Author Topic: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga  (Read 13164 times)

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #100 on: December 09, 2020, 08:25:13 AM »
Original post now has pictures of the exterior of the property. More pics soon to come!

PMJL34

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #101 on: December 09, 2020, 10:15:06 AM »
Valley,

Looks good! How big is the lot?

My imagination was way off, I just imagined it was completely rural home with an acre.

Did you close!?

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #102 on: December 10, 2020, 12:27:45 AM »
It’s really cute looking-you can tell where the water issues in the corners will be, so make sure to get extra ice dam prevention under your new roof.


Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #103 on: December 10, 2020, 06:34:40 AM »
Valley,

Looks good! How big is the lot?

My imagination was way off, I just imagined it was completely rural home with an acre.

Did you close!?

The lot is 16,770 sq feet (so a little more than 1/3 of an acre), with 3,400 sq feet of GLA. There's also a detached single car garage that is 384 sq feet.

Closing is today at 2PM!

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #104 on: December 10, 2020, 07:18:24 AM »
Here’s some interior pictures of the one bedroom unit. (Some photos are panoramic, which causes some weird distortion)
« Last Edit: December 10, 2020, 07:20:59 AM by Valley of Plenty »

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #105 on: December 10, 2020, 07:23:20 AM »
Living room & bedroom on the 1 bedroom unit

PMJL34

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #106 on: December 10, 2020, 11:54:33 AM »
Nice! Looks good. 1/3 of an acre huh? I love it. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but i'm assuming it's a rectangular lot. Does that mean you have a huge back yard? I would kill for a huge back yard!

I have no idea what the rental comps are in your area, but simple new flooring and paint will make your rentals shine for very cheap!

Hope your closing goes smoothly today!


 

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #107 on: December 11, 2020, 04:29:33 AM »
Nice! Looks good. 1/3 of an acre huh? I love it. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but i'm assuming it's a rectangular lot. Does that mean you have a huge back yard? I would kill for a huge back yard!

I have no idea what the rental comps are in your area, but simple new flooring and paint will make your rentals shine for very cheap!

Hope your closing goes smoothly today!

Closing went off without a hitch! Got all the borough utilities switched over, and today I’ll be going out and changing the locks. Then I’ll work on knocking out all the renovations over the next couple months.

As for the yard, I wouldn’t consider it “huge” but I guess that depends on your definition. It is a rectangular lot, and the yard extends back to a stairway leading to a riverside walking trail. It’s a pretty sweet location!

sammybiker

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #108 on: December 11, 2020, 05:30:00 AM »
@Valley of Plenty Congrats on the close and thanks for the pictures.


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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #109 on: December 11, 2020, 08:17:37 AM »
High five!!

-W

couponvan

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #110 on: December 13, 2020, 07:33:12 PM »
Congratulations!!! Let the FIRE building continue!!

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #111 on: December 14, 2020, 02:15:49 AM »
That looks like a basically good building and with a little care and attention will make a great home for you and your tenants and a good profit for you.  Congratulations on the closing: the period of hard work starts now!

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #112 on: December 14, 2020, 08:00:53 AM »
The first hiccup occurred this morning. Went out to the property to drop something off and discovered that there was water leaking down through the ceiling of the downstairs bathroom. It had collapsed one of the ceiling tiles (the cheap drop ceiling type, so nothing costly) and made a bit of a puddle on the bathroom floor.

Got ahold of the upstairs tenant, who investigated and found that the valve beneath his kitchen sink had blown a seal. I was on my way into work so all I could do to address the issue was shut off the water to the upstairs. Fortunately, the tenant (who is turning out to be quite handy) got a new valve and installed it. He said he's also going to clean up the mess in the bathroom. Guess I'll have to add a drop ceiling tile to the shopping list, otherwise than that no real harm done.

In other news, I got the locks changed out on my unit over the weekend, and am thinking I may end up replacing a couple of the exterior doors (there are 4 in total, 2 leading into an enclosed porch and 2 leading into the house itself), as some of them are looking pretty rough. Measured them out it looks like I should be able to buy pre-hung doors to replace them. Going to call in a friend who is more experienced than me to confirm that this plan will work.

