All Forum Posts by: Ciprian L.

I'm confused now.

I received a quote today and the contractor said that he has to replace the heat pump also because I have 10 seers heat pump . They would have to install a 13 seer's Heat pump to be compatible with 13 seer AC unit. And that means replacing the inside system also.

I don't know what all this means. Do you think that I will have problems if I replace only the AC unit with a 13 seer one?

I don't want to replace the AC with a new one and then have problems later with the heat pump because one is 13 seer and the other one is 10 seer.

I don't know how much is for the labor, I don't have a very detailed quote. That's why I want to get a few more with all the details.

The quote for the new system includes.  

2 1/2 Condensor (outside unit)

65 ft of new line-set

New coil (inside)

Refrigerant

Thank you everyone for your input. 

We already serviced the old unit twice last year. I don't want to rely on luck by replacing it with an old one, so I decided to replace it with a new unit.

I will try to get a few more quotes.

@Andy Webb

 I don't know how old it is. The first price if for replacing outdoor condenser with an old one, a 2.5 ton R22, the second price is for replacing the whole system. 

Hello BP,

I have a 20 year old single family in Indianapolis  that has a problem with the outside AC unit. I received a quote to replace the unit with a used one for $920 or replace it with a new system for $2940. We have the option that if the used unit fails in the next 90 days, the cost of the used unit will be deducted from the cost of the new system.

What would you do?

I'll be there

@Matt Hall  . I was in the same situation 1 year ago. I was looking for a house in Burbank, Glendale and La Canada because of the good schools in this areas. 

In that price range you can get a 2/1 that probably needs some work done in Burbank. My plan was to buy a 2/1 (I didn't need a 3/2 right away but I could extend and add 1 bedroom and 1 bath a few years in the future) in a good area and put some work into it to make it the way I want it. 

If is your primary residence is not an investment, but if you plan on staying there for at least 7-10 years I wouldn't stress to much if the prices are high or low at this mortgage rates.

@Alexander Merritt 

I had the same questions when I started (not to long ago) and decided to go with higher end ones. Main reason is because they are out of state and I have to rely on PM to find tenants and deal with them.

Another reason are expenses, on the paper you use 8-10% of rent for expenses. If you have repairs of $100/month if your rent is $1000 that is 10%, but if your rent is $500 the same repairs are 20% of rent. Same thing might happen with the vacancy if you have 2 months for lower end instead of 1 month for better area.

I would use higher percentage for repairs and vacancy in lower end area when you compare CF for the 2 properties.

Even in higher end area this year I had 2 evictions and one of them with 6 month vacancy and over 12k in damages, bad things can happen in both areas, the important thing is to keep cash reserves so you can get over unexpected expenses.

The expenses look low for me also and I don't see anything for vacancy, I usually use 8%-10% for vacancy.