Question on adding heat and air

[OKRICHLAND]

Hello everyone, OKRICHLAND here.
Hope all investments are going well.
I have a question on heat and air.
If you have a house in a neighborhood that is very poor
(Lower class income), Where do you draw the line on installing a heat and air
unit or continuing to use window and space heater units?
I bought the house and I want to have heat and air units installed.
The neighborhood is very poor.
Will this be to my advantage when selling or renting the property or
will the neighborhood even support that type of improvement?
I will be beautifying the rest of the home.

Thanks for the advice from any and all. :smile:

[Dan Auito]

Hey Dave nice to see you on the boards! Your question is often asked by Landlords of many kinds, mostly in the lower income neighborhoods as well, imagine that!

One of the big pluses is the security factor you provide by doing it, those wall units often can be removed quite easily leaving your tenants open to all sorts of trouble, by providing the HVAC system you eliminate risk in many ways.

You also lower your tenants heating and cooling bills and improve their standard of living which can often justify your raising the rent by a few dollars in return, you can also factor in about 50% of the cost of the upgrade in the form of a higher valuation in appraisal if you decide to sell in the future.

The drawbacks of course are initial outlay $$$, you would be responsible for the built in appliances repairs and maintenance and if in a really bad neighborhood someone may decide to steal the whole unit!

By far the rewards far outweigh the negatives in my opinion, If you have an attic to flex duct everything and room to put the air handler I would do it in a heartbeat! Just my two cents!

[Aldo]

If you will be installing heating unit(s), I'd seriously consider going with a new central gas forced air unit and, if your budget allows, central A/C. Space heaters do exactly what their name implies. They heat the space (room) they are in and no more. Having several of them installed could cost nearly as much as a central heating unit. Window A/C units are not efficient when compared to central A/C, they will usually only last a few years and they do pose the security risk mentioned by Dan. Window A/C units can be removed in less than a minute from the outside if they are not properly installed. They usually aren't. If you add central A/C to a new central GFA furnace, you'd be adding probably less than $1000 to the cost. With a $15/mo bump in the rent, it would pay for itself in 5 years. Five-year payback is the standard for higher-end amenities.

[OKRICHLAND]

Thanks for your input guys.
I think I'm going to do it. :thumbup:
One of my methods of rehabbing my properties
is to always put a new central heat and air unit in each house.
weather it had one previously or not.
I also have a very nice DUPLEX in a better part of town.

Cumming Soon: (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

STRONG CASH FLOW ! ! !

LARGE, SPACIOUS two story DUPLEX.
Completely Remodeled.
Brand New Electric Completely rewired (Separate Meters)
Brand New Plumbing (Drain Lines / Water Lines)
New Bathrooms
New Heat and Air in Both units.
New Carpet throughout, New paint interior and exterior, etc. etc. etc.
Tenants Pay their own Gas and Electric.

I'm really proud of this one guy's.

It will be MAINTENANCE FREE for the next TEN YEARS.
When fully completed in March, it will be worth every bit of $110,000.
I will be negotiating the price with perspective buyers at that time. :)