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O/T The Duplex Rehab

thinkthrice's picture

Submitted by thinkthrice on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 11:51am

So this house was like the house in "Driving Miss Daisy" with 30 years of neglect.   Working on the upstairs apt first we have the:

1. electric 95% done

2. new furnace in/old radiators going out this weekend for upstairs

3. heat divided (gone is the 3rd shared meter going to the boiler that once heated the entire house)

4. drywall done/ most of trim painted upstairs (LOVE Coverstain and Sherwin Williams version of coverstain which I got cheaper than Zinsser!)

5. bath and kitchen flooring going in this weekend

6. first coat of paint on walls; kitchen  cabinets 70% painted

7. bathroom tiled and new fixtures/valves in

8. giant tree that was making moss on roof and that worried the insurance people now firewood

9. replacement windows ordered and will be installing the next week

Will need to clean and poly the hardwoods. 

Of course a lot of the work was cleaning up the MESS Chef's "BIL" made when drywalling.  He also cobbed in the first coat of paint on the walls!

Should be ready at least first apt for moving season.  Of course there is a NYS new law stating that you can't deny someone based on being evicted (crazy) that you can't charge more than $50 for a late fee and you can't charge last month's rent (only sec dep and 1st month's rent)  AND evictions take much longer.

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ICanMakeIt's picture

Submitted by ICanMakeIt on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 12:11pm

This is so exciting.

Congratulations. Those NYS laws are unnerving...whoa.

MY DH and I are living in our home as we remodel. It was also in a state of neglect for so many years. We got all new electric, new roof, HVAC installed and redid the only bathroom before moving in. Since then we've done the majority of the cosmetic stuff and just wrapped up our new kitchen (6 long months after an issue with the counter tops and farm sink plumbing).

My next big project is flooring and windows. I'm in the Southern region, but just curious as we have not gotten quotes yet, how many windows you are replacing and did you have any issues with asbetos or lead paint abatement from the installer? If you feel comfortable giving me a ballpark so I don't get sticker shock when I go I'd love to get an idea. We have one large window (think picture window in front of home) and the rest basic size windows for a total of about 13. 

thinkthrice's picture

Submitted by thinkthrice on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 12:32pm

any lead paint windows will be removed and the replacement windows will be going in.  We have a contractor pro account at home depot and lowes as well as other electrical, hvac and even paint stores as suppliers.  Lowes actually had the best price on replacement windows.  Some will be reframed.  The windows are those huge floor to almost ceiling with ropes and weights.  Some will be replaced by wall as well just for safety purposes.

We took out a huge french door downstairs.  Pity but today's tenants with walrus like manners would shatter everything ornate.  We are basically bullet proofing the entire building.  Delta faucets, Armstrong commerical tile; etc.   It's in a low income area but not as bad as the cities we sit between.  We are leaving the smaller french doors upstairs so we shall see.

thinkthrice's picture

Submitted by thinkthrice on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 12:32pm

it's not in a hysterical district errrr historical district nor HOA!

Aniki-Moderator's picture

Submitted by Aniki-Moderator on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 1:02pm

Sounds great, TT! Would you like to come finish up my kitchen for me? Wink

I would luuuuuuuuv to see pictures of the flooring and KITCHEN! ~hint hint~

24 years as a SM's picture

Submitted by 24 years as a SM on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 1:32pm

I work in property management and thought that California had some strict laws for landlords, but NYS takes the cake. We do credit checks and if they have bad credit or no credit, their deposit is 2x the rent, plus the first months rent.  We always wait until we have about 3 to 4 applications and then we run all of them at one time. Another trick we found is checking the persons social media. You would be surprised what you can learn from social media about people. They may appear to be the perfect renter in person, but check out the social media and you find out all sorts of crap that you don't want in your rental.

California now has statewide rent control on multi unit rentals and you have to have "Just Cause" for giving a tenant notice to move. If your reason for giving the tenant notice doesn't meet the states criteria for Just Cause, the landlord has to pay the tenants one months rent or the last month of living in the rental for free.

24 years as a SM's picture

Submitted by 24 years as a SM on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 3:27pm

I read through the article and it's scary, they have tied the hands of a landlord or property manager. I have owners that are looking into buying investment property in other states, I will definitely let my investment owners know about this new law for NYS.

susanm's picture

Submitted by susanm on Sat, 02/01/2020 - 12:58pm

Agree on the social media.  I always check it when hiring anyone and it is amazing what people put on there.  Someone who seems perfect at the interview but they are actually a total moron.  Next.....  That would definitely be handy for a tenant.  If they are posting about how they are totally broke but somehow are going out to party every weekend, I would not be expecting them to make paying rent a priority!