All Forum Posts by: Nik Moushon

You promised a working dishwasher in your lease. If you dont fix it you are breaking the lease. Plus its a pretty d*** move to try avoid fixing a dishwasher. Even if covid makes it tough on us landlord. You can try to use it as leverage to get them to pay but in the end the law requires the landlord to meet the obligations promised at the beginning of the lease. 

Go spend a couple hundred bucks and schedule a sit down with a lawyer. This has clearly cost you economic damages so I'm sure there is some recourse legally but you really need to get a lawyer for that. 

What ever ou do, DO NOT make any threats of any kind what so ever to your neighbor. In fact, go out of your way to not talk to her AT ALL. You will only be hurting your chances at legal action against her. 

You also need to sit down with your tenants and have them explain EVERYTHING that she has done to them. I mean everything. Get it in writing and have them sign it. You also need to do the same. write down every conversation you have had with her. Compile texts and emails and phone call transcripts. If she confronts you or your tenants, make sure you record the interaction. You want as much ammo as you can get going to court. You will need it. Never assume you have a slam dunk case. 

As for breaking the lease....I understand their position but I would hold them to the contract. At least until you get your lawyers advice. 

@Sanjay Gupta

I'm an architect. So my first advice is to trust your architect. He is the professional you hired to take on this responsibility to find solutions to your problems. Not some random people on the internet. Regardless of what experience we have. Its very insulting to any professional when their clients go behind their back and try to do their job for them. Odds are your architect knows what they are doing and, more importantly, knows how to handle the bs that city officials through around. Having suggestions and bringing up questions is fine. But bring it up to them. Not trying to bash you for asking questions but seriously...thats what you are paying them for. 

Second, change of occupancy does trigger that you need to bring the entire building up to code. This would include any part of the building you are not even touching. This is part of the risk you take when in doing REI and doing your due diligence. As for the 1 hr rated wall its not the fence that is your problem its how close the other house/building is to yours. Its a fire separation code. I dont remember the exact minimum distance off the top of my head. But something to keep in mind is its not the distance from exterior wall to exterior wall. Its the distance between any part of your building. Whats the closest part of two buildings....its usually the eaves. So you need to measure eave to eave AND that distance has to meet the IRC fire separation distance. Its that or you get to add fire sprinklers system in your eaves.

Third, an AMMR is very common, especially when its comes to proposing new materials or methods when it comes to fire safety. There is nothing about building that is more nit picked to death than fire safety codes and issues. The AMMR is usually just a form that requests the architect explain, in writing, a detailed installation and application instructions for the contractors. Masking a installation manual...except the architect takes on the liability (and time) for doing so. Sometimes the manufacturer can provide this. 

Fourth, taking off siding to add one layer a waterproof GWB Type X (you left out the waterproof part...make sure its the GWB that is meant to go on the exterior or you will have mold problems within a year) is really not that much work. By the time you go through the AMMR process (and pay for it) and the cost of a more expensive product am sure it will pretty close to a wash at the end (probably a savings) to go put the GWB on the outside. 

@Jack B.

You must of read over the last sentence in your first post....

"This prohibition does not apply to a landlord, property owner, or property manager who demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence to a court that the resident was offered, and refused or failed to comply with, a re-payment plan that was reasonable based on the individual financial, health, and other circumstances of that resident; failure to provide a reasonable repayment plan shall be a defense to any lawsuit or other attempts to collect."

Right here is how you know you are over reacting a bit. If you understood law and the language you would understand that this sentence lets you void everything that came before it. As long as you provide a "reasonable repayment plan" you can sue the tenant and go after lost earnings. No state has the right to wave rent and make it just disappear. They, the state, would have to pay the rent. Basically turning everyone into a Section 8 rental. Ya, him extending the restriction on evictions is nuts. I dont see how it is sustainable and I dont see how he thinks this will help anyone in the long term. There are already a bunch of law suites against this guy. It will be hard with all the judges that are in his pocket. 

If you are going to freak out and run away every time a politician (or other hardship) makes running your business harder I suggest just getting out of any business. Go liquidate and live on a boat in the ocean. I'm joking of course....but government, no matter what side, will always be making laws that make business harder to run or take more in taxes. Always has been and always will be. Do you think the population and the need for housing is just going to evaporate when you leave for a better state? Of course not. No matter what laws get put in place there will always be a need for housing in Seattle. You need to adapt and change tactics to survive for sure but there will always be a REI market in Seattle until the USA no longer exists and the world is plunged into chaos.

Now I dont blame you for wanting to find an easier state to work/invest in. Less resistance is always better. But dont bow out just because times are difficult. This whole covid crap is going to pass and things are going to change. Businesses everywhere are going to forever be changed because of this virus. The way business is going to be done is changing (has changed) across the entire spectrum and its not going back to the way it was. ever. If you make an emotional gut reaction move now, which is based on that you want your business to run the way it use to, you wont be able to properly react to how this country unfolds and changes once we get back to a new normal. Everything has changed in the wake of covid, including REI. 

 I have not taken the classes. I'm planning on it at some point. They are just expensive. 

I haev already started down my A+D path. Finalizing contruction loan right now for a new build duplex. I also have on rental, which was my previous home, so I too am using REI to help start my A+D. Just be mindful there is a lot about the way A+D work that most REI people here cringe at because they dont understand how architecture works into things. So expect some push back from some corners here on some things. But over all you'll get a lot of support here. There are more and more architects come on here this last year. which is nice but we'll see how many stick around for the long haul.

@Tucker Marshall

A welcome from a fellow architecture professional. 

Personally, I would not pursue a full MBA for architecture. Its just not needed unless you plan on being a managing partner at a HUGE firm. Otherwise a couple business classes at your local college would all you really need to understand enough to run an architecture business. Plus, office experience trumps classroom learning every time. 

As for leveraging our profession...about the most efficient way is to go the Architect + Developer route. If you havent heard of Jonathan Segal go look him up and take his class. Better money spent there than just about anywhere else (for a architect lead classroom learning that is). Also read the James Petty's book Architect & Developer. Between these two things you will learn, at least, what road you want to take. There are many different way to leverage our knowledge and degrees. Just got to pick whats most interesting for you.

@Sam Guertler

Buy raw land for future development is always risky. The project can get canceled at the last minute or get pushed back years. It can also go smoothly and problems at all. You'll need back up plans that minimize your losses in case the worst happens. But if it all works out, raw land developments have some of the highest returns in REI....also some of the longest time periods too.

One thing I'll add is that having a structure on the property already adds a lot of complexity to the project. Not only are you paying more, than raw land, but you have a lot of expenses on top of that. Such as demo and trash fees. Plus new building codes could prevent you from putting up a new house that is the same size. It could end up being smaller and more compact. You need to do a LOT of code research and pro forma studies before buying land to develop. 

I can confirm the east side is way more landlord friendly...well for the state anyways. 

I think it depends on how quick the turn over is. Remember COVID doesnt survive for very long on inhospitable surfaces. You should still clean very well but unless the turn over time is a day or two I dont think going crazy sterile cleaning is needed. Check CDC guidelines on different surfaces. If its more than a week I definitely wouldnt bother with sterile type cleaning. 

Absolutely. Finishes is what makes or breaks a projects ROI. This why getting as many quotes as possible is crucial. Also why you need as finished plans as possible. Because they could (will) come back and say "oh I bid you cabinets as contractor grade...you wanted custom? Well...thats an extra $30k". Happens. All. The. Time. This is where contractors make their money and get their bad reputation.