All Forum Posts by: Kyle Meyers

Paying down the credit card probably helped your score a lot. I started monitoring my credit a while ago and paying off my credit cards so the balance was very low when they were reported brought my score up by 75 points. I had always paid the full amount by the due date, but the balance was still always reported to the bureaus, when I pay it off before they send the bill it will show the lower balance for the credit report and bring the score up.

Check for listings for other units in the area and see if they mention the AC being included or not. Call landlords in the area and see what they do.

Just write your lease with both listed as tenants (joint and severally clause) , you don't have to worry about their relationship unless you are in an area that does not allow cohabitation.

I like the service, it can make it very easy to find several contractors quickly. I don't count on any screening. I prefer this to just using Google to find someone because a lot of the numbers I find on Google are not answered, but I get calls returned very quickly from Service Magic companies. I figure if they are paying for the leads they will at least respond quickly. I still have 3 contractors come out for each job and compare the bids.

I would be concerned about her not having the phone for the current residence, but I have found that my applicants do not know the phone numbers for the landlord of a previous residence (the one before where they are living when they fill out the app). I would not be concerned about a missing number for a previous landlord. You will probably want to find the number yourself anyways to make sure you get in contact with the person who you are trying to talk to.

I know of neighborhoods where all the SFHs are the same floor plan and I know of condos that are very different. Properties can almost always be changed beyond just the paint and floors. Remodeling can change the layout, upgrade appliances, improve bathrooms and kitchens, all things that can have a significant impact on the price.

I have a duplex I just rented out, I supplied washer, dryer, range, microwave, and refrigerator for each. A lesson I learned from this was not to buy these ahead of time. I would recommend letting prospective tenants know that you will provide them, but don't buy them until you have a tenant ready to sign the lease. If it is the norm in the area for tenants to provide their own, they may prefer appliances they have already bought to what you would supply and want to bring their own anyway. If they bring their own appliances, you would definitely not need to repair anything. I am not sure about the "for convenience only" language in the lease and whether or not that would hold up. I know some others on BP use that, but the laws may very by state so I would suggest talking to a lawyer or just being prepared to make repairs anyways if it turns out that won't hold up.

As for the AC, the duplex I have does not have any AC right now. I told the tenants they would have to provide their own window units if they wanted. I had considered installing central air, but my HVAC guy recommended against it because of the way the house is built, it would not stay cool and I did not have any problems with tenants passing on the property because of the lack of AC. I would expect this would vary by market and the hotter the weather, the more AC would be needed.

I have a rental condo in a complex where all the condos have the same floor-plan (unless you have made changes since they were built) But the rental rates and sales prices can be much more by adding a washer/dryer hook up. So I think there can be variation between condos even though they are very similar.

I read that there are tax incentives of some kind for historical properties which includes any property built before 1930. I have just finished a rehab on a duplex built in 1910 and I was trying to find what kind of tax savings would be available from this. Has anyone come across this before?

I just finished a rehab on a rental I bought that had been broken into and had furnaces, electric wiring, and pipes stolen. Call a few plumbers and electricians and get quotes. I got 3 quotes and the last one came in at less than half what the others were, make sure you get multiple quotes. Also, be prepared for additional pluming work since you won't be able to test anything until you have the stolen pipes replaced.