All Forum Posts by: John Logue

In my experience the fire wall between town homes is usually constructed using concrete block. There also should be very few (if any) piping or electrical penetrations through the fire wall, so I don't think your rodents are getting in that way. Maybe the HOA people can tell you if the wall is constructed out of block. If they can't, you could test yourself by driving a long thin nail through the drywall that covers the firewall and see if it hits "something really hard" about 1-1/2" in. I hope this information helps a little.

Amy, 

I purchased my first SFH rental about 14 years ago (suburbs of Washington, DC) and now own and self-manage a few others. I had the same questions as you do regarding the lawn. Over the years I have learned that most tenants won't/can't care for a lawn beyond mowing, and no amount of lease language is going to get them "interested" in lawn care. (not to mention tree care/pruning/disease, shrub pruning, etc.)

When I tried to push the responsibility of lawn maintenance to the tenant, I was usually dissapointed (but not always).  If you want the lawn to stay healthy and weed-free, I would suggest paying a lawn care company to do so.  Otherwise (as I have) let the lawn turn in to a "country lawn" (all weeds, but green in the summer).

Trees and shrubs are also something to think about.  I have had tenants call me to trim bushes that are "overgrown", and I had a tenant have several major branches (over 6" diameter) removed from a huge white oak tree (without notifying me) because it was "dropping too many leaves on the deck".  Think through these things, craft some lease language accordingly, but most importantly, discuss and keep an open dialogue with your tenants.

Congratulations on the start of your journey.....good luck!

I was recently the executor of my late sister's estate (in Colorado) which included a house.  I hired an estate attorney and a tax accountant in the county she lived.  They advised me to deal with the real estate in regards to capital gains taxes in the following manner:  

An appraisal should be done near the time the property is deeded to the heirs.  This appraisal should include two values:  a value for the date it was deeded to the heirs AND a retroactive value for the date the decedent passed.  The estate is responsible to pay capital gains taxes for the property between the date of death and the transfer to the heirs.  The heirs are equipped with an appraisal value for the date that they gained ownership of the property.  This gives them an official basis in the property to use when they eventually sell.

If I was in your position, I would ask the executor if an appraisal was done for the time you were deeded the property (May 2022) and, if not, I would pay for one yourself so that you can calculate the gains during your ownership period (May 2022 to March 2023).

I am not a lawyer or an accountant, so this should not be taken as professional advise.

Ready for some tough love?

If I rented a house in Dallas, and one of the A/C systems stopped working (IN JULY) I would expect the problem to be solved in 3 days maximum.  If a new system was required, I would expect it to be installed within 2 weeks (and I would expect a temporary window-type A/C for each bedroom in the meantime). 

If my landlord couldn't / wouldn't fix it in those time frames, I would be fighting mad at my landlord.  Then I would do whatever I could to get A/C working on my own and deduct expenses from my rent payments.....and then I would be even more mad at my landlord.

You CANNOT delay fixing this problem or it will turn into a huge issue with your tenant because you are not meeting your obligations to him.

Have you hired an HVAC company to look at the second unit? If not, that should be your first step. It may only need a repair to get it going. How old is the system that isn't working?  If you need a new system and you can't afford it then you shouldn't be in the landlord business.

   

Hello Everyone,

I own several rental properties in Fairfax County, VA (Washington, DC suburbs). I just finished paying my rental property insurance premiums (State Farm) for the next year and realized that the premiums went down on every single one of the properties by approximately 6.5%. None of the coverages changed, and the insured values went up a little since the property values increased slightly over the last year. Can anyone explain why this happened? (I was going to call my insurance agent and "ask for a friend", but decided I would come here instead!)

Hi Megan, I own a few properties through LLC's. During the 13 years of owning these properties, I have never had to defend a lawsuit, so I don't know if my LLC's are worth what I have paid to have them. I can tell you this: Landlord laws are written, enforced and adjudicated by the state the property is physically located, so the landlord laws in the state that your LLC is based don't have anything to do with your property if it is located in a different state.

I agree that one might be tempted to set up their LLC in the state with the lowest fees, but I wonder what that would look like when you are defending a lawsuit?  How will the courts treat you if someone gets injured at your property in Florida, while you live in Tennessee, and have an LLC based in Wyoming?

In the scenario above, I believe that the Florida court would treat you better if your LLC was in Florida, where your property is located.

Marcos,

I would suggest that you spend a few years in the construction industry.  

Learn how to build "the product" that you want to spend the rest of your life developing, marketing and managing.

Arisa,

You state that "we would plan to do most of the work ourselves".

I would urge you to think about the DIY hours that could be involved here, because 12 hotel rooms is a lot of labor for you and your husband to take on.

If the construction cost will be $250,000, I would estimate that there will be approximately 4,000 workhours that will be expended during the renovation.  Subtract the hours you expect to sub for mechanical/electrical work.  Lets say it ends up being 2000 hours......that's a good pile of hours that you and hubs will be doing yourselves.

Divide 2000 by the amount of hours that you will work each week (you/hubs for 8 hours on Saturday = 16), and see how many weeks it will take for the two of you to get the work done. 

That will make you realize that you will probably be subcontracting the majority of the work, or take forever getting it done, and risking your marriage in the process.

If you will be subcontracting most of the work, I would focus on getting as many subcontractor quotes as possible to verify your projected construction costs are accurate.

House of Sand and Fog

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...

I think you have the right attitude, and yes, you are probably biting off more than you can chew, but that is how you learn.  If you act as your own GC, the most important thing is for you to be on site frequently to supervise the work of the subcontractors, and to coordinate between different subcontractors.  This is the essence of a general contractor.  If you can't be on site frequently, this isn't going to go well.  Good Luck.