All Forum Posts by: Joe Splitrock

One other thought, having traveled to Houston, it is very humid. High levels of humidity alone could cause this issue by a doorway. There could be condensation on the door. Just because something breaks when a tenant is there, doesn't mean the tenant did it. I have been a home owner 22 years and owned two new homes during that time. I have seen many things break or wear out in short periods of time. We are not hard on things, but quality has decreased on building supplies over the years. 

@Mackenzie Grate I just did a quick search on Home Depot and they have 8' by 7' doors in stock. I looked in your county and in my city, both have door options under $500 in stock. It is difficult or even impossible on metal doors to cut their size. Even wood doors could be a problem. You could change your opening size, but 8x7 is the most common size, so that is not ideal. I personally wouldn't install a used one. They are highly mechanical and any defect can cause issues in opening or closing. 

I am also questioning who told you 8 months back order? Never believe what people tell you without verifying from multiple sources. It could be 8 months for them and in stock for someone else. I have found that many times through the pandemic. Some people have a better supply chain than others.

@Michael Perner it sounds like you have wood or laminate floor by the front door. Entry points are considered a wet location, so you want flooring that can hold up. Make sure water isn't entering through the door or under the door. It could be water the tenant is tracking in or they could have left the door open when it rained. I would replace the entry way with tile, so it is water proof. 

As far as the ceiling fan, I have replaced many of those over the years. Can you describe the mysterious issue? It is pretty hard for a tenant to damage a ceiling fan, so that seems legit.

@Bethany Shipman was the property built new as a duplex or is it a house converted to a duplex? That could answer your question on HVAC. If there is only one set of ductwork, you are sharing air between units. You would want two separate sets of ductwork and to HVAC units, each with their own gas meter and on their own electrical panel. Do not run one central duct HVAC to the entire property.

The extra bedroom should easily return $100 a month in rents, so that should have a fast pay back period.

Depending on location, the electric baseboard could be an expensive way to heat the property, so that is a consideration in your ROI. The HVAC expense is a large investment, but could make the property more comfortable and save costs.

Quote from @Joe Martella:

@Joe Splitrock You took the words out of my mouth. I have 4 SFH's that I own and manage. I don't deal with noise complaints, roaches, snow removal or any of that stuff. While scaling is hard with SFHs, I think that you get different clientele with multi-families vs SFHs. Appreciation is also better on SFHs vs. multifamily. Multifamily is valued on a gross rent multiplier. I am completely conflicted in this one. Maybe someone can help me with my thought process on this one. I am looking for my next deal and there is a duplex in my sights, but issues like this concern me.

 My thoughts on duplex is you have all the problems of multifamily but none of the benefits of scale. No doubt, there is an advantage to scale in multifamily, but I believe you need to be in that 20 unit range before you start seeing massive benefit. I have owned duplex and 6 plex and it was good cash flow, but way more work.

People are very successful in small multifamily and in single family, so it is really understanding the difference and developing processes to make it easier to manage. You can scale either. There are people who own hundreds of houses.

@Eugene Reamico make sure the loans are assumable and find out what qualifications are required to assume the loans. I am assuming you will need to bring a decent amount of cash to this deal and/or get a large loan in second position. Commercial loans vary in terms, so hard to say.

I am with @Russell Brazil that the seller really has no motivation to pay your costs. Could you sue them and win? Maybe, but if you lose, you just wasted time and money to recover a small amount of money. I would focus on getting your 20% back and moving on. These types of things happen and they are a cost of doing business. 

@Kwab Mireku this is one of the reasons people choose to move out of multifamily. Kids are often the worst because they run around and it harder in the winter when they can't be outside. 

There are things a landlord can do. On upper floor apartment units, you should have carpet with high quality pad. The pad will absorb noise. Insulation between units can be helpful, but hard to install in finished units. Consider adding it you are doing substantial rehab. Some newer construction even uses double layer of sheetrock on the walls between units. This acts as an added noise barrier.

I have tenants in my houses that left multifamily because of noise. One tenant lived in a townhouse for ten years, then a family with three kids moved in next door and he moved out. One of the reasons I like single family is no inter tenant disputes. No smell of pot, loud music, barking dogs, throwing garbage in the wrong can, parking in the wrong spot, etc.

You either get invited or you contact them and invite yourself. Most podcasts have a way to submit your story and they will select who they want to interview. 

Quote from @Alexandra L.:

Any tips for saving money on two kitchens and three laundry rooms worth of appliances?  

 Unfortunately that is not considered high volume, so you are really stuck working with a big box or local appliance store. I am setup with contractor pricing at my local appliance store. Get quotes from a couple different places and ask the sales person for a bulk discount. If you are dealing with someone like Best Buy or Home Depot, they will probably say no, but their regular sale price may be cheaper than someone's "special discount".