All Forum Posts by: David Santore

I'm currently living in a duplex, and getting ready to rent out my second unit soon.  I will continue to live there with the tenant in the second unit, so this is a house hack.  This is my first and only property, and will likely be my only property in the foreseeable future.

I'm just looking for asset protections should someone come after me.  I've read that LLCs are overkill unless I have multiple properties or planning on lots of flips.  Is a Land Trust the best approach for this in MA?  How long do these take to set up?

@Account Closed thanks, I actually had no idea concrete countertops were even a thing!

I've picked a multi-family and am planning on doing some work to the rental kitchen. The tenant I'm trying to attract are younger professionals / couples, and the neighborhood reflects that being in a good part of town.  I'd like to install some good countertops that are durable, but I also don't want to put in the top dollar materials only to have them get destroyed.  On the other hand, lower quality items might break easier and also give off a cheap look.  Unsure what others do so I'm looking for some direction on strength/durability & higher cost. 

As an aside, this is a common issue in the Boston market for smaller multifamily units.  My unit has separate electrical and heat, but joined water/sewage.  Landlords usually build this cost into the rent.

 Clarifying early, it's a two family - I live on the bottom and will be renting out the top portion.

I think I am going to go with keeping the machine, but disabling the coin part as @Jeff Watson suggested.  Since I'm living on site I will have an idea of how the machine will be used, and I don't want to have that "coin-op" image.

The house I bought and will be house hacking in came with a coin-op washer and dryer.  The dryer works like a charm, the washer....unless I can fix it, RIP.

I am thinking of keeping the coin op dryer for my tenants and buying separate ones for myself (electric is wired for different units, I pay for all water).

I'm unsure if I want to go with a coin-op washer, or even coin-op in general.  I'm doing some work to the rental unit with the goal of charging close to/at market rate which is somewhat higher.  I feel like someone paying a higher rent would be like "really, coin-op in what I'm paying here?"  Personally when I rented I was always rolling my eyes when I saw a coin-op machine in the building and felt like that was just an extra hidden cost into my rent.

@Christopher Phillips if anyone is going on a vacation, it's me - def not sending my water heater :D

Thanks for the tip I will look into this for my unit.

I recently purchased a two family and will house hack in it.  I am moved in, but will be doing some work to the rental unit before I will advertise it for tenants.  Currently, the rental unit is empty so I just shut off the furnace and the water heater to conserve oil, and frankly because there's no need for hot water and heat (currently not freezing).  It's been one week of me doing this so far.

My question is: is this OK to do in the short and long term?  Is there any precautions I should be taking, like draining the hot water tank?  The pilot light is still lit and I can turn the furnace back on if I want.

This is my first home - logically it makes sense to shut something off when not in use, but houses have so many nuances and I want to avoid a situation like "well since you shut off the furnace that cooled the insulation which then caused flaking which then clogged your air filter and yada yada your foundation broke and collapsed and there goes your investment."

Yeah I'm kind of leaning towards this move.  I feel like even if this guy did pay....that would leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth, it's too much too fast.  He'd probably be a less cooperative tenant as well.

New landlord here, just bought a two family and will be house hacking by living in the 2BR unit and renting the 3BR unit.  The house is coming with a tenant already in the 3BR unit who's been there for about 5 years, and has been paying a rent that is far, far below current market value (about $1,000 to $1,100 under).  The owners cut him a heavy deal because they're off site and he'd do maintenance around the house, and the owners had the house for a long time with it being paid off.

I do not want to charge such a low rent, but I also know that anyone who's told, "Hey pay me $1K more per month" will leave.  I actually only want to charge $550 more, but that is still going to be a tough pill to swallow.  My biggest concern is this guy will just squat and I'll have to evict him, which in MA I know is the worst state for this.  I'm not sure what to do in this situation?