David L. Farquhar, computer security professional, train hobbyist, and landlord
Are home warranty plans worth it? Do you need a home warranty? As a longtime home owner and landlord, I have experience with home warranties. Here’s when I’ve found they’re worth it, and how I decide when to go without.
Offering a home warranty certainly makes your home more marketable when you’re selling. But when it comes to buying one myself, I don’t bother anymore. Here’s why.
While investing in real estate is a common path to wealth, is buying a house an investment? Here’s what you have to consider. It’s not a simple yes or no answer.
By default, buying a house is not an investment, at least not without explicitly planning to make it one. That doesn’t necessarily mean buying a house is a bad idea, however.
If you buy an old house, chances are you will run into alligatoring paint, cracking or peeling paint, or a combination of those three problems. It’s tempting to just slap another coat of paint on top of the bad paint, and if you do, it will look better for a while. But it only takes a couple of years, or even a few months, for alligatoring paint problems to start coming back.
I’ve had people tell me I needed to strip all the paint off one exterior wall of my house. I’ve had others tell me I needed to replace the siding entirely. Fortunately, there’s a better way. There’s plenty of advice out there on dealing with failing paint, but the problem is, nobody seems to mention where to buy the stuff you need.
A fellow landlord called me up the other day to ask about a prospective tenant. It led to a few different questions. The one that prompted the longest-winded answer from me was this: Would you rent to someone with bad credit?
Maybe. I’m not the type who lets credit be the deciding factor, necessarily. But if there are other red flags, bad credit certainly doesn’t help. I’ve given advice to would-be renters with bad credit, after all.
What is satin finish? Satin can be a very versatile finish for renovating a home, whether you’re talking paint, polyurethane, or hardwood floors. It has some disadvantages but also has notable advantages in most cases. Let’s take a look at what satin finish has to offer.
And sometimes when people talk about satin finish, they’re talking about the screens on mobile devices or computer monitors. I’ll cover that too.
Today let’s tackle the most fundamental question a new landlord might ask. Ideally, it would be one of the first questions to ask: How much rent should I charge?
The math is surprisingly easy. So I’ll tell you the math first, then I’ll tell you the reason.
While getting a rental house ready for a new tenant, we had to get it reinspected. It failed, on several minor issues. Most failures are due to minor issues. Here’s why our house didn’t pass inspection, and what we did to fix it.
None of these issues ought to be showstoppers. If you’re not comfortable fixing it yourself, a competent handyman can fix these types of issues, and it probably won’t take more than a couple of hours.
The best brand of paint for rental property depends on a couple of things. But you definitely can make your life easier by choosing the right paint, primer, and supplies. Here’s my experience with painting rental property.
I actually care a lot more about the brand of primer and the grade of supplies. Here’s why.
If you need to know how to rent a house with bad credit, it’s possible. You have an uphill climb, but renting a home with bad credit isn’t a completely hopeless cause. Here are some tips from a landlord.
How do I know it’s an uphill climb? Other landlords ask me if I’d rent to someone with bad credit. But what I’d tell you is probably more valuable to you than what I tell them.
It’s not uncommon for fixer-upper houses to be missing closet doors, or have irreparable closet doors. I’m not sure why people beat up on their closet doors, but it seems to happen. I do know a legal bedroom has to have a closet with a door. If you need to fix a missing or busted door fast and cheap, here’s just the thing. I’m happy to share what I do when I need cheap closet doors.