All Forum Posts by: Andrew Taylor

@William Brown My brother and my father and I met with an attorney about this last year, and it went about like we expected. The most interesting thing to come out of the meeting was a question from the attorney about how we wanted to handle the death of a member. All three of us have very different relationships with our spouses, and none of the spouses would really work very well with the remaining members. Working this issue out took a couple of lunches and provided some very interesting food for thought. Something for you to consider.

@Joe Splitrock Do the math... Three months at $1650 is $4,950. Dropping the price $100 only costs you $1,200. Drop it $200 and you're still only losing HALF of what you lose by letting it sit for three months. Don't stick with a mistake because you took a long time making it.

I second the Ikea route. Just installed some last week, and they're nice, solid, have great hardware, had a thousand different options available, and are warranted for a really long time. Seems like just the thing for a rental: if the tenants break it, you charge them for it at move-out and let Ikea replace the damaged items at no charge.

I just stopped on my way home tonight and spoke with a husband and wife team that just finished building a really nice RV park in Porter. A couple of things stood out.

First, they said the planning and preliminaries took about two years from the time they pulled the trigger on the project. Apparently the water well was the holdup and not, as they feared (and me, too), the septic design. Apparently because you're providing water to multiple units, you're a utility provider, and it's not like just getting a well permit for your own use. They said it took something like seven months to get the well approved, and then several more months after that to have the water quality testing done.

Second, they are still fighting with Montgomery County over their use of park-model RV units. They originally designed and built the entire complex with the intent of putting park model units in every space. These units are classified as RV's by the RVIA and ANSI and whoever else certifies those kinds of things, but the county ain't having it. They are refusing to renew the septic permit until the owners remove the "tiny houses" from the property. The owners keep pointing out that they have no tiny houses, that in fact all they have are RV's, but the county is being stubborn. They were both clearly exasperated and stressed out by the situation.

They said it's been a learning experience, but they confirmed they're making a profit on the place. I didn't ask for specifics and they didn't volunteer.

Hello Houston-area investors. After several years of kicking the tires around here, reading books, walking properties, analyzing deals, and basically becoming the perfect walking example of "paralysis by analysis," I'm resolved to make 2019 the year I roll up my sleeves (or roll them up a little farther, I guess) and really get started in REI.

To ensure I keep positive momentum toward my goals, I'm looking to hook up with a local accountability group - or start one, if necessary. I'm not really sure what the mechanics of an AG are, but what I'd like is a small group, say 5-6 like-minded individuals, that are available to meet weekly in the Tomball/Magnolia area to talk shop, review goals and progress, provide encouragement, and, of course, accountability. I'm not really thinking of a forum to pitch deals or have guest speakers or whatever, although some of that may sort of evolve naturally.

There's a quote out there that has something to do with you being like the five people you spend the most time with. On my current trajectory, I will be the beer-drinking-est, TV-watching-est, credit card debt-ridden-est dude in this hemisphere, and that's not where I'd like to be, thank you very much.

Reply here or DM me if you're interested in having a conversation about this.

@Dennis Burgess Start by reading "Flip" by Rick Villani. Take the numbers in his chart (you'll know it when you see it) and figure out how much to bump them up for inflation and your specific market. (This will involve meeting with some contractors, making some phone calls, walking some jobs and doing some math.) When you're done you'll have a handy cheat-sheet you can use as a jumping-off point.

@David Nisbett Cost plus is a common arrangement, but for your first project with a given GC I'd recommend cost plus with a "not to exceed" clause. Problem with CP is that the contractor has no incentive to keep costs under control (other than a conscience, which is hard to gauge without several projects under your belts together). Proper etiquette in this arrangement is for the GC to be honest and for you not to question his mark-up - including (and maybe even especially) the mark-up associated with subcontractors. Subs require relationships and management skills; if they didn't, you'd schedule them yourself. If you nickel and dime him on every invoice, he's going to nickel and dime you on every invoice. Reasonable percentage could be anything. Most common is probably in the 15-20% range, although I've worked for more and less.

I personally would not hesitate to buy a remodeled flood home if it was in an area that didn't typically flood (Harvey was not a typical flood event). That being said, I'd expect a significant discount compared to pre-flood market.

I've spent most of the last two years rebuilding flooded houses (tax day flood and Harvey), and I can tell you some of them have sold at 40% less than their pre-flood values.

Got it, thanks!

I'd like more info as well, Cal.

[email protected]

Thanks