Will be hopefully tackling the bathroom flooring in my unit this week; need to tear out the existing tiles and underlayment (which looks to be OSB or something similar), install new underlayment and the LVT I picked up over the weekend, then add trim around the bathtub. Doesn't seem too tricky. After that my unit will be move-in ready. I've got until the end of January left on my lease, so no rush there.

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #113 on: December 14, 2020, 09:03:24 AM »
I assume this means you got the non-rent paying tenant out without issue?  Maybe I missed that.

PMJL34

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #114 on: December 14, 2020, 10:49:40 AM »
In the future, just tell the tenant to limit the use of the kitchen and put a bucket/bowl under the sink where the leak is. Don't cut off someone's entire water access.

Don't take the tenant's word for it, when you get home, make sure you check it out and confirm it's repaired to your desire. I wouldn't downplay this leak. It could have been going on for years and may be further damage. For sink water waste to get to your floor, it must get around...kitchen cabinet base, 2nd floor flooring, subfloor, floor joists, insulation, then your ceiling tile). This was no small leak. Make sure all of those items aren't damaged.

While the ceiling tile is off, examine the space between the 1st and 2nd floor. Look for any rodent waste, wood rot etc.

What is wrong with the doors? Doors are very tricky to replace in older homes and generally very expensive (especially exterior doors). A little bit of sanding and paint can make them look brand new. Perhaps a picture could help me understand your concerns. This would be much lower on my to do list.

So what is the living situation? Is the tenant who didn't pay now in the 2bedroom and you are taking over the 3 bedroom? 1 bedroom is still vacant?
« Last Edit: December 14, 2020, 10:51:28 AM by PMJL34 »

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #115 on: December 14, 2020, 03:18:05 PM »
In the future, just tell the tenant to limit the use of the kitchen and put a bucket/bowl under the sink where the leak is. Don't cut off someone's entire water access.

Don't take the tenant's word for it, when you get home, make sure you check it out and confirm it's repaired to your desire. I wouldn't downplay this leak. It could have been going on for years and may be further damage. For sink water waste to get to your floor, it must get around...kitchen cabinet base, 2nd floor flooring, subfloor, floor joists, insulation, then your ceiling tile). This was no small leak. Make sure all of those items aren't damaged.

While the ceiling tile is off, examine the space between the 1st and 2nd floor. Look for any rodent waste, wood rot etc.

What is wrong with the doors? Doors are very tricky to replace in older homes and generally very expensive (especially exterior doors). A little bit of sanding and paint can make them look brand new. Perhaps a picture could help me understand your concerns. This would be much lower on my to do list.

So what is the living situation? Is the tenant who didn't pay now in the 2bedroom and you are taking over the 3 bedroom? 1 bedroom is still vacant?

At the time that I noticed the leak I had no idea where it was coming from, and I was on my way into work for a 12 hour shift. The water has been off to both of those apartments for the past several months; I only just got it turned back on Friday. The tenant understands that he's living in an apartment that is in many ways a project in progress. In truth he's only half living out of the unit for the time being; he's been staying with parents most nights due to aforementioned lack of water. And he was outside working in the garage when I found the leak, so it wasn't as if I just turned his water off out of the blue; I went over and told him "hey, there's water leaking from your apartment into the downstairs bathroom, I disconnected the water until we can figure out where it's coming from". He has access to both apartments, so he was able to turn the water back on himself after fixing the leak.

As for the damage, I haven't seen the upstairs unit yet (though replacing that kitchen flooring was already on the to do list, so further damage to it is largely irrelevant), and there is no insulation between the two floors, at least not in that area. As for the joists, they were definitely wet but did not appear rotted. As I said, the water has been turned off to both of those apartments for several months, so nothing has been leaking anywhere recently, not until I turned the water back on Friday, which is likely when it started.

As for the exterior doors, they're mostly just in bad shape. They don't close easily, and the portion of the frame where the strike plates are mounted is really chewed up on most of them, to the point that I didn't even bother replacing the strike plates because I wasn't confident I'd be able to get the new ones to screw into the existing holes. I used a 4 foot level to see how level the frames are, and they're all surprisingly close to even. I *think* that with a bit of shimming pre-hung doors should work. I'll take some pictures and post them, would love to get some more experienced opinions on my options.

