All Forum Posts by: Karl B.

The inspector I hire used to be a construction foreman, which I think is useful as he knows the local building codes. 

I would only ever bring in a plumber/electrician if A) it was a large multi-family (a dozen or more units - which I haven't yet graduated to) or B) I knew there were potential major electrical/plumbing issues.

The trick is... if you hire a PM MAKE CERTAIN they're good - honest, knowledgeable, responsive, driven....

And make certain you 100% know how their fees work - some PMs will nickel and dime you beyond the set % they charge while others are less greedy. 

Awesome. Welcome to BP.

Chattanooga is a great place to invest. I got a quote from a plumber (in Los Angeles) and he invests in Chattanooga. He was showing me the properties he bought there (all SFH) and many were nice (one that stood out was a brick house he paid around 40K for; I forget the monthly rent but I remember being impressed).

And I totally think you should be the one to create a BiggerPockets intro song for the @Brandon Turner podcast. :-)

I have a list of mostly common sense rules all tenants sign with their lease that states no tampons or wipes (even disposable wipes) can be flushed down the toilet - only human waste and T.P. 

It sounds ridiculous to have to tell tenants this but I do so because I'll never forget the incident when I was in graduate school and my girlfriend at the time had her Lexus covered in T.P. and human waste because her roommate, Susan, was flushing tampons down the toilet, clogged the waste pipe and as fate would have it my girlfriend had her parking spot underneath the waste pipe (and the plumbers did the work without telling her to move her car).

She was so mad. And when she asked her roommate if she had been flushing and Susan said yes my ex told me Susan was surprised to learn that tampons will clog pipes. 

Also, my tenants must have renter's insurance and I must be listed on the policy so I know if they cancel. 

@Anthony Angotti Howdy. Yes - most of my investment properties are in Erie - I'm likely moving to SC or GA and so I'll be expanding to those areas which I'm super excited to do. 

I'm not very familiar with the Meadville market but keep up with the Erie college market (Gannon, Behrend, Mercyhurst, LECOM, not so much on Edinboro).

The Pittsburgh market seems great. I bought my first coin-op washer and dryer from a guy in Pittsburgh and he told me about the Pittsburgh market - it appears to have very good returns like Erie with a better tenant pool than Erie. 

Yellow letters drive me nuts. At my primary residence in L.A. I get a few per week. I keep one of each in the event I ever need to use them as templates if I decide to become one of those yellow letter sending jerks. :-)

I have a tenant who's the same way. He's a good guy but is always late paying the rent. But... I love getting late fees. Every two months of late fees from him is dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House for me.  :-)

There are TONS of threads like this on BP and are definitely worth reading. 

Look into the Section 8 demand in your local market. To determine this speak with other investors and also get a copy of your local Section 8 Housing/Apartment List to determine supply and demand. Heck, the local housing authority can be a good source to gauge demand (the local Section 8 inspector is a great source and knows the demand well).

Personally, in my somewhat limited Section 8 experience, I've realized that I've had less headaches renting out 1 bedroom units to Section 8 tenants and more headaches when renting out larger units to Section 8 tenants. 

There are exceptions to every rule and all landlords have different experiences but this is my experience. 

Aside from that, there's the obvious - background check, credit check for eviction records/judgments, etc. 

Hi, Tony. You can always sell your property and 1031 exchange it for a larger multi-family property. That way you're not paying capital gains taxes and you've moved up to a larger (and hopefully even better cashflowing) property.

@Terry Madden I had a duplex with knob and tube wiring. A lot of it was in the basement and easily accessible and it was simple for the electrician and his workers to remove and update the wiring. 

All the electrical work (including some added GFIs, adding outlets, relocating and adding some switches, and adding a few light fixtures) came out to under 2K. They worked roughly four days on the property (my electrician is a heck of a lot cheaper than most and he does good work). 

I don't know the ease of knob & tube removal at the triplex you're pending on but not all knob and tube situations cost a ton of money.

I'd call a boiler dude to see how much it'd cost for an inspection. According to Homeadvisor that should cost between $100-$200. 

Hi, Terry, it sounds like a good deal if you're cashflowing that well and have a strong tenant pool. 

Since the seller and you seem to be at a stand-still I would try and push the important things on the list and leave out the less important. #6 is an easy fix and isn't costly so I'd forget about that one, as well as #3 (the water heater - especially if it's still working - the seller will probably not want to credit you for it - plus it's not a very costly replacement). 

Is the wiring knob and tube? If so, I can understand why you would want it all replaced. In one of my units I had it and I couldn't get the property insured until it was removed and replaced. 

The old boilers are concerning. I would push that the seller pays to have them evaluated so you know what potential lifespan/costs you're looking at. If there are major concerns you can go from there. 

As far as the asbestos, I'd tell the seller you'll split the labor cost of having it made safe. The seller would no doubt be more willing to do this.

When the seller sees you're willing to bend some he/she will likely be willing to as well and hopefully you will get closer to making the deal. 

If the cashflow wasn't that good I'd urge you to be unbending but with good cash-flow it's best to try and work with the seller.