All Forum Posts by: Roy N.

Joshua:

I am glad to have the "eyecons" back ... without them I had accumulated 10s of alerts and messages before I thought to check the menu :)

As for the misdirection after accepting a colleague request ... I guess I'm not that well networked so have never had to accept more than one at a time ... so being sent back to the news screen has not become annoying ;)

Sam Ven

When you say commercial apartments are you referring to residential apartment buildings or "commercial" office suites?

We have both residential (1-4 units) and commercial (5+) residential buildings and use the same application screening process for all tenants. We even use the same lease for all.

If you are referring to commercial tenants, then the screening process is more focused on the financial viability of the business.

Though, arguably it would no longer be for sale by owner ;-)

Michael Stole:

You could try asking the seller if s/he would provide access to the property- if it is owner occupied, s/he the might agree. If it is currently rented your might not get access. In either case, rather than you going in, you could/should engage a local draughtsman to produce a set of "real" drawings ... these would show structural elements, and maybe even systems, etc.

They would also be to scale and provide a basis from which you could have the draughtsman, an architect, or an engineer update them to show the structural renovations you wish to perform. You could then show these to contractors when soliciting bids.

Michael Stole

Is it a relatively "new" home? If so, track down the builder and get a floor plan. If it is like the mostly 55 - 125 year old properties we purchase, get your self a good tape measure and download Google sketchup ... your going to be making floor plans.

Now, once you have your floor plan and have identified the walls you would like to remove, take it (the floorplan) and an Engineeer or Contractor to the house to see which of those walls can be removed and which are structural. Many of the older Victorian and Second Empire homes here have a long corridor running down the centre of the main floor. The wall on one side, or perhaps both sides, are the main support walls holding up the 2nd floor and/or roof.

Joshua Dorkin

Since we're contributing to your shopping list. I was wondering if localization might be in the plans for BP?

It would be nice to have dates and time displayed in my local timezone :)

As easy alternative would be to add the timezone information to the end of the date-time stamp on each forum post.
viz.
Jul 24 2013, 7:04 PM becomes Jul 24 2013, 7:04 PM PDT/PST

... or even {subjectively} better: 2013.07.24, 23:04 ADT/AST ;)

Jacob G.

I will admit ignorance to rental laws in Ohio, but the need to paint and replace carpets after a 4-yr tenancy would be deemed "normal wear and tear" here.

That said, if your lease was very clear that smoking was not permitted, you may be able to make some claim for additional work required to remediate from the smoking {we've had to replace drywall before}.

As for the filth, hiring a cleaning service to clean the property and appliances should be a something you can claim. Refinishing the cabinets may also qualify if you can demonstrate their condition is beyond normal wear.

Jon K.

Like you, I do not understand the business case ... unless the premiums were very stiff! In which case, it would be cheaper for the tenant to pay the deposit.

Ian,

There are jurisdictions where they place a demarcation on the title of the property if there has been work completed without a permit or if the permitted process was not followed/completed. In some cases, title cannot be transferred until the permitting issue has been addressed.

I would confirm that such regulatory practices do not exist in your area.