All Forum Posts by: Jennifer T.

Something else to keep in mind is insurance is more expensive with window units than a central system and some companies won't insure homes at all without a central system.

With that said, in the older and more historic parts of where I live (NOLA), it is much more common to have window units instead of a central A/C and heat.  For example, on the block I have my duplex, every single house uses window units.

Quite frankly, I love having window units.  They last a very long time and are cheap to replace if they break.  For my side of the duplex, they are also energy efficient because our living room and our bedroom are on opposite sides of the house.  So we typically only have one unit going at a time.  I've never had issues renting my other side with window units and I'm in a B Class neighborhood.  But I could see where it could be an issue if window units are unusual for the area.

And @Michael Meeks is correct, you can buy window units that also provide heat.  Mine do.  They are more expensive and not quite as common as the A/C only ones, but you can still pick them up at Lowe's or Home Depot.  The last one I got that is A/C and heat is a powerful unit that provides heating or cooling for an open 500 square foot area and it was $400 at Lowe's.

Another heating option I put in my own home that I also think would look snazzy and upscale in a rental, but at a low cost, is those electric fireplaces.  They give off a lot of heat and look great.  If you shop around, you can find even the good sized ones for $200-$600.

Solar City is not in my area.  But I did put solar panels on my duplex about two years ago.  However, the duplex is two separate meters, so the panels are only for the electricity on my side.  It is under a type of leasing system and I absolutely love it.

Here is how my contract works.  There was no money down and I pay $35/month for the panels.  There is a buy out clause that gets smaller with each year I own the panels.  After 20 years, they become my property for no additional cost, though the shelf life is estimated at 25 years. 

I have the $35/month price locked in for the duration of the 20 year contract, but I am only obligated to keep the contract for 6 years.  It is also fully assignable to a new owner, if I decide to sell my house.

I save at least 50% on my electricity bill every month, and more than that during the summer.  It is a net metering system.

I would use them on a rental also, but only if I would be paying the electricity anyway.  I just think the concept is too new for renters to appreciate the value and pay more rent for it, especially since most renters haven't been home owners.

I almost feel like its more unusual when people DO change their car registration to the new state, lol.  I've twice had renters who moved here from out-of-state and never changed their plates.  One of them bought a house around the corner from me and they still have their Maryland plates from three years ago on their car.

I was renting a house at the time.  I had gotten home from work, relaxed a bit, than ran out for less than 30 minutes to run a few quick errands.  When I returned home, neighbors were all over the opposite side of my street.  There were police everywhere.  When I tried to cross the street to go to my house, an officer stopped me and wouldn't let me go through, even though I offered to show him my id with my address.

Here is what happened.  A couple miles away, a handcuffed suspect was in the back of a police car.  The officer briefly left the car (not sure why).  The suspect somehow got out of the back seat.  Into the front seat.  And started driving the patrol car away.  With his hands still handcuffed.  He somehow drove to my street where he jumped the curb, ran over my neighbor's "Historic Property" sign what was in the front yard...then got back on the street for a moment and then sideswiped my landlady's fancy sports car.  At that point, he jumped out of the car and ran away on foot down the side of the "Historic Property" neighbor's house.

It was HOURS before the police would let me go back home.  At first I was understanding, but then I was just PISSED.  They had already searched all over the place.  It was 2-3-4-5 hours gone by.  Half the police had left, the crime van had left...yet I'm still not allowed to literally walk across the street and down my 20 ft. driveway to my door?  Unbelievable.

They didn't catch him that night, but found him at a friend's house the next morning.  Many, many blocks away from me, lol.

While I am a homeowner/landlady now, it wasn't so long ago I was a tenant.  Here are my best/worst stories:

Worst:  I lived in a large apartment complex.  They were great about sending a maintenance person out right away when I had a complaint.  But horrible about sending someone who would properly fix the problem.  For example, during the summer, about once a week my a/c would start blowing hot air because the Freon ran out.  Did they ever fix the obvious leak that was happening?  Nope.  Just kept filling it with more Freon every week.

My second winter, I kept having a problem with the heat going out.  It would work for about a week and then go out again.  Then it started going out every few days.  Again, they refused to acknowledge there was a bigger problem and would just send someone out for whatever stop gap measure he was doing.  I actually looked up whatever government agency places standards for living conditions and then threatened to report the complex to them for not providing adequate heating.  It was only after I threatened them they actually permanently fixed the problem.

Oh yeah, and all the fire extinguishers in the public hallways were many years expired.  I complained about that many times to no avail.  Scary.

I moved because I was not going to spend a third summer in that Freon leaking, hot as hell, apartment.  It was literally the ONLY reason I moved.

