All Forum Posts by: Alan Asriants

I believe you can do what is called an escrow holdback. Although I think it depends on repairs.

So you have to pay up to 1.25 or 1.5x, cant remember, the amount the appraiser estimates for the repairs. You put that money into escrow and when you purchase the property and complete them, you get the appraiser to come back out to verify the fixes. Once he does they will mail you your escrow check back. 

You will have to pay for the appraiser to go back out again. Like 100-200 bucks

Better than paying up front on a property you dont own. Get that seller credit instead of lowering the price - that will help you absorb those costs.

Talk to your lender. I did this back in 2020 when i was buying my first house hack using FHA

It is the due diligence of the Buyer and the Buyer's agent to verify things like this, but sometimes things are able to be slipped through the cracks. If the seller purposefully marketed the property with an ADU and claimed it to be legal while 100% knowing it wasnt is subject to sellers disclosure law per your state.

Did your township conduct a U&O inspection? Were you given a certificate by the township on clear use and occupancy from the seller?

You might have a case here if there was clear misrepresentation against the seller. 

Just FYI if you decide to go the lawyer route your lawyer will sue everyone involved. 

Interesting that appraiser didn't catch it either. I had a situation just like this recently. Its in lawyers hand now because getting the ADU permitted was not possible through township, so they are trying to remedy their losses.

Make sure you get a GOOD lawyