All Forum Posts by: Matt Kowske

I have, but figured that would result in even more reckless water usage. At least now they have some accountability, even if it is shared.

I have been told that sub-metering this building is not a possibility (without spending ALOT of money to redo the plumbing). Currently, we divide the water bill among all the units every 6 months and bill the tenants. This system was inherited from the previous owner and the tenants don't like it, for obvious reasons... some units have 1 person and some have 3 or 4 people using water. It is not fair and I agree, but how else can we do it? I have thought of charging based on the # of people in a unit, but that of course will encourage dishonesty in reporting the # of people in a unit and I'm not even sure that is a fair way to do it either.

Beyond creative ways of dividing up the water bill -- maybe I could figure out a way to sub-meter the units creatively? Apparently there is not a separate hot/cold line for each unit, but I assume it has to branch of somewhere. Are there small meters I could install in the units themselves? There are essentially 7 water lines in each apartment (as I see it, but I am no plumber): hot/cold for the kitchen sink, hot/cold for the bathroom sink, hot/cold for the shower and the toilet. Would it be insane to install a meter on each of those lines? I suppose that might end up being just as expensive... thinking out loud here.

Thanks. He spoke to his engineer and the estimate changed to "at least 10k". Seller isn't calling us back.  I'm thinking she accepted another offer already. Oh well could have been a headache anyway.

We just looked at an old house with all brick foundation. At it's worst point it is bowing out almost a foot from where it used to be. We had a contractor (who does a lot of foundation work) look at it and told us it can be fixed by reinforcing with steel I-beams and quoted us at about 5k to do it. The house is a good deal, even with this repair but I'm wondering if we're due for more problems simply because it is an old brick foundation? Any thoughts?

To be more specific, we have been told if we enroll half of the tenants in the building in the HomeEnergy+ Energy Assistance program (pays for part of their utility bill), then they will fund a large portion of a heating system upgrade (90%?).  I was wondering if anyone has done this sort of thing with them and how smooth the process was, if it is as good as it sounds, etc.

Has anyone worked with Project Home? Especially in their weatherization assistance program? (www.projecthomewi.org)

Thanks everyone for the clarification. Makes sense!

I have read numerous times how important it is to have your screening guidelines clear and in writing and to stick to them. I understand that -- but is it possible to use different screening rules for different properties, assuming you stick to your system?

I ask because while I have some rentals in areas where I would like to use the 3x rent rule for income requirements, this would never work for a building I have in another area of town that is lower income. 

That sounds about right. They need to know well ahead of the cycle of calling to bring however many people they need. The price is a $2500 setup fee and then $2500 a month thereafter with a minimum of 3 month commitment. This means 10k total (or 5k for us if we split it with this other person).

Pretty pricey, but if it can bring in enough leads that end up on a sale or two a month it might be worth it.  My wife hates cold calling so something like this seemed pretty great to her. Could be a big waste of money too, which is why I was hoping to get some others who have tried something like this to comment.

Has anyone used a callling service like "Phone Animal"? My wife is considering going in on it with another realtor to generate leads for her and our investment properties. They will take a list, get phone #s, and make cold calls. Has anyone used a service like this? How do the results compare to direct mail marketing? Any feedback is appreciated thanks.