All Forum Posts by: Mark A.

I felt the same way. I'm not sure if I'm being a penny pinching greedy guy for charging to use the washer dryer. 

The only problem is that how will I ever monitor the water and electrical usages of letting her use the washer dryer? What's stopping her from doing her boyfriends laundry?

Maybe I haven't thought it out yet. I wouldn't want to risk losing a long term tenant but I also don't want to be taken as a fool

 I could go about this. I'm just not sure if I'm being reasonable or overthinking it if I ask for an increase in rent due to the washer/dryer. 

Thanks for the input Michaela!

Hey all,

I just need somewhere to brain dump.

My tenant moved in about a year ago. I told her that we do not offer any washer or dryers with the unit. 

In the basement of my duplex, I have a washer and dryer in the basement that works intermittently. It'll run but wouldn't clean the clothes or dry it properly so I was in the process of throwing it out.

It turns out that while I've been away, she's been going downstairs to clean her clothes and using the dryer. 

Mind you, she pays all of her own utilities in her unit. The basement however is under my name so I'm covering the electricity being used by the dryer and the water by the washer.

So here's my thought process:

Do I tell her to stop using it? I feel that this will hinder her chances of being a long term tenant. She pays for her own utilities. She will have to go out of her way to go to the laundromat. All in all inconvenient. 

Do I charge her a monthly fee? $10? $20 extra? If so, how do I approach this? I'm not sure how I can word this if the machines themselves aren't running properly.

Do I cut the cord and have the washer and dryer hauled away? I'm not a fan of having to worry about extra maintenance and servicing and worrying about the water/electric bill. It doesn't make sense for me to get a coin op for a duplex financially.

What're your thoughts? I'm in a B+ neighborhood. I feel that if I knew she was going to be using the washer and dryer, I could've gotten a higher rent. Currently she uses the machines downstairs albeit I'm not sure how much. I've gotten the electric bill and the water bills with no noticeable increase. Then again it's the principle that she's using the washer and dryer.

I can't lock the basement because she may need access to it in case of an emergency (power jumps, heater doesn't work, etc)

Am I overthinking this?

Thank you so much.

that's awesome! Congrats. Keep on goong

@Chris Martell from your experience, how's Stanley st of fair view cemetery? 

I'm looking into a property near Chestnut St. Would love to hear a fellow New Britainer's opinion.

Hey @Michael Noto!

Any updates on the new britain property?

I'm planning on investing in New Britain but my main market is in West Hartford. Would love to hear your updates and possibly opinions in New Britain.

Yea. I drove by today to check out one of  the properties in my potential investments- the house looked alright. 

The thing I couldn't help but keep noticing was the neighborhood. I was getting stared at by people across the street and I'm from New York City so I'm definitely use to a lot of things. One thing I couldn't shake off was the neighborhood and how people were staring at me.

Hi all,

I've been thinking about brancing out into New Britain in Connecticut. I just wanted to know from any fellow CT BPer's what their experiences are?

I know its been coined "Hard hitting New Britain" for a reason so I was just curious. The deals here definitely cash flow versus trying to find a cash flowing property in West Hartford.

I would love to hear some advices before I jump into someting I might regret...

Thanks all!