The living situation at present is:

1 bedroom unit - Vacant
2 bedroom unit - Occupied by the tenant formerly known as "deadbeat" (who turns out to actually be a pretty swell guy, time will tell if he pays his rent when he has a good landlord)
3 bedroom unit - Vacant, soon to be occupied by yours truly, yours truly's SO, and roommate who is renting 1 room for $300/mo
1 car garage - Being rented by tenant for an additional $200/mo
« Last Edit: December 14, 2020, 03:20:55 PM by Valley of Plenty »

PMJL34

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #116 on: December 14, 2020, 05:13:46 PM »
Valley,

Got it, that makes more sense about the water situation. Just know that water is your worst enemy. You have to declare full on war against water problems should they arise :)

You and the tenant appear to be developing a good working relationship. I hope it continues to be a win-win situation.  How much is he paying to rent the 2 bedroom? That's amazing that you can charge $200 for a garage! That's like half your mortgage!

I'm happy to post feedback on your doors. Sounds like they are pretty beat up and may need to be replaced (I would still hold off though most likely). As mentioned, just know that old doors and new doors are different enough to make replacements pretty hard (lock positions, thickness, plate positions can all be different). And as mentioned, good quality exterior doors are expensive. I myself have had luck with craigslist, but I warn you that I had to retrofit the entire door, opening, and jamb and it wasn't as straightforward as I would have liked. If you just want better weather stripping, your door frame (not the door itself) should have grooves and you can purchase weather strips for cheap at your local hardware store and it will make a huge difference and keep the water/wind/bugs out.
« Last Edit: December 14, 2020, 05:15:23 PM by PMJL34 »

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #117 on: December 14, 2020, 05:18:24 PM »

What is wrong with the doors? Doors are very tricky to replace in older homes and generally very expensive (especially exterior doors). A little bit of sanding and paint can make them look brand new. Perhaps a picture could help me understand your concerns. This would be much lower on my to do list.


Re Doors.  It is amazing what sandable primer, and exterior paint can do to very rough exterior doors.  No, they won't look perfect, but will look "kept up" and "maintained" and hence, be not noticed.

I sanded and painted quite a few cheap 1970's (think veneer over wood core) doors that had been exposed to the rain for far too long.  This was on a community building, without much budget.   It turned out great and the $$ went into better roof flashing and roof demossing.

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #118 on: December 28, 2020, 12:23:06 PM »
Update!

Yesterday was a very productive day. Assisted the holdover tenant with moving the remainder of his things out of the unit I'm going to be moving into, so it's now completely empty and move-in ready for us. Also fixed the door to the basement that previously would not shut and had no knob or latch. I have a feeling by the time I finally move out of this place I'm going to be quite good at fixing/replacing doors!

The new bathroom floor and trim has been installed in the upstairs bathroom of my unit, courtesy of the holdover tenant. I'm paying him $200 for the job. He took longer than I would have liked to get it done, (about a week and a half from when he first said he would do it) but I know he's been busy with the holidays, so I'm being lenient. In the future I think I'll be setting more strict deadlines for work I commission him for.

Renting a U-Haul truck for Wednesday and Thursday to hopefully get most of my roommates' and I's things moved in. We still have all of January left on my lease, so there's no rush, but we're eager to get get it done.

The roof seems to be holding up well. I've monitored it closely over the course of several rainfalls and 18 inches of snow, and the only sign of leakage is a small leak in the corner of a dormer. I don't think it will give me any major problems before spring when I get it replaced. I'm now leaning more towards a shingled roof, simply because the complexity of the roof makes me nervous about getting a metal roof put on. From what I understand the margin for error with metal roofs is a lot smaller than it is with shingles, and I don't know any roofing companies well enough to have complete confidence in their ability to do the job right the first time. So I'll probably be spending $15,000 in the spring to have the old shingles taken off and new shingles put down.


sammybiker

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #119 on: December 29, 2020, 06:13:14 AM »
@Valley of Plenty    Nice update, good work.

Can you use the time now to get more bids on the roof?  $15k is a lot, especially in your area where labor rates are lower.  Even a complex roof, I would expect could be had <$8k.

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #120 on: December 29, 2020, 06:38:26 AM »
@Valley of Plenty    Nice update, good work.

Can you use the time now to get more bids on the roof?  $15k is a lot, especially in your area where labor rates are lower.  Even a complex roof, I would expect could be had <$8k.

