All Forum Posts by: Noah Bacon

Quote from @Jake Andronico:

Love a good, simple cosmetic renovation. 

This was a new ceiling fan, paint, and some furniture from Wayfair/FB Marketplace. 

It's nice when you don't have to bust down walls or do anything too crazy! 

P.S. I know the furniture looks a bit unorganized... (it's a student rental and it makes a little more sense in person). 

Curious to hear the best "bang for the buck" renovations that some of you have done!

Looks amazing, Jake!

What did you do to update the fireplace?

The best bang for my buck on some home renovations are similar to the upgrades you pictured above. I went for the same neutral feel by painting my common area walls classic grey with white ceilings. The only thing I did differently was LVP flooring instead of carpet in heavy traffic areas (entire main floor, bathrooms/laundry room, and hallways). Carpet was certainly the cheaper option upfront, but I am planning on keeping the unit as a long term rental, and felt the durability of the LVP was worth the cost. 

 Hi Marisa!

Have you tried looking at BiggerPockets Tax Partners?

BiggerPockets can help you find an Investor-friendly CPA or Enrolled Agent to help you maximize your tax savings potential.

Hope this helps, and please reach out with any questions you may have!

You decide who will pay the share of the utilities as the landlord. 

For a SFH, it is pretty straightforward on who will pay the utilities since the utility provider will likely provide Electric, Gas, Water/Wastewater on the property. Personally on my SFH rental, I instruct the tenant to put the utilities in their name as it is their responsibility to pay their usage.

For Multi Family properties, I would follow the same advice as the above for SFH for the individual Unit meters. The utility responsibility on a MFH is a bit more complicated, because you have the common shared meter bill that will continue in the owners name. This bill is typically for the expenses of common areas (example: the electric bill for the laundry room if you have one in the property) and sometimes the water bill for the entire property. You can decide if you pay that bill monthly as the landlord, or split it between the tenants in the property. 

 Hi Michael,

I have moved this post in the Classifieds forums for your reference. Please use the Classifieds forum for similar "looking for" and "offering" types of posts.

Hey Shalini!

Yes! Make sure they are listed under a section in your lease that clearly outlines what appliances are supplied with the rental property. 

Example Below👇: 

I'd certainly recommend finding an eviction attorney if you are seeking a fair catch up play, as they will guide you how to legally follow that process in your state (GA I'm assuming). If you are not going to seek legal counsel, you can terminate the lease (following state guidelines) and move on without trying and recoup the last 2 months. 

With late rent being so consistent and now slipping further behind, have you considered starting the eviction process with a demand? This will protect you legally if they are not paying on time, and could reverse the cycle of late rent as It sounds like your tenants are used to a late schedule with no penalty. 

I would reconsider your position on selling the property to be "done" with the tenants. Are you not cash flowing with their current rate of $1,725? Will you not be cash flowing after a turnover at a higher rate? I am not a strong believer that you can deploy the equity into a better return on your money right now.

If the tenants are on a M2M lease give them proper notice, fix the damages from their 2+ years, and set more strict guidelines while screening for your next set of tenants to mitigate a similar situation in the future. 

Hey Alex! Welcome to BiggerPockets!

I am a recent Temple grad myself!🦉 (2021) That is a great book to start with and I would also recommend Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down by Brandon Turner and Set for Life by Scott Trench. Both of these books helped shaped my foundation and helped me figure out a strategy that was right for me out of college. 

Outside of reading, I'd highly recommend finding a local meetup! I'm sure there is a lot of local meetups around the greater Philadelphia area if that is where you are looking to invest in.

I hope this helps and please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help you get started!

We feel like the majority of points made on this subject are already posted, and is no longer staying on topic. Please reach out to me or [email protected] if you have questions or comments.

Hey Ian!

I am on my second house hack currently, and had 2 different views on my ROI when I was analyzing the properties.

On my first property, cash flow was a major factor as I was all in on the mindset of breaking even or cash flowing while living in the property. I knew the property would cash flow when moving out, so I was in a bit of a rush to lease it out and move onto the next one. While living there, I was very frugal and saved every dollar I could to fund a down payment on my second property. 

On my second property, cash flow/ROI were not my major drivers in my decision to house hack again. This time around, I chose to invest in a place that would be more comfortable personally and looked for a property to put some work into. 

My strategy is buy and hold for the long term, so I was a lot more comfortable the second time around passing up on properties that had better returns in less desirable locations knowing they will appreciate over time. 

You can invest for cash flow much more aggressively while house hacking, but you will have to consider giving up more in your personal life to achieve a greater return.