All Forum Posts by: Colleen F.

I have been asked to do the reverse but didn't because it did not make financial sense. Your situation looks like it would be good for both of you. I am not sure you can charge the cleaning and painting since that would be normally wear and tear costs. If she has been with you more then a year and she can afford the house rental I would write a new one year lease or 18 months for the new place (avoid that winter renewal time). Keeping in mind the holding costs on the house might be more then the apartment.

I would have her give a new deposit for only the difference in rent and some amount over that (estimated charges for any damages), get that by doing a pre-move out walk through. Have her sign something acknowledging the deposit she is giving you and that you can hold the old deposit against the new place. When she moves out of the apartment make sure you have a formal letter closing out that lease showing the transfer of the deposit and any deductions for repairs. She may just be asking now to find out the terms so I would not consider it a done deal until she really has done the deposit and lease signing.

Just had lead inspection in RI (which I am told is tougher then mass). You have to have a lead certificate to rent. Although there are lots of landlords here that don't. In RI houses built before 1978 are assumed to have lead unless you can prove otherwise. I think that is true nationwide. Houses with lead are tested on several surfaces for lead dust and you get actual lead levels that pass or fail. All painted friction services such as wood windows I was told would fail.

You can have a lead inspector test during sale. We had a lead inspector come through with recommendations. Some inspectors are more helpful at this point then others. They pointed at areas I would not have thought about and gave some budget friendly tips on acceptable ways to deal with a few items. I don't think the RI ones work in MA though.

After sale, when they came to inspect for compliance they looked for intact paint on all surfaces and the exterior. I mean everywhere, ceiling trim, walls, window sills. This is where you could get hit even if you don't have lead paint. They also took the dust wipes for lead from the floor and window sills. They looked for bare dirt on the outside within 5 feet of the house and we had to mulch any exposed area( or have grass).

Floors are a big area for tracking dirt in and a painted house of this age has lead in the soil so one of our floor samples did cause us to fail the first inspection (just over the limit) so get a good cleaner in before the inspection particularly if there has been work recently done. Dust wipes pick up dust you don't see.

Education is something that will help you with this one, definitely ask the inspector a lot of questions in a pre-purchase inspection, it will help you be prepared.

I would never plan a window in the shower but we have one in a couple bathrooms. You can tile around them or you can cut standard shower panels to fit around the window and caulk the edges. We replaced wood windows with vinyl and some privacy glass which was only $6.00 extra. Why it wasn't done like that in the first place I don't know. The sill is made so they can't set items on it and the window trim is plastic. I also put a plastic corner shower shelf to give them other places to put their stuff. I like light and it was cheaper then closing things up. We needed more ventilation then block due to humidity. A lot depends on where the window faces, what your budget is, and how high end your rental market is. Tiny bathrooms though do benefit from a window even if you can make them to code some other way.

We bought a property as a second home with the idea that the property would support some of its own cost. Initially from a numbers standpoint it was not an investment. We knew that and were okay with it. I guess that is one of the key points I would say is make sure you are honest with yourself, is it an investment first or a second home first? Ours worked out well, we rent it a good part of the year but in the summer when we rent it in a weekly market it is bit of a hassle because we don't want to give it up. We also made different choices in picking the house and furnishing etc because it is a rental.

Ours pays for itself but that was not true at first. You need to run the numbers like any investment. Look on VRBO etc and see what places are going for, determine the length of the rental season, figure in some vacancy and see what the numbers tell you. Make sure you assume a high and low season rental rate and property management costs , and cleaning if you are not local. the cleaning you can charge back to renters, that is what is done around here.

Good luck.

Here, propane is more expensive then oil if you use a company. Oil you can just call around. Propane you have to contract unless you use a really small tank and take it in for fill yourself. I had propane in PA years ago and it wasn't as big an issue nor was it pricey. they delivered to my 100 lb tanks - no problem. No minimum use A couple of years ago we had a propane fireplace installed. The install of a propane fireplace unit was 300.00, the unit 1000 up, and tank rental 60 a year plus so much gas. times that by 4.

I would agree taking out fireplaces would be expensive. Mostly I have seen people drywall them in and not remove masonry. You don't get the space back though.

@David Krulac What did that cost you to add? I know the propane can be done but it adds another cost and you need to think about where to put multiple tanks. Here the stove company would put the insert in and the propane company has to add the piping. The propane company also charges tank rental and the low use propane is pricey. I know other parts of the country it is not a big cost. I am leaving some fireplaces as decorative for that reason. I would not recommend to take the units out but weigh the lower cost electric conversion vs. the fact it just doesn't look as good as gas.

Gas inserts require separate gas lines as well as the insert. If you have gas it may be worth it. If you have to use propane think about the setup and how to have each tenant pay their own.

I would saying having an unauthorized dog isn't good screening. However the issue on the smoking you need to have that in the lease.

I would interview other PM companies to see what the competition gives and go back to them with that. They should be doing inspections for that amount I would think. Our company does although I am not sure about the regular nature of the inspections.

@Mike Hoefling did you find someone or were you shoveling this last snowfall?

Welcome John, You have come to the right place. Read all the info. If you have questions just search the old threads and you will get a feel for what the community has to say. Read the beginners guide, listen to some podcasts, and check out the documents on fileplace. I am living in Metrowest area but invest in RI. However there are a fair number of people here investing in Ma. and there is a lot of knowledge as well as REI events.