URGENT - New Law for CO Detectors

In case you have not heard, the governor just signed legistlation that significantly impacts owner/landlord/property manager liability when it comes to CO detectors.

The legislation is posted in its entireity on the Echo Summit website at:
http://www.echo-summit.com/mgmt_owners_forms.html

A few things of SIGNIFICANT note:

• Read this section carefully: 38-45-104. Carbon monoxide alarms in rental properties.
• Battery-powered detectors have tpo be installed using NATIONAL FIRE
  ASSOCIATION'S STANDARD 720. You have to purchase the report for ~$40. We did, and it is EXTENSIVE.
• There are very well defined responsibilites for both the landlord and the renter. Understand these and make sure your renter understands them too.
• Anybody installing these things has to be certified to do so...

Our conclusion is this: have only a professional HVAC company install these. It will cost more, but the liability has now become extreme as the legal pendulum has swung to the conservative side.

Calculating Gain... Correctly

Even with advanced Real Estate investors, we often see incorrect gain calculations upon disposition of property. Visit our website for more details, but here is the short summary:

Capital Gain = Adjusted Selling Price minus Adjusted Cost Basis


Adjusted Selling Price
= Selling price
MINUS
o Selling expenses (realtor fees, fees, advertising)
o Expenses to fix up to sell
o Loan charges paid by Seller (loan placement fees, points)
o Excise taxes


Adjusted Cost Basis
= Original purchase price
PLUS
o Costs associated with original purchase (all fees, RE taxes owed, inspection costs, ---not points---)
o Major improvement expenses (---not routine maintenance---)
MINUS
o Deductible casualty losses (e.g. caused by natural disasters)
o Depreciation allowed or allowable if the home was used for business or rental purposes

Scott Lukes
Founder, Echo Summit Properties
http://www.echo-summit.com/

Property Management Lockout Key

Tom the locksmith just stopped by the office and showed us a great tool, the lockout key.

Basically, if you have a move-out/eviction scenario where you need to secure the property before the locksmith can change locks, there is a special type of 2-part key that jams a piece of metal into each lock, making existing keys unusable. The metal is removable with another special 'key.'

So of course the first question is "what's to prevent somebody from just kicking the door down?" That is the topic of a compeltely different discussion thread. If somebody buys me a cigar at Del Frisco's, I would be happy to engage...

Scott