All Forum Posts by: Stephanie A.

We have a house that we rent out using Section 8.  Our renewal is coming up and I found all the outdoor paint that I painted last year has started chipping.  This was after sanding and priming and then painting.  Anyone have a brand of paint they would recommend to prevent this problem?  I don't want to have to keep repainting it every year.  Thanks!

We had to replace our old hinges and used a site called House of Antique hardware to get ones to match  You can also check your local habitat store, but we found them to be horribly expensive there.

I would not change the doors.  I agree with Patrick that trimming the door will help it open and close better.  Even if you get new doors, older homes tend to shift and you could have the same problem in a few years.  (We live in an older house (100+ years) and this has happened to us.)   

The plaster trim is another issue.  Sometimes paint is enough to make it look better, but I don't know how much it has deteriorated.  However, even if you rip it out and replace it, you will likely not see increase in value.  Plus, as Marcia was saying, you may end up with a bigger project that you think.  Taking out the plaster trim might damage the walls, especially with they are lathe and plaster.  Then you are looking at installing new drywall, which adds up.  I personally would try just sanding and painting before anything else.

We are in the process of selling our house ourselves, but we are selling it to the person who has rented it for the last five years.  We are using a lawyer to do all the paperwork, title, closing, ect.  It's been a little more of a headache than selling using a real estate agent, but it has been a big cost saver.  

When you make your contract for selling, you can specify who pays what.  Our buyer is paying closing costs and inspection costs.  We've bought houses before where we have asked the seller to pay closing costs, or paid a little higher in order to get the closing costs included.  So that will be negotiable.

I would recommend getting a real estate lawyer for sure to handle the paperwork.  

Hi everyone!  I'm super excited to have found this site.  My husband and I fell into renting when we chose to rent out our first house instead of selling.  This past fall we bought our first rental on purpose and are in the process of acquiring our second.  It's been a definite learning experience and I know we have a ton more to learn.

Looking forward to learning from you all!