Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I recently bought an investment 2 fam property. A month after tenants moved in and discovered that water pressure was really bad. After several plumbers eval. it was determined that the pipe from thje street to the house is too old and crunched and that it has to be changed. In Jersey City, the onwer pays for everything including digging the huuge whole in the middle of the street, hiring 2 cops to close traffic and everything else. The bill is obviously very high and hard to digest. How can I address this? I think I rather sell the house than get into such a project that can bring other costly issues around it. They also tell me a tank inside the house is illegal, how can I check this? help!!

I'm so sorry to hear that, what a mess. The first thing to do is to try selling, if you can. One possibility is auctioning the property, because it can be done quickly. It probably won't sell for as much as it would otherwise, but if you can sell it before your tenants leave, the fact that it's occupied can be an attractive selling point for investors, which will help the selling price. Selling it quickly also helps save money on carrying costs, which is worth considering. Alternatively, you could list it and sell it. Whatever you do, you'll need an element of luck on your side to recover your money, I'm sorry to say. It may be worth just fixing the d@mn pipe, and writing it off as a tax deduction.

Posted by Ralph F, CA on Friday, October 15, 2010