There is a 3-unit building I was looking at and as the heating source it has a boiler (new one installed about a year ago).
What are peoples experiences with boilers as the heating source?
What are some of the more experienced investors attitudes towards boilers? If you find/found a property in which the numbers worked but it had a boiler is it still a Walk-Away situation?
I don’t buy buildings that have the owner paying the heat. However, I do buy houses that have boilers and have had no problems.
Mike
You seem to imply that boilers are a bad thing. About the only bad thing is that there’s only one boiler for 3 units. Mike’s right, when you’re paying the heat, tenants will do things like crank the heat up to 80 and then leave the window open. And if you put a lock on the thermometer, they’ll just place a bag of ice on top of it.
Otherwise, boilers are great, forced hot water is one of the most efficient and comfortable heating systems out there. Not sure what’s popular in your area. Radiant floor heat is probably even better, but more expensive. Forced hot air tends to be dry without a humidifier and then once the air shuts off, it gets cold pretty quick as opposed to baseboard/radiators that still radiate heat even after the boiler stops firing.