All Forum Posts by: Kent F.

My six unit property is near a large research university and most of the tenants are faculty/staff/grad students, so I need to make sure the leases end mid-summer or around Dec. 31 or else it can be more difficult leasing a unit mid-semester. You'll just need to consider your area, who your tenants are, and other factors specific to your property and management style. If you're able, try to get the opinion of other landlords or managers leasing similar properties in your area. 

I'd love to hear others' approach to accounting for property taxes and insurance. I have about two years experience managing my two triplexes with separate loans for each property. Currently my T&I are escrowed with the lenders and the lenders pay those bills directly on my behalf. I use Stessa for accounting and analytics. The process Stessa recommends for separating out T&I from the monthly mortgage payment is cumbersome. I'm thinking about contacting the lenders to close the escrow accounts and pay the bills myself. I like Stessa's analytics tools but the monthly numbers are a bit useless when it doesn't account for property taxes every month, and then the giant property tax bills get paid in December and the performance numbers for the past year are drastically shifted. Same issue but to a lesser degree with my annual insurance payments that happen other times of the year. 

How do you all handle your taxes and insurance?

If you're a person who doesn't use lender escrow for T&I, do you open your own separate account to put money into each month or do you just let that money accumulate in your main rental business account and pay from there?

Go to your local government planning office and ask them. They’re very helpful, and you’ll have more confidence in the information that way. 

I'm looking at furnishing one or more units at my 6-plex and continuing to lease the furnished units to long-term tenants (not airbnb). I'm unsure how lenders, appraisers, and potential buyers view the increase in revenue caused by furnishing the unit. A furnished unit will rent for $200-$300 more per month than unfurnished. But when calculating NOI, cap rate and property value, I wonder if the income from the furnished rentals will be adjusted lower because the increase is a result of the furnishings.

I may refinance or sell this property in the next couple years so I need to be extremely mindful of how this affects the valuation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks! 

I’m closing on a triplex in a few weeks and I plan on not renewing one of the tenants right away after closing. How could I minimize the chance of this tenant claiming some sort of discrimination or unfair treatment since I’d be leaving the other tenants in place?

 This tenant’s lease is month-to-month. 

Some of the reasons I would like to not renew them are: 

-They’re messy with lots of junk outside their unit and in the lawn. 

-Their monthly rent is $50 lower than the other two units. 

-A few months ago I observed a city employee turning off their water. This gives me concern about their ability to pay the rent in the future.

-Renovating would result in a $250 rent increase for that unit.

Any advice on how to prevent legal trouble and interpersonal conflict in this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Last year I bought the triplex next door to this one, I didn’t renew any of the tenants, and then renovated all three units. They were not happy but at least nobody could feel singled out. 

Thanks!