All Forum Posts by: Larry Yinger

This is the first bigger pockets post I have ever seen devolve into chaos.  Way to go guys.

Regarding the cat.  Either make it go away by enforcing the lease, or what I would do, take the extra money and be firm that this is the last time the lease will be violated.  Addendum some other info in there regarding repercussions of a violated lease.

Hi Christopher,

You're idea for question 1 is a fine solution.

Regarding toe boards.  Typically a thin mdf with one finished side cut to fit.  Then, baseboard to match.

Not to make you feel worse but as an amateur woodworker, I don't think much of the "custom" casework.  I can't see all of the details of construction.  The oblong holes are pocket screws and are weak.  I presume these are only holding the face frame on.  The use of screws as wood joinery is "ok" but also not as strong.  Please make sure there are box braces.  They should be triangular and in the corners of the box.  Also, a sign of thoughtful construction would be a beam brace.  This would run in a dado (groove) along the length of the box.  Since I'm not seeing quality construction in the picture, please check for those.

Great responses by all.  Thanks for making it clear.

I guess I was seeing it as if I'm paying her and she is paying rent, why not get an added bonus.  For some reason, I was seeing that as "disposable" that could have been funneled back into our coffers.

The last two replies hit it on the head and for some reason finally clicked.  @David Carte last sentence specifically turned me around the right way.  I'm paying the Nanny's salary regardless.  The rental income can come from wherever.

Thanks again!

Thanks for the response as well.  It should be noted that it would be totally up the her and her family if they wanted to do it.  If they didn't want to then continue on as we are.

We started in home daycare with them at their place but they were bounced from their house due to a sale.  It was the husband's company's property and they were living there as part of his salary.  I'd like to think that as we were visiting everyday to drop off and pick up our kids, we got the sense of the sort of renter's they would be.

Thanks for the reply.  My thought would be that the official terms would be bound by the lease.  So if she were no longer our nanny then she would become a regular tenant and still be responsible for rent.

If the property became vacant then it would be rented.

I apologize as I could fit the full question in the title.

We currently pay our nanny/sitter $500/week to watch our two young children.  This is under the table and not tax deductable.  Our arrangement works fine for both our families.  She rents a 3 bedroom apartment and just had a new baby so in a few months she could really use a 4th bedroom.

My question:  Does it make sense to buy a local property and let her live there (essentially) rent free and pay her the difference?

My justification:  We are throwing away (let's assume) $1,000 every month.  Meaning we give her $2,000+ and she hands half of it over to her rent.  Doesn't it make sense to instead invest that $1,000/month into a property?

What am I missing?  Potential pitfalls?  What is the best setup for this?  Do we not pay her the rental amount and put it towards mortgage or do we pay her full salary and she pays us rent every month?

For what it's worth, I have zero investment properties but have been itching to get started.

Another vote for Roy.  

The horizontal crack scares me.  Find out the cause.  Vertical cracks are common but that horizontal one is not.

I'm  not a structural engineer but you need one.  Pay them a quick couple hundred dollar consult fee to determine how to move forward.  Get a quote to repair either way and plan for it in your sale price.

This is essential due diligence.

Hi James.  You'd be surprised at how little under retail contractors buy their materials.  They aren't making their money on material markup.  If you can find a contractor who will purchase the materials, I'd let them do it.  That way they are financing the project until they are paid.  Smaller contractor's won't want to do this.

To answer your question more directly, I did a quick Google search for "commercial building supplies Phoenix Arizona" and got several hits.  One that looks promising is Sun Valley Supply and I'd bet if they aren't getting drywall from a big box store then they are likely going somewhere like this.

Something to keep in mind is with a supplier like this your multiplier (discount) is generally based on relationship and volume.  If your only spending a few thousand a year, don't expect discount below retail.  They will also require cash payment or credit checks to do business.

TLDR: Big Box stores with their contractor discounts are your best bet. 

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I'll let her answer but she mentioned meter so I took it as water.

Look up HDPE water pressure pipe.

In my everyday life we are typically dealing with much larger lines so I'd use C-900 with ductile fittings or even an entire ductile MJ mega-lug system.  But HDPE, fusion butt-welded or even MJ is all you need for anything 2" and under.

DD, why do you recommend insulating the supply to the house?  Here in Ohio, in my experience, it isn't common practice and we place everything below the frost line (>3').  Anything that can't be that deep will be heat traced.