All Forum Posts by: Morgan Crandall

Good thought. I could re-grout it myself, I have experience doing it to my own home. Yeah I'm just biding my time until this tenant is gone. They've just been very hard on the place and it looks like an episode of hoarders in there (I think a SO moved in), so I can't wait to overhaul it this winter! 

Oh I should have mentioned - replacing the tile with LVP :) 

Good to know though, thank you! I've got cracks in grout lines (Kitchen) and just larger tile cracks on the floor of the bathroom so maybe I should make this kitchen more of a priority... 

As title states - I recently bought a triplex and noticed some cracking in tile in both an upstairs bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom worries me the most as I don't want to damage the subfloor and ultimately have leaking issues. House is also +100 years old, rented to grad students who have honestly been great thus far. I was thinking I'd re-do the bathroom first while a tenant is there and maybe the kitchen once the other tenant leaves in January of this year? Does this sound unreasonable/am I missing something? First time landlord and learning along as I go... 

Speaking of - how does anyone find solid contractors/handymen? It's been the most frustrating part thus far. Either the job is too small and no one wants it, or someone is massively over-bidding the project. 

I list on apartments.com only because I know everyone in my market uses it (university students) and I use Avail for rent collection. It is easy and simple - I don't pay extra for the accounting portion, I do that on my own via a spreadsheet I purchased for 5 dollars on Etsy because I didn't want to build one out myself (best money ever spent). I love Avail though. Sends out payment reminders to the tenants automatically and provides them receipts. Tracks maintenance requests/repairs. I'm not sure if it exactly saves me time because I just own a triplex for now so I get those saying you can do everything on your own BUT I work in a busy hospital w/ long hours flipping back and forth from days/nights so I just needed something automated. Totally worth the monthly fee in my opinion. 

Looking for CPA recommendations in Chicagoland/Illinois (primary is in Chicago, rental is in Champaign, IL). Need someone who is well versed w/ student loans as well as I file separately from my husband to save on monthly payments for PSLF. 

I could have written this post. In negotiations for a home in a large college town near a large university and it's currently rented to students. I'm apprehensive about managing students and dealing with the repairs but I hear the vacancy is close to 0% from the other landlords (the sellers are already currently renting for August leases) which eases some of that. The numbers just make sense, even with the higher interest rates so hopefully we get it! 

If you need someone to navigate the waters with feel free to message!