All Forum Posts by: Tom Fidrych

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Hey @Tom Fidrych, he has ventless natural gas wall units. Like Cadets but natural gas.

I would have some concern with those running all the time with a closed up house. CO might build up over a few days or weeks of downtime. Plus the moisture buildup.

You could keep a whole house fan or some kind of exhaust fan going to vent the house.

Michael, thanks for clarifying. I didn't check the link and assumed they were the type that mounted into the wall and vented through the roof. 
Those no-vent heaters are a building science nightmare. I remember reading a building science article and the no-vent gas heaters made the top 10 things not to do. That moisture is going to end up condensing somewhere and may cost a lot in dry rot repair. I'd suggest replacing them with a direct vent model such as Rinnai  or whole house central air. I've used Rinnai for three places and they are very quiet and reliable.
The other solutions seem great as a pipe freeze mitigation strategy.
 https://www.rinnai.us/resident...

I don't think it is a safety issue to leave the wall heaters on for extended periods of time-they are designed to run all winter. You are talking about gas heaters or electric? When I'm marketing a property in the winter, we leave the electric wall heat on 60 to keep pipes from freezing and make showings more comfortable for the prospective tenants. 

No way. I've done some stupid thing when I was 19 but "hiring a hit man to kill some someone" implies deep seated issues. I'm not sure 12 years of "reform" will make a difference. 

Quote from @Scott Mac:

It would be intelligent to fix every crack and seam in the exterior that you can find, and replace/re-nail those loose clapbaords.

Then reassess the situation.

Warning...You have water and electricity mixed, someone may die from this...and you know about it, and wait one year like this then take pics vs fixing the problems. It would be intelligent to call an Electrician to come out and assess this water/electricity situation and handle that part of it before someone dies. If it were mine I'd call today and have someone out ASAP (and meet him there).

The interior water could be coming in from a roof leak also. Missing shingles, messed up flashing, etc...

It could also be a leaking (inside the wall) water pipe, or leaking drain pipe, failed toilet wax ring, or bathtub drain pipes leaking.

You might want to budget for a scrape and paint  too. That paint looks like it is past it's service life in some spots.

If you are not comfortable with this kind of work, maybe hire a contractor to help you find the leak and fix it.

Good Luck!

Take Scott's warning seriously-ASAP.

"The wholesaler has calculated the ARV at 570K and stated needs only a $60K cosmetic renovation to get it to that ARV."

Never believe these values given to you by a wholesaler.  

Fix all the safety things that your property manager has recommended. 
Although, you could remove the attic ladder altogether and disallow storage in the attic. Seems like tenants forget to retrieve the attic items when they move out or outright put stuff there that doesn't fit in the truck. 
I always regulate the water pressure coming into the home to 60 PSI. You will have a lot less leaks that way and save on plumbing costs. 

It's best if you can bring your own agent to the table to advocate for you. If you contact and work with the seller's agent, theoretically they are supposed to act in the seller's fiduciary duty-not yours.

As others have said, don't contact seller directly as their agent has time and money into listing the property and someone may end up in court. If a listing has expired and been taken off the market, then it may be appropriate to reach out to the owner directly keeping in mind that there is a reason it didn't sell.

Process the complete applications in the order received. If the first one meets your criterion, then accept. States are increasingly prohibiting thumbing through to find the best qualified as it is seen as discriminatory. 

I think people are a little more forgiving regarding the layout of an ADU. Perhaps a toilet upstairs but given the CA rental housing shortage, it should rent quickly. I've got a place with most bedrooms on the second floor and 2 bathrooms on the first floor. It always rents quickly and the existing tenants have been there 6 years- and yes, it's priced at market rate.

Sorry Anil, I couldn't locate any pre-bullnosed counter top suppliers in NC. They are ubiquitous in the SF Bay area but likely because the the shipping is easier from China and there are many Chinese Americans in the area.