All Forum Posts by: Tom Fidrych

I'd take a look at the door. It's possible the bottom seal or side seals got pulled off at some point and cold air is pouring in. It's a fairly easy fix if that's the issue. 

Often the force that's causing the market crash will likewise influence your ability to get a loan. It could be high interest rates or conservative lending. 

I'd get a  quotes from 3 title companies to make sure the price is in line for your area. You want to make sure he doesn't have any past due property taxes or other encumbrances he may not even remember.

Contact an area title company and or county clerk to walk you through the process. You may not even need a contract but just a letter stating the sales price, seller, and buyer. I bought a property in Oregon off of craigslist and the seller typed a one line sentence stating the seller, purchase price, and buyer. Brought it to a title company and they said that's all you need for private party sale.

Are you planning to rent the condo? Keep in mind how much work the place may need as well as the condo monthly fees relative to rent to make sure it all pencils out. 

Thanks for the feedback. There are no windows on the doors and you can't reach the latch from a broken adjacent window. My contact said the construction company that preps the units put the wrong deadbolt on by mistake and will replace it with a single cylinder lock(turnable latch on the inside). The same company also replaced the smoke detectors. The smoke detectors in the house are battery only detectors(no 120 volt outlet) and Oregon law requires battery only detectors to have a 10 year rated battery. However, they replaced the detectors with 120 volt detectors with standard battery backup. They just pull the electrical leads off and leave the detector with the non 10 year battery in. I called them on this too and they had no idea about the 10 year battery. So they are going to replace the detectors. Now you'd think it's time for the PM company to change contractors but the kicker is that the owner of the PM company also owns this construction company. Do you think I should shop a new PM company?

Part of why I have PM company manage them is to make sure health, safety, and other legal obligation are met so that the tenants are not put in harms way I don't end up in court. 

It sounds like deferred maintenance on the property caused someone to call the rental unit in to code enforcement. I live in the Bay area also with older rentals in Oregon. With older rentals, there are some years when you have to spend the year's income or more to maintain the places and keep it marketable. A well maintained rental gets better tenants and is good for the neighborhood so I consider it an investment.
You likely can't deal with the painting until it warms up and likewise, it may be inadvisable to do the concrete work in the winter. If you don't want to do the work, then you could sell it in the spring as is. You could get some real estate agents opinions as to weather it would make sense to fix these issues to enhance the sales price and marketability. If $6,000 includes a whole house paint job and the concrete work, that price may be inline with expectations.

As far as the lawn goes, does the lease ask that the tenant maintain the yard or is it the owners responsibility?

Thanks for the feedback folks.

In this case, double cylinder(key on each side) locks were installed as opposed to single cylinder bolts(key on outside, latch on inside). I did talk to the town fire safety person and he said in that town there is no regulation about the lock type. He agreed that a turnable latch on the inside would make egress easier.  I'm going to have the PM company change the bolts out to single cylinder types.

Nicole, I was replying to Jacob's message regarding why I use a PM company - 600 miles away so can't show the properties. Otherwise, I'd manage them myself.
I've got 11 rentals in Oregon and have been trying out a few companies to manage the places. This newer company took over this rental from a previous company and prepped it to market. I did make it up to look things over and noticed the bolt choice and a few other issues. I was 90% sure the 2 sided keyed bolt was a no go but wanted some other opinions. I'm going to have them change it out and/or find another PM company.

More important than the age is the condition it's in. Some older properties have been extensively updated. Perhaps updated plumbing, foundation, roofing, insulation, electrical service panel, windows, etc. whereas you may find a 1960 or newer property that has single pane aluminum windows, overloaded electrical service panel, deteriorated roof, galvanized and corroded water lines, etc.

Unfortunately the rentals are 600 miles away from me.