All Forum Posts by: Colleen F.

@Nick Graziose wow, and they didn't offer any suggestions on improving the battery life?  Is your wifi far from the locks so they are looking to connect all the time? This makes a good case for smaller test for any future changes. 

Hope you weren't planning on a lot of short term rentals. lack of wifi access would be a bummer. 

@Katie Southard   Just a thought many mailboxes aren't locked so the liability aspect if the key is not marked is likely slim to none. 

@Katie Southard  If the key is marked you definitely should use the post office process for replacement.  If not I would do what is convenient for you. If you choose to copy the key you could make a copy and mail it to them, then they have to pick up the held mail to get it. 

As for asking for things when people are there I would put a stop to it. First, tell everyone to just say no, we need requests in writing to keep track of repairs. You could point out to your husband that unless you have a record he isn't going to remember the slow drain request was the last 3 times and now maybe you need a plumber. Consider using the key request as an opportunity with the tenants. Tell the tenants I think we need to talk about communication.  First, we consistently need to get your repair and replace requests in writing.  If you have a request this is how you send it to me. Only these type of requests (water leak and no heat are urgent) and then you should text/call (your preference). Let them know you want to be responsive to important issues but you also expect they will respect your procedures and the time of the people doing repairs.  If it is because they are young they can probably be trained to your expectations. However I have let tenants go for being too high maintenance. 

@Brian Erlich I get what you are saying and opposition by some neighbors is not the same as an HOA but if you have a rich neighbor who does not want you there all bets are off. In our club case we went through more than 20k because he was opposing the ownership. He was fighting that it fell under lodging and you go to court and they bleed you.

@Pratik Kochar  I  would get a couple of electrician estimates.  The first test will be do they show to do the estimate.... Around us they are tough to get to come out.

@Jacob Stevenson  Its a lake property and it sounds like you aren't looking at it as a straight up rental but rather a way of paying for the property and using it for yourself too? Is that the end goal with the time share buying and sunset memberships? 

One time, we didn't buy in an HOA just a rural neighborhood in VT but as a club. Club owned the property. One very determined neighbor with deep pockets (a NYC restaurant owner) took us to court and drove that club to the point where we lost the house. The legal costs set us back so much and they were down the drain because we couldn't afford to keep it and keep fighting him. So consider that.

@Pratik Kochar  I don't know what it costs because it is area dependent but with todays appliances and that size house with AC you are likely going to need it.  We have 150 amps.  If I recall correctly the contractor said the box is tapped out meaning there was no space to put in any more breakers.  We had a subpanel installed which is an option but would have upgraded service if we needed more AMPs. Also it was the middle of covid so there was that.  I did note you had gas appliances so that may limit your needs since we are all electric. Question is if you are renovating now might be the best time to do it. 

@Zachary Engen search the forums but you can advertise 30 plus days also on airbnb and i believe vrbo.  you can also advertise on facebook and such. 

@AJ Wong  another thing to do is not let the PM contract significant repairs. They sometimes use their go to guy and it is worth getting competitive quotes.  If nothing else it keeps their go to guy honest. 

@Courtney Duong    I think it will likely work like my 2020 version but that is a question for quickbooks.  I would just ask them if you buy an older version will your files will be usable/accessible if you don't renew.  I would think because of audits they would make that the case.  The 2020 version you still have your files but anything new you enter you would have to do manually, no downloads to quickbooks. In addition they don't do updates so every time your operating system updates you could run into an issue.   If your son is a student does he get a discount through the school?   I know for online they do but maybe not desktop. 

Personally I am looking for something different but accountants all seem to use QB.

@Eric Justice  in higher end markets that can mean alot of your assets are not liquid.   Not sure how viable lines of credits are on investment properties so you have a better reserves. You have some loss of opportunity for future properties if you have all your cash in one and you need the cash to buy plus reserves.