couple hundred bucks. (new shoes included) 

Does anybody have any experience subletting a house in the Chicago area? I am not talking about short term AirBnb style of subletting. I recently posed the question to a potential landlord and he replied that every person in the house needs to be on the lease. Is this because of Illinois law or possibly his own landlord insurance policy that prohibits subletting?

Bruce Runn Thanks for the info. That was exactly what I was looking for.

The reason I am interested in hostels is because with the idea I have I am running into occupancy laws. I am only allowed to have 5 unrelated parties legally allows to occupy one house. My goal is to rent out my space to more than that many people. It seems that hostels do not run into that problem.

Someone to help me with residential leases. Researching local regulations and advice on a house hacking idea I have.

I am having trouble defining what makes a hostel a hostel and not a hotel. How do I convert my house into a hostel? Who should I call to get legal details on zoning and in that area?

I am trying to sub lease a house out in Minneapolis. I have heard that some local municipalities might not be OK with certain living arrangements. I am wondering where do I start researching what is legal in my local area. 

Ex, How many unrelated parties can be under one roof, how many people per room, Can I rent out a room for a week, month, year. ETC

Thanks. 

I am looking for good legal counsel in Minneapolis.