All Forum Posts by: Tyler Wenzel

Quote from @Zach Kidd:

@Theresa Harris yeah, I would think 120 is too cold. When I bought my personal house, I put it up to 160.

My inspector warned that the cold side of the faucets could fail, so wouldn't 160 be a risk?

I said, "Don't threaten me with a good time!"

And yes, I routinely turn the cold water off while showering. It's what I like, and am used to.

To each there own, but 130-140 seems reasonable for most people.

Zach,

In my experience, residential water heaters only go up to 140 degrees.  And for good reason! Check out this link: 

Burn Exposure Chart (antiscald.com)

As you can see, having skin under 140 degree water can (and will) cause 3rd degree burns in around 5 seconds.  That is why the state of the State of Wisconsin only allows for a maximum of 125 degrees. I assure you, accidents happen and plumbing fixtures do fail so we're all much better off following good, logical codes. They're their for a reason.

@Michael Baum it does mention setting the water heater to 125 degress maximum. That said, if youre confident in those fixture temps then personally Id say youre ok.

@John Underwood as a licensed plumber in the state of wisconsin we get complaints starting at about 115. We set all residential and commercial multifamily heaters to 125.

Any time a commercial water heater is set higher than 125 and feeds fixtures such as sinks and showers, we would install mixing valves at each fixture to mix hot and cold water together. These would then be checked with a thermometer to make sure theyre at or below 125.

Wisconsin State Plumbing Code

"SPS 382.40(5) - 5/10/07

Manufacturers are required, by statute, to be

set water heaters at 125 degrees Fahrenheit when they are sold for individual use in a dwelling unit in

Wisconsin. See 134.81, Stats. Landlords who rent for residential tenancy must set the thermostat of the

water heater that serves that individual tenancy at 125 degrees or at the minimum setting of the water

heater. See 704.06, Stats. A landlord of premises which are subject to residential tenancy and served by

a water heater serving only that premises shall set the thermostat of that water heater at no higher than

125 degrees Fahrenheit before any new tenant occupies that premises or at the minimum setting of that

water heater if the minimum setting is higher than 125 degrees Fahrenheit. There are no requirements

for residential water heater temperatures in the plumbing code."

State code minimum is 110. That being said, the energy required to keep water temp at 125 vs 110 is minimal and you wont have to deal with complaints.

@Nathan Gesner Thanks for the reply! Your reply, in general, was gold.  A few things I took away from it:

1. K.I.S.S! - My thoughts exactly. It seems that sometimes, their just isn't a "better" way.  Great tip on just calling the utility companies to get an average from the past year, too.

2. I like your thoughts on breaking down the calculations per unit versus per tenant in the building. I hadn't thought of the pain in the butt it would be for everyone after, say, two people moved out, and three moved in. Thanks for that!

3. What you said under "End the complaints" was amazing. I will definitely keep that tip in my back pocket! VERY much appreciated!

One question I do have:  If the water bill doesn't come monthly, but instead once per quarter, how do you typically bill? Would you split it up and bill then or just build in an "average" in order to bill monthly? My only concern with billing quarterly is tenants not actually saving money for it when it comes.

I am looking to close on my first property in the next month and trying to finalize a few details.  The current leases do not go into much detail on how the current property manager handles non-separated utilities so I thought I would reach out to you all.

In the event that a property has utilities or services payable by the tenant but are not separately metered, what is the most efficient way to handle billing said tenants in regards to ease of self managing?  For instance, I thought about building the water bill into the rent payment, but I don't want tenants taking advantage, nor do I have any idea what the average bill might be at this point.  On the flip side, I would rather not have to send out an e-mail/bill splitting up the water charges per tenant every month.

Is there a better way? Let me know your tips and tricks!

@Brock Mogensen when you say east side, are you referring to shorewood, upper east side, 3rd ward, bayview?  I apologize, I've literally only been in the city for 3 weeks.

I have to stick to Milwaukee County I believe because of a child in school.  I moved in with my significant other of two years and we don't want to change schools.

Thanks again for the help and am looking forward to your response.

@Marcus Auerbach Excellent break down.  Exactly what I was looking for. I know Tosa can be a bit spotty but I am less familiar with West Allis.  Are there certain parts on West Allis that you'd recommend sticking to for exploration purposes?  Also, I've literally never heard of Washington Heights, so thats a great research point.  As for Shorewood, I love the area. I actually have a plumbing job coming up near the end of this year on Capital Dr. if everything pans out.

Thanks again for the excellent break down. This gives me a great place to start!

Hey all! I am new to the Milwaukee area and real estate investing in general.  I've been living in Bayview for about 3 weeks now.  I'd love to hear opinions on what the different "zones" for property classes.  Is there any type of current "map" or list somebody has made dividing the county into different classes?

I am looking to owner occupy a small multifamily in the very near future and am contemplating a B-class property vs. a C-class property.  I understand cash flow would be typically higher on the C-class but I also would love to have minimal tenant issues with my first property.  Milwaukee is a big area and I'd like to know where I should be driving to check out the area.

Also, if anyone knows of any good meet-ups in the near future, I'd like to get together and talk real estate.

I look forward to reading the responses!

@Dawn Anastasi I went ahead and ordered your book aswell, thanks! I am moving to MKE in may/june and will be looking to BRRR an owner occupied small multifamily at that time. How accurate are the neighborhood classifications currently? I will DYOR but I appreciate any heads up.