All Forum Posts by: Patrick M.

Any room I can except the bathroom. Potential tenants love to see them.

I am with @Colleen F., I love the pre-set version that goes to 68 degrees in the morning, resets itself at 9 to 65, then on again to 68 after work and back to 65 at night. Love it. You can raise it to 71 at any point in time, but it will reset at the given interval. They were a huge contributor to slashing the heating bills.

Like @Bettina F. we are installing coin-ops as a convenience, but unlike Bettina we are doing it because we remove the washer dryers upon vacancy/renovation. It will have the added benefit of reducing water costs while also off-setting them. (I pay +$4k in water yearly at each building).

We go with 1 piece shower if we can get it in. If not we go with 2-3 piece. We do a border tile around the top that ties in to tile backsplash of the vanity (which is set, tiled and calked).

I like the thought and experience of @Marcia Maynard, very good insights. I have no experience with the new grout- I always recognized that tile adds a level of maintenance that plastic and acrylic doesn't. Haven't had the other experiences (candles/ holes), keeping fingers crossed.

Secondarily, as Marcia said, I am concerned with the "timelessness." I see a lot of rental, tiled showers and tubs which are dated.

Best of luck

I operate in a rent control market which is phasing out on vacancy. Right now I have 4 rent controlled units- and yes it can be just fine. I went in on buildings which needed a bit of work, but they were turning a profit on purchase. I purchased and a year later there was a push to de-regulate, and that is just what they did.

Talk about building equity! Buy in a rent control where there is not even a hint of deregulation and get it removed a year later! Wow!

They also changed the formula from the 70's slightly- it was 90% of CPI now it is 100% and the last couple years has seen 2-2.5% increase in CPI + tax increase.

I looked to see if there were ways to cut costs (yes) and if there where capital improvements which could be passed on (yes).

My multi families are under 1 bill per building. Even if you had 20-30, you would receive the bill, log in to your bank, set up the payment- done.

I usually have a realtor or 2 contact me on behalf of a client although all of my ads ask them not to. I will always show an apartment to anyone interested- but frankly I think very little of the realtors who contact me. I would never be concerned about a referral fee because I would never for one instant consider paying it.

This is not the 1980's, they are not tapped into some stream of information that the every day joe isn't. Furthermore, there is no legwork involved. Lastly, in NJ (unlike NYC) you have a realtor because you are looking for a house, so any lease will likely only last a year, IMO.

I had a realtor send me a great professional couple this last go round. Man I wanted them so bad- apparently they told the realtor that they loved the place, but I didn't hear this until a day and a qualified tenant later. I am better for it.

1. It is the standard in my community

2. We are billed quarterly by the town- receiving the bill about 1 month after the service date on the bill and payable about 3- 4 weeks from receipt. (see a problem)

3. They will not sub meter for an apartment (but see 1)

4. The bill stays with the property.

5. Interest accrues if paid late

6. The town is right quick about placing a lien against your property.

I had someone suggesting I submeter when I first came in, monthly I could simply go down do the math and submit a bill to my tenants. No thank you very much, I hope to spend a bit more time with my kids, plus see 1.

I will readily admit that when I went in to this I was looking at how to eliminate or minimize my having to pay for utilities. Fortunately I took a step back, implemented a number of things that would conserve heat and water, and I am far better for it because the old costs were built into the rents.

Now, I live in a house whose water is controlled by a utility and I receive monthly bills like electric and stays with the tenant. If I were ever to rent this house I would have the renter pay water.

I pay gas heat, it is the standard in my community. When I took over the buildings it was already built into the rent. I invested in 2 things-

1- Insulation, I blew cellulose into the attic and each remodel goes down to the studs and the plaster and lathe is replaced with r-13,

2- Chicago controls thermostats, heat is on a regular, non adjustable schedule of 65 and 68 degrees. The tenant can put it up to 71 degrees but it automatically sets back at the next scheduled change. Old owner had the nice mercury switched thermostats that you dialed up to the max and forgot about when you left for the day.

I effectively gave myself a nice increase in rent as my gas bill plummeted, and gas is dirt cheap as it is.

If you are going to force them to pay heat can I assume your units are well insulated with double paned windows? I have a couple tenants with central air that they pay for, those units are buttoned up tight so it is not money wasted.

I would just suggest thinking it through first- there may be less expensive ways to keep your cost down and having it built into your rent. You could actually profit more by spending less and have more marketable units because you pay the heat.

I have not had to factor in a commercial rental in my considerations. But I do not operate as an LLC, this is a decision which cuts against the prevail opinion of many. You must research the benefits and potential downsides.

I am extremely comfortable operating this way.