All Forum Posts by: Megan Frank

Welcome @Greg Snell. My husband and I are in Southern NH and fairly new to the real estate game too. The BP Podcasts are awesome and I love the Wheelbarrow Profits Podcast too. How is the UNH real estate investing course? I had looked into that but wasn't sure if it would be worth my while. I would be interested in hearing if you think it was worth the money. Good luck in your investments! 

Hello all. We are turning over an apartment that was pet friendly - both dog and cat. The tenant was supposed to be out today, but her cat was still in the apartment along with several items (there was a load of laundry in the dryer and a freezer full of food!). Their motorcycle was in the driveway along with 10 plus bags of trash and the lawn is very unkempt. We had let them move out on the 8th and prorated this month because we know we can get someone new into the apartment by July 1st. The boyfriend came over and said they will remove the trash and items and he says he will mow the lawn as well if he can get his lawn mower, which is also sitting in the yard, fixed. There was pet damage to a carpet and broken blinds that we plan on deducting from the deposit. We will also be charging them rent for an additional day since their items were not out. I forgot to mention that they did not even pay the prorated rent for the month. We spent the better part of the day deep cleaning. The walls, fans, and air conditioning units were covered in fur and there is a greasiness all over the cabinets with fur imbedded in it. Pretty gross. I know landlords can not deduct for their own time cleaning, but my mother was over there all day with me for 8 hours and she is coming back tomorrow. She does not own a cleaning company or anything but can I withhold some of the deposit to pay my mother for her efforts? I know I can pay her out of my own pocket, and would, if she would let me. On a side note - my Mom is the best cleaner EVER! NH Legal Aid (below) says nothing about cleaning or yard work: 

Your landlord may deduct any or all of the following expenses from your security deposit:

• any rent that is still owed,
• the cost to repair any damages to the apartment or leased premises caused by you or your guests, and
• the tenant's share of increases in real estate taxes (but only if a written agreement requires this)                                     Thank you for your help!                                 

I am not a wholesaler but I saw a really good local deal on the MLS earlier this evening. I will send you the details if you want. My husband and I are under contract on a different property so we can't jump on it. I am also in Dover. The market is pretty tight! Good luck.

Thank you for the advice @richard dale-mesaros! I don't think we will be going into student housing in Plymouth. Too much risk and too far away. 

My husband and I are considering in investing in a duplex or single family home in Plymouth, NH. There is a university there and a high rental population. Bedrooms in houses and apartments tend to rent for 3200-3800 per semester so it is a very lucrative market. My husband and I live about an hour and a half away and work full time but would plan on placing tenants ourselves and having an emergency on call maintenance person close by. The numbers work really well, but I am worried about how long the university may stay open. According to what I read online, Keen State in NH has declining admissions, Plymouth has been stable, and UNH has actually increased. Plymouth did have a major lay off in 2016 and are "restructuring". With all the virtual/online learning I know there is a major shift happening.  I would love opinions on if it is wise to invest in this market or whether I should stay on the Seacoast and elsewhere. The  barrier to entry is so much lower in Plymouth because houses are much cheaper to get into. I am speaking to a loan officer tomorrow about the possibilities of getting a property at less than 20% down which would make it even more attractive. I live in Dover, NH and on the seacoast, by comparison, a duplex is between 220,000 - 300,000 where in Plymouth I can get a single family 4 bedroom house for $150,000 and rent per bedroom at $3200 per semester (or 4 months twice a year) or a duplex at about $180,000. The numbers definitely work better in Plymouth but the risk seems much higher. I do not see appreciation as a factor in Plymouth. Would love to hear opinions on Plymouth State University's future, the future of student rentals as a whole, or any other relatable topic. Also, wondering what others are doing, that are already invested in a student housing market to adapt if the college has closed? 

@Matt K. @Brianne H. - My husband has a friend that works for the gas company and he says the charge is legit. It does seem weird that there would be such a high fee for that. I guess the guy was only there for a few minutes. On the plus side, the friend is going delete the charge from the account so we don't have to pay and neither do our tenants. I would be interested in knowing if other gas companies in my area charge for that. Might be time to switch suppliers. Thanks everyone. 

Thank you @James Wise. I appreciate your input.

@JD Martin, @Nicole A. The toilet that went dry is in an unfinished basement. It is a weird set up where the previous owner installed a pump toilet and shower along with sink. I think they don't use it because it is creepy and there is one upstairs. We never used it much when we lived there either. 

@James Wise I am not sure what you mean when you ask if the water runs with the land in our town? We have city water and the bills come to our home address and we email them to the tenants and they add the amount of the bill to the next month's rent. The reason we felt like we should pay half of the water bill was because when we moved out we updated our address with the town but not with the water department specifically. The problem had been ongoing for 3 months but since we did not update our address we were unaware. Had we updated our address with the town we would have seen the huge spike and figured out something was up sooner. We did not  figure out something was wrong until a plumber that was there for a different issue noticed. 

Thank you @Shaun C., @Megan Phillips, @Cara Lonsdale. We are going to make them pay the bill. I really appreciate your help!