All Forum Posts by: Adrian Bauer

Great post, Corey.

I'm debating getting into your same situation. I'm about to buy my first house and am weighing my exit plan (sell or rent) after 3-4 years. I plan to move to a different house after a couple of years due to starting a family and expecting a career change. I want to get into REI and this is an opportunity to test it out as you stated.

A. Buy now and sell after a couple years. I could buy a bigger house now while the market favors me, then sell for profit when the market eventually recovers.

or

B. Buy a cheaper house now with intent to rent when its time to move to a different house. I just need to becareful not to upgrade the house so much it will be hard to recoup the money as well as condider where the rental market is vs where I would personally like to live.

Good luck with the decision. Please let us know what you decide.

Adrian

I've been looking for the same thing lately.

Short answer: Haven't found anything yet.

What I did find was a class being offered (for $700) that teaches you all the programs out there (federal and state) along with all the nessecary contact info and samples of grant applications. The class was called: The New American Land Rush. You can google it.

I have not signed up, not until I erxhaust researching it on my own. The program advertises beiong able to get grants for SFH (both personal and for rent) as well as duplexes through apartments. It sounded a little too good to be true, so I'm continuing to investigate. The price does bother me, but I'm sure I could spend that on REI seminars as well.

Sorry I didn't have anything specific for you, but if I find something, I'll post it. Free money is always worth looking into!

Adrian

What program are you using? Would you mind posting itor may IO send you an e-mail to get a copy. I am in the research phase of becoming a REI and want to learn as much as I can. Thanks for the web site. Supply/Demand/Price is essential to know.

Adrian

Some of the more reputable PMs in my area (Minnesota) advertise a full months rent for rent up (or $250 to assume a contract, tenant in place) and then $100 or 10% collected rent. I'm not a big fan of the flat rate fee. I like to an incentive for the PM to produce quality.

Is it comon to see PM that have their own handymen either included in the monthly cost or work at a discounted price which we pay? I'm really debating what my time is worth once the place is fixed up and rented.

Adrian

I've installed some cheaper stuff without an install kit. We simply used scrape ends and a hammer to help fit them together. Lock in a scrape piece of flooring into the groove of the good piece, then tap on the scrape piece to create the required pressure to make the two good piece snap together. It was sometimes annoying, but I'm very anal and in the end all the seams looked very good.

My question is, how well does it hold up and what if a repair is needed? Are the cheaper floors known to soak up water and get damaged (ie dont install in a kitchen), how much wear and tear do they take? Or do more exepnsive one hold up and resisit water better? Is there a way to repair a section? DO you have to dismantle the floor in order to repair the damaged section?

Thanks for any tips. I want to go laminate , just not sure about the long term effects (I plan to rent).

Adrian

Charles is exactly right. When you make an offer, the inspection is part of your contingency to buy. Based off the inspection (and your GC estimates) you can negotiate the purchase price further. Having the written inspection and an estimate (broken down) give you hard facts to help negotiate vs a gut feeling the price should be lower based on what repairs might be needed.

Thanks for the thoughts, guys. I have a very good idea what experts I need (and will have to pay for). I think fixing/rehabbing is a way to increase the profit magin. My first couple RE plan to to be lower cost (test the waters, then go bigger). On one hand, renters should expect to get what they pay for (ie nothing fancy). On the other, I am a very anal person, so even with the lower grade materials, I believe my quality should be acceptable/good. I'll hire out anything above my abilty and use the early projects as a learning tool.

Thanks.

Adrian

Minnesota puts a cap on the max amount of rent allowable based on comps (your too I'm sure). Depending on your remodel, you may not be able to charge what you need to come out ahead. If you ask for too much, a rep from the Section 8 office calls to negotiate a lower price. An upside to your fears about extra wear and tear, the whole subsidized housing program is such a great deal I would "think" tenants would be cautious not to ruin the place and risk the chance of getting banned from Section 8.

I plan to get started in RE, buy, fix, rent. I want to begin with smaller projects to test the waters. My target market is low income/Section8. However, I still fear the extra wear and tear and am looking for posts to confirm or deny it.

Good luck.

Anyone have opinions on investing outside of your state? Personally, I am not comfortable with the idea, but as I surf teh web, I see people advertising better than average ROI in different parts of the country. I guess it comes down to trusting someone to work on your behalf. I'm not THAT trusting :lol:

Thanks for the tips where to look. I won't be back in Minnesota for another 12 months, but I'm anxious to make contacts and watch where the market goes.