I can shop around for quotes, but it is highly unlikely that I'm going to find anyone able to beat the price offered to me by the amish crew. These guys are known for doing work for cheaper than anyone else. Still, it can't hurt to check. Thanks for reminding me of that!

PMJL34

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #121 on: December 29, 2020, 09:28:51 PM »
Awesome update!

What exactly did you do to fix the doors? You will become a DIY expert in no time. Youtube is your best friend.

lol I am so curious about the tenant's bathroom floor job. What exactly did he do and what type of flooring did he put down? Until I see the quality of his work, I'm not sure I would feel comfortable hiring him. I would hate for you to have to re-do his job and pay someone to remove his old work + the new work. With that said, hope he did a great job.

Tarp my friend! And yes, definitely get a couple of more quotes. I think 15K is about right considering shingle removal and dormer/complexity. If you are going to remove the shingles, you will most likely need new sheathing put down (OSB/plywood). Make sure this is included in the quote.

Best of luck and thanks for keeping us updated!


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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #122 on: December 29, 2020, 10:13:31 PM »
Just found this thread today, reading out of curiosity.

Tarp sounds like a good idea, but don't take advice from me, just the people who know what they're talking about. @Valley of Plenty, good luck on your new home.

Liking the pictures.

Valley of Plenty

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #123 on: June 20, 2021, 06:53:06 PM »
(A long overdue) Update!

Wow, it has been about 6 months to date since I last updated this thread. Time to catch up!

1. The Roof
To make a long story short, the roof still hasn't been replaced. I wasn't able to get anyone under contract to replace it before winter, and the material shortages paired with the sudden bizarre demand for contractors in the spring has made it damn near impossible to get any contracted work done without a months long waiting list.

I did finally get someone signed on for the project though, and it was not the amish crew I was planning to go with back in December. I got an updated quote from them in the spring and the price had gone up from $12,000 to $14,000 due to increased material costs. I called up a guy that my step dad recommended (step dad works at a building supply store and knows all the local contractors), and immediately got a great impression from him. He's Mennonite and has been in the roofing business for about 20 years. I've heard from numerous people that he does the best metal roofing in the area. He quoted me $16,000 for metal roof, and that includes tearing off the old shingles and replacing any damaged structural boards. I know that a lot of people here and elsewhere had been strongly opposed to putting metal directly overtop of shingles, so the fact that this guy was so insistent upon tearing the shingles off first made me feel a lot more confident in his work. As such, I felt it was worth the extra $2,000 for the peace of mind that comes from knowing a job has been done right. He is of course extremely busy and booked out for months like everyone else - he says he expects to get started towards the end of summer, likely late August or early September.

The roof did spring a leak back in April during one particularly heavy rainfall, but thankfully the guy I contracted to replace the roof (we had just entered into contract a few days prior) offered to come out and patch it free of charge. There have been no issues since. Fingers crossed that remains the case until the new roof goes on here in a couple months.

2. The Holdover Tenant
There is a lot that could be said here, but I'll do my best to summarize. The short version is that the tenant formerly known as squatter is now presently known as inmate. The slightly longer version is that he stayed consistently about a month behind on rent for the 5 months I had him, then on May 22nd while I was at work he allegedly got into a dispute with someone and pointed a gun at them through the window of his apartment. Police were called out and found multiple unlawful firearms on the premises (he has a felony on his record and as such is not allowed to possess any firearms). He left that night in cuffs and probably won't be out for a very long time. He's looking at anywhere between 5 and 50 years, depending on how generous the judge feels like being. He willingly relinquished his tenancy, and his family came by and got all of his stuff within 2 weeks of him being arrested. So he is officially out of my hair, and in a manner that was much easier for me than I was expecting.

So now as it stands I have two tenants (I did place a tenant in the one bedroom unit but they will likely be moving out at the end of September) and one vacant unit, which doesn't need much by way of renovation but I want to let it sit empty for a month or two just to make sure the next tenant doesn't end up getting any visitors that are former associates of the prior tenant who was evidently mixed up with some shady stuff.

As ever the Great $45,000 Triplex Saga continues to be a wild ride, but the future still looks quite promising!