Best:  For the last house I rented before I bought mine, I was living there during Hurricane Katrina.  I evacuated for three months.  My landlady and I kept in touch about what was going on in the city and when I would be returning, etc.  Before I came back, she already had the nasty fridge out to the corner and a new fridge in its place.  I am forever grateful to her for that! 

While I am a homeowner/landlady now, it wasn't so long ago I was a tenant. Here are my best/worst stories:

Worst: I lived in a large apartment complex. They were great about sending a maintenance person out right away when I had a complaint. But horrible about sending someone who would properly fix the problem. For example, during the summer, about once a week my a/c would start blowing hot air because the Freon ran out. Did they ever fix the obvious leak that was happening? Nope. Just kept filling it with more Freon every week.

My second winter, I kept having a problem with the heat going out. It would work for about a week and then go out again. Then it started going out every few days. Again, they refused to acknowledge there was a bigger problem and would just send someone out for whatever stop gap measure he was doing. I actually looked up whatever government agency places standards for living conditions and then threatened to report the complex to them for not providing adequate heating. It was only after I threatened them they actually permanently fixed the problem.

Oh yeah, and all the fire extinguishers in the public hallways were many years expired. I complained about that many times to no avail. Scary.

I moved because I was not going to spend a third summer in that Freon leaking, hot as hell, apartment. It was literally the ONLY reason I moved.

Best: For the last house I rented before I bought mine, I was living there during Hurricane Katrina. I evacuated for three months. My landlady and I kept in touch about what was going on in the city and when I would be returning, etc. Before I came back, she already had the nasty fridge out to the corner and a new fridge in its place. I am forever grateful to her for that!

I can't speak for TX but, here in NOLA, on three different occasions I've caught the electric company misreading the meter.  Twice was for my residence and once was for a business I worked at.

The worst one was I lived in a 750 sq ft. 1-bedroom apartment.  For April's bill one year...which is a nice month...they sent me a bill for $800.  I bet the electricity for ALL the apartments in my three-story building would not have been that much, lol.!  At any rate, they sent someone out to re-read the meter.  Yep, my bill should have only been for $40, so they fixed it.

I have been struggling with a bit of the same thing.  Where I live in NOLA, insurance rates are sky high plus you need/want flood insurance for most properties on top of that.  I had wholeheartedly planned to NOT invest in NOLA for those reasons.

Because I'm a fairly new REI, I still wanted to be within a few hours drive of where I was investing. So I started looking at mid/north Louisiana and MS. But, when I started crunching numbers, I was surprised to find that NOLA properties still often came out to be a similar if not better cash flow.

Yes, the insurance is higher and the properties are a bit more expensive...but the rents are also much higher.  Plus, for properties more than 90 minutes away, I included a property management fee in my analysis.  Whereas, if they're in NOLA or nearby, I could easily self manage.

Bottom line, it's all about the deal!  I'd suggest familiarizing yourself with property values, expenses, and rental prices in some of the areas you are thinking about...whether local or farther away.  Do a number of analyses.  Crunch numbers.  It's good practice and you'll start to get a feel for the better areas for cash flow.

Plus, you mention that taxes are high in NY...but is that really true?  Or is it just the county you live in?  I can't speak for NY, but in Louisiana, taxes can vary a good bit depending on what parish (county) the property is in.

I think it would have to be a pretty in-demand area for that to work, which it sounds like you might be in.

And how would that work for the advertisement?  Would there be an amount listed for rent as a minimum with a disclosure that a bidding process would take place?

As a renter, I would find that weird and confusing and probably wouldn't bother with it.  But then, I've also never lived anywhere where it was difficult to find good places to rent.

While I realize this isn't quite the same scenario, it does remind me of a job interview I went on once.  It turned out to be a group interview.  After passing out applications and giving us time to fill them out, the interviewer addressed us as a group.  He told us about the job, told us it was really easy and anyone could do it, and then asked us all to write on our application what we would be willing to accept as a salary.  With the strong implication that he would hire whoever would work for the least amount of money.

The whole thing was very off putting and, as a result, I wrote down a higher salary than what I had been expecting.  Maybe the plan could backfire?

At any rate, if you do decide to try this format, let us know how it works!  I'm curious.

I had something like this happen, as a newbie landlord, the very first time I rented the other half of my duplex.  It was one week before Sept. 1st of that year, but they wouldn't be moving in until Oct. 1st.

We agreed the lease would start on Sept. 15th.  They were moving from out of state and overnighted me the signed lease with the security deposit, that equaled one month's rent.  They also understood the security deposit was non-refundable.

The arrangement worked great!  They had a place waiting for them when they got into town and I had my first set of tenants nailed down.  They paid first month's rent when they arrived and were great tenants for me for over a year.  Then they moved when they bought their own house, literally around the corner, lol.