All Forum Posts by: Ericka G.

Ok. The tree was obviously damaged and they were notified but I'm going to just get it handled and hope they will do the right thing. Doubtful. I have an icky feeling the tree fell with some help from them in middle of the night. It's odd that right after they were notified that it suddenly fell. Just asked my husband if he feels comfortable operating a chain saw, lol. He said no :( luckily, I have a good tree guy so I will get it taken of this morning

I vote used. Have gotten appliances from sears outlet and Craigslist and had good luck so far other than one bad apple from a private seller. I'd recommend going with a brick and mortar seller like Sears or a small mom/pop shop that will help you if something goes wrong. Some will even warranty the used appliances.

Due to hurricane Irma a large tree fell from my neighbor's property and was leaning scarily against one of our rental's trees. I had my tree guy come out to assess but didn't cut anything because the tree was/is on my neighbor's property and not mine to cut. I contacted the neighbor and he contacted his landlord with a promise to resolve on Saturday. But they did nothing. Tonight my tenant calls in a panic - tree has come down barely missing the house but taking down the power line and ripping it from the side of the house. Power was still on but power company came out and shut it off for safety reasons (live wire near gas line, etc). I was told that I need to get the tree removed and the electrical box repaired before they will turn the power back on. My question is this: what responsibility does my neighbor have here? if I pay to get THEIR tree removed from my property and pay for repairs, do I have legal grounds to ask them to reimburse me or is it better to wait until they agree to help pay before doing anything? I don't want to leave my tenants without power so I have my tree guy ready to go Monday morning but it doesn't seem fair that I alone have to deal with the damage from their tree. Any advice? Have you experienced anything similar?

I agree with the comments about flat roofs, corroded pipes, and outdated electrical panels. I've dealt with them all :( That said, definitely NOT deal breakers if you buy a solid house at the right price. I bought a 1960s bungalow 2 yrs ago with the old knob electrical panel and was warned that I should replace it ASAP - planned to, but it hasn't given any problems until last week, my handyman fixed the issue in 15 mins and it cost me $25. I'm planning to replace the panel soon tho and was quoted ~$900 to do so. My point in sharing that is that the house was an absolute steal, so spending $925 to upgrade the electrical isn't a big deal. Other issues to look out for: asbestos siding - in GA that can make it hard to get/keep insurance. Other states it may not be an issue. Also check to see if there are outlets in the bathrooms - some old houses don't have them and that is a pain for tenants. Don't worry about the pink and blue tiles, it doesn't cost a ton to get the tile glazed White if the colors are really offensive.

It is rare that a couple is equally yoked in terms of how they view finances and investing, so know that your issue is a common one that a lot of people wrestle with to some degree.  House-hacking isn't for everyone for a wide range of reasons (namely living so close to your tenants/lack of privacy), but if she is open to trying it, I say go for it but promise her that at the end of the one year, you will sit down together and decide the next step.  IF she decides she doesn't want to move into another four-plex house hack after experiencing it and the money you are making for a year, you need to respect that and perhaps try a different investment vehicle.  St.Louis is ripe with opportunity if house hacking in RI makes her unhappy.  My hunch is that once she experiences living with her housing paid for by tenants, she will get hooked and start looking into learning more on her own.  That is what happened with my husband.  He will excitedly forward me a bigger pockets article that I read 2 years ago and tried to share, but he wasn't interested or didn't have time to read it back then.  LOL.  After seeing the success of our investments, he is just as excited about real estate as I am. 

Good luck with it!  I hope that she will catch your fire - it is sooo much easier to advance quickly when your partner has a similar vision/goal.

@Peter Sik HVAC replacement costs vary greatly depending on property location and size.  This will be the third unit I've put in... the first two I did on small houses in MI and found a great guy who puts in refurbished units - each of those cost $1,100 - $1,300 including labor and they are still going strong/doing great 2+ years later.  I felt ok going with refurbished in MI b/c it isn't as hot and many homes don't even have central A/C so it is a perk not a requirement.  I also put in portable units in one of my really inexpensive houses in MI - cost ~$450  and the tenants love it, so I'm going that route for any future MI properties.  These might be good options to explore in LA too.

In ATL, A/C is a much bigger deal - a MUST to have good tenants so I'm putting in a brand new system and my guy quoted me $2,300 for a 2 ton system which is a deal compared to what the big companies quoted me.  I've been working with this guy since 2014 and trust that he will do it right - he works for a big HVAC company and does small jobs on the side...I add that because  there are a lot of shady contractors in ATL, so I wouldn't trust just anyone to do a "discounted" job.  It's cheaper if you find someone who works for themselves on the side.  

Good luck with it!

Peter Sik I just went thru this with 2 of my units at the beginning of summer. It cost ~$150-$300 each just to replace freon (R22) and tech advised me that he thought there was a leak. One of the units is still going strong, the other again stopped working this week so I'm getting it replaced today. My point is, the freon replacement game is a total crap shoot. I agree with the other posters that if the unit is old needing R22 and you have the reserves, system replacement might make sense. Adam Abdel-Hafez do you add your own freon and fix your own leaks in ATL? If yes, let's talk!

@Samantha Klein I agree about the umbrella policy, GEICO said they would only allow 4 properties on the umbrella policy however.  How many are you able to have on yours or do you have multiple umbrella policies?

@Samantha Klein that is a good idea. Our umbrella policy underwriter advised that it is now time to start an LLC given the number of properties we have, so a commercial policy will probably be needed too.

Do you have to have an LLC to get a commercial policy? If yes, I guess I will start that process sooner rather than later.

@Matthew Hite and @Rick Baggenstoss thanks for the recos, I will investigate those companies and see what I get back.  Fingers crossed!