All Forum Posts by: Marie S.

I have a tenant that is complaining that there is a 5 degree temperature difference from the bedroom and the living room. This is a one bedroom apartment in a 100 year old four plex. There is nothing mechanically wrong with the furnace. The technician cleaned the heat sensor just to make his trip worth while. The ducts have been clean. The windows don't seem drafty, but I may get the film for them tomorrow. Any  ideas what the problem could be?

Use a frosted window film. Even if you turn on the light you can't make out a distinctive figure.

Be careful if you're strapped. My first big failure was focusing on closing the deal and making money on the flip side. I didn't account for hidden operating costs, emergencies, and good-turned-badly-disgruntled tenants.

I open separate accounts, but I don't have 600 units (UNFORTUNATELY). That's beyond my imagination right now. I don't have the patience to figure out how to divvy up the interest paid per tenant upon move out for 7 units.

If a long term tenant (15-20+ year) moved out versus a tenant leaving after a year, I wouldn't imagine they would get equal amounts from the deposit pot.

Maybe @Enrique Jevons  can enlighten us on how that works. With 600+ units I'm sure he has some professional number crunchers on the team.

NO!! RED LIGHT!! Ozone machines are horrible for you and can cause health issues.

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

Get a fogger and use a water based air cleaner and an air purifier. I use Odoban products. You can order from Home Depot, Dollar Days or Sam's Club. I just cleaned an apartment with a smoker that had crap on the wall. Trust me it works.

Check with a lawyer an the local VA Assistance office. There are programs out there that are similar to this, but are ran through Non Profit organizations. Maybe set up a non-profit and rent to your non profit. Check with an attorney.

Some states require that the deposit is placed in an interest bearing account. If you have a long-term tenant, the account accrues a quite a bit of change. Considering the fact that the tenants deposit can't be co-mingled with other funds, most people open a single deposit account per tenant. That account is a trust type account. You're holding the money, but it belongs to the tenant. Most banks will not allow you to open this type of account without the W-9.

I own a quad plex in a low income area and the place has been good to me. It paid my bills when my other sources of income were....hmmmm... defered. On filled unit pays the mortgage, taxes and insurance on the place. The tenants I get are loyal and they'll pay their rent on time; even if that means not eating for a couple days. Go talk to the scariest looking people hanging out about the property. (If they are hanging out.) You might learn more about the property than the sellers are telling you.

My last two residential purchases involved existing tenants. The bank had absolutely nothing to say about my letters. One asked to see the existing lease. This is not the type of relationship you want to have with your tenants. If this property has 5 unit or more, I'd suck it up. It's considered a commercial property for lending purposes. Otherwise, I would ask the bank for an exeption to policy or you will shop for a new lender.

I'm looking to install a lock on common entry ways to a multi-unit building.

My concern is that the mailbox is just inside of the entry way. Has anyone used these and what other concerns should I have?

Thanx