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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #124 on: June 21, 2021, 02:30:35 AM »
Oh my.  Good work on the new roof quote, though.

There's another forum member has had trouble with a tenant and guns being fired - Exflyboy.  Now I'm wondering if it's bad luck or if a lot of landlords in the USA have to deal with it.

theoverlook

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #125 on: June 21, 2021, 09:40:10 AM »
Well, that's one way to get a tenant gone quickly. I'm not sure if that's a plus or a minus, honestly.

The place is sounding like it continues to be an excellent investment, though! Good job sticking with it.

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #126 on: June 21, 2021, 10:38:24 AM »
Quite the update!

Glad that the Armed Tenant Issue settled peacefully. Sounds like you got a good roofing contractor too.

PMJL34

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #127 on: June 22, 2021, 10:45:42 AM »
Thanks for the update. Hope the roof replacement goes smoothly!

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #128 on: August 31, 2021, 11:27:26 AM »
How's the triplex been treating you?

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #129 on: September 07, 2021, 07:58:37 AM »
How's the triplex been treating you?

It's been mostly quiet recently; both apartments are sitting empty for the time being.

A necessary bathroom renovation in the downstairs apartment went a little too well, and now I've decided to just renovate the entire apartment because otherwise the bathroom looks far nicer than the rest of the place. Hoping to have it all updated and ready to rent by the end of the month. My next door neighbor who is also a landlord told me a prior tenant of hers is looking for a one bedroom apartment, and isn't in a hurry. I will of course do my due diligence with screening, but the neighbor (who seems good and honest far as I can tell) is vouching very strongly for the character of this individual as a tenant.

The upstairs apartment that the deadbeat tenant inmate has probably sat empty long enough, so I think I'm going to list in soon as well. It does need a new kitchen floor first though, so I'll have to find time to get that done here in the next few weeks.

We got hit with heavy rainfall last week from hurricane IDA, during which my roof sprung another leak. We were prepared with buckets and there was no property damage, but I expect any rainfall from here on out is going to be problematic. I spoke with the roofing contractor again and he said he's hoping to get the new roof on some time in October. Hopefully that's soon enough, as the roof is too damaged at this point for patching it to really be an option. As ever though, I remain aggressively optimistic!

On the same day as aforementioned roof leak, the oil furnace on my side also went out, so I had no hot water for a couple days. I called up a handyman who was recommended by the neighbor, and he discovered the problem to be a broken drive coupling for the pump. He replaced that and showed me how to replace the filter and nozzle, which I've learned are supposed to be done once a year. It was a very informative experience, and I now have a much better understanding the thing that heats my home. Bill was also only $95 for parts + labor, which is way cheaper than what it would have cost me to call an HVAC company. Winning!


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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #130 on: September 10, 2021, 08:37:52 AM »
On the same day as aforementioned roof leak, the oil furnace on my side also went out, so I had no hot water for a couple days. I called up a handyman who was recommended by the neighbor, and he discovered the problem to be a broken drive coupling for the pump. He replaced that and showed me how to replace the filter and nozzle, which I've learned are supposed to be done once a year. It was a very informative experience, and I now have a much better understanding the thing that heats my home. Bill was also only $95 for parts + labor, which is way cheaper than what it would have cost me to call an HVAC company. Winning!
You got it fixed, plus some education that'll save you down the road, for only $95?  You'd better keep that guy's number--he's a keeper!

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Re: The Great $55,000 Triplex Saga
« Reply #131 on: September 20, 2021, 07:16:54 PM »
On the same day as aforementioned roof leak, the oil furnace on my side also went out, so I had no hot water for a couple days. I called up a handyman who was recommended by the neighbor, and he discovered the problem to be a broken drive coupling for the pump. He replaced that and showed me how to replace the filter and nozzle, which I've learned are supposed to be done once a year. It was a very informative experience, and I now have a much better understanding the thing that heats my home. Bill was also only $95 for parts + labor, which is way cheaper than what it would have cost me to call an HVAC company. Winning!
You got it fixed, plus some education that'll save you down the road, for only $95?  You'd better keep that guy's number--he's a keeper!

The really crazy part is that while driving to his house to pick up the part I needed, he got a speeding ticket that was more than the amount he charged me. So he came out at a net loss for the job, and still told me not to hesitate to call him anytime I need anything done.