All Forum Posts by: James Mc Ree

Title search and title insurance usually come together, but they are different. A title search is just checking to see if there are outstanding claims against the property. Insurance is the title company protecting you if they missed something. You lack that protection if you don't get insurance.

A foreclosure is a riskier situation because you don't know what is unpaid. Existing liens are easy. The title company can call the HOA, if there s one, and learn if there is a balance. They may miss the plumber who installed a new furnace and central air but wasn't paid yet and who hasn't yet filed a mechanics lien. That would be an example of the risk you accept without title insurance.

I charge a per pet fee, but haven't gone over 2. I think 5 would be too many for me.

Senior dogs sometimes leave behind senior puddles. Collecting a pet fee in the present is unlikely to overcome the damage you may have for 5 dogs with age-related system failures. Don't focus too much on the dogs though. Vet their owners to see how they care for them. Ideally, visit them in their current home to see how they all live and what the place looks like. Your place is likely to look like that in a few years.

This is their web site: https://everseal.com/

They describe it as a quartz-based product, but don't go into details of exactly what is in it. The marketing says repairs are as easy as pouring more on. I saw some reviews where people loved them and others hated them. It was hard to tell if the haters were because of a poor installation by the franchisee or a flawed product. There definitely appeared to be installer issues that I might attribute to the franchisee, but they were trained by the company.

I've had torch down rubber roofs for 10 years and repairs to them are fine. I haven't had to replace one yet, did have one on top of another installed with no issues. Continuing with torch down or variants that are supposed to extend life further are fine. It would be nice to not have to do coatings at $400/3-years, but that's not a huge deal. I guess I am thinking of cost per year of service as my primary metric.

Without knowing anything, the EverSeal product looked like it might be cheap to install as it looks like just spreading a thick liquid across the roof. I would be concerned if the company would be around in 10+ years to honor their 50-year warranty and the franchisee's quality. I hadn't thought about insurance. Thank you @Patricia Steiner for that tip.

I saw an ad for EverSeal offering a 50-year warranty for their flat roof system. It is presented as a liquid that is spread over an existing roof after some preparation. The product appears to be more than just a coating as it goes on in some depth, then hardens into a seamless layer. It appears to be marketed as a product that not only is a full roof solution like I would think of as a new rubber roof, but would address leaks and flaws in the existing roof such that the existing roof need not be torn off and replaced. I am sure there is some limit to that, such as the roof needs to be structurally sound.

Can anyone share experiences with this product and its installation? The ad and some reading of their site piqued my interest for my residential property roofs. My residential properties are mostly rubber roofs that need coating every 3 years and replacement around 15 years +/-. 

Check the wording on that. PA municipal planning code says a municipality must provide for every use, with some exceptions that have to do with trading uses with other municipalities. If it really does say no STRs, contact your local real estate lawyer and you should have a lay-up win. Attorneys specifically look for ordinances written that way because they are easy money makers.

You are probably still OK if you had at least 1 guest in 2022 as your STR will be considered an "existing non-conforming use" which means you can operate as is, but may have more hoops to jump through if you want to modify the property footprint, such as building an addition.

I don't understand the concern if your tenant pre-paid through Jan 15. Wouldn't the next payment be due Jan 15 and you are jumping the gun a bit?

Your bathroom will need a vent fan, window or skylight for ventilation to be legal. Make sure you will have a legal bathroom if you replace the skylight with a roof or plan accordingly.

That would be a good price in my area if it is 2 coats of paint. It's less than $50/hr since it includes all the materials and supplies.

Materials & Supplies:

- Maybe a full sheet of sheetrock, just a 2x2 or spackle only, depending on the size of the repairs. You can price this at a local big box store. The contractor shouldn't charge you for a roll of tape and tub of spackle, but some might. My contractor always has it and just charges a nominal fee.

- Paint (ceiling, semi-gloss for trim, color(s)) - 2 coats? Price at big box store.

- Tipping charge at the dump for whatever is cleaned up in the yard ($50 - 100? + contractor time)

- Water heater part

If 2 weeks means 80 hours and the materials and supplies above are about $800, you are paying around $40/hr for the labor. That's pretty good in my area. Prices will vary in your area.

I use Excel and am managing 11 SFRs. It's been an evolving set of workbooks since 2013. They do everything I need them to do. They are easy to create or modify as my needs change. I don't have any fancy tenant portals, user interfaces, etc that professional tools offer. I also don't have professional tool fees to pay. One of my goals was to automate as much as possible and I am pretty close to that with Excel.

I don't know how far Excel scales. I can see it working fairly well up to the point where I would need to hire recordkeeping office help. Excel doesn't do as well with multiple users. I don't plan to get that large to see what it's like.

Think about how large you intend to get. 10 Doors can definitely be managed with Excel. It makes sense to go with professional software if your goal is to get much larger as you would start off with all your data in the system.

Did you check with credit unions? They may give you a better deal.