All Forum Posts by: Zee Abbas

@Jack Perfett this scope is going to be fairly expensive since it’s a new install and not replacements. As others have said the industrial fans will help a lot. Warehouses (think places like Home Depot and Costco) use RTUs, but to install you will need to run electrical and gas lines which will get expensive quick. You’ll also need to make sure the roof can handle the weight of the RTU. We’ve done several RTU replacements, this is not something a handyman will be capable of handling since the project is HVAC + electrical + plumbing. You’ll run into permitting and inspection problems doing it yourself, but that depends on the location. 

We do these type of agreements with our commercial clients that have 100s of units, boilers, chillers, RTUs, etc. where reliability is important and there are a lot of moving parts. I would advise against for residential customers, since those units are simple and have straight forward maintenance that can be covered in an annual “tune-up”. I would just check to see what is covered by the “tune-up” by your local contractors.

@Account Closed, determining when you will break even should be a metric every investor keeps an eye on. If F500 are basing investment decisions of off it, I should too.

@Dan Hertler You'll have to start including capex into your ROI calculations before purchasing a property. Or you can apply a discount rate to your total capex in accordance to when you forecast the expenses.

@Dan Hertler if you're cash flow negative then how are you hitting your ROI targets? Cash flow is possible but for an average investor, it is very difficult for returns to benchmark. Revenue (rents) have not caught up to the value of homes OR, what I believe, value of homes have outpaced rents. Neither scenario is a suitable environment for investment.

@Phil Li I believe the main obstacle will be your DTI ratio, especially once you pull out ex. 20% of equity. It may not be a problem on your next property but if you keep purchasing properties that do not meet the 1% rule, eventually you'll have to find a lender that will allow higher DTIs. Many lenders will also want two years of rental income reflected on your tax returns, but there are lenders that will simply take signed leases too. I would look into investing in towns where SUNY branches are located. The further away from the city you get, the better.

I would get some more quotes- $1400 is pretty high for a simple repair like that. Should be around 5-6 hrs of labor (mostly spent pressure testing and vacuuming) + refrigerant/nitrogen/materials. There’s no really no legal recourse. For inspections next time, it’s better to have an AC company come in and read pressures/amps and leak check rather than the “visual” inspection by the inspection company. 

What does this mean?  fixed, evaporative coil leak that was sprayed on with some "fix-it"

A leak from within the coil cannot be repaired, it would have to replaced so I’m not sure what the Oct repair was about. Condensate drainage is not a big deal, as long as the lines are clear and sloped properly they will do their job. The main question is where is the leak? Is it on the tubing outside the coil? Because if so, it can be repaired and the unit recharged. Oil on the coils is a sign it has leaked in the past but the tech should show you a bubble test to prove a leak in that spot. Could be that the last time it was repaired, there may have been multiple leaks and the technicians did not pressure test adequately or at all and frivolously charged the system.

You may want to double check your numbers, with my calculations and your assumptions, this property does not positively cash flow per month.

The way to answer that question is to figure out how long it would take to break even on the initial investment. If it’s very long, then no, if it’s a short period of time, then yes. Long and short are subjective based on your criteria. Obviously also get some other quotes, seems a bit expensive on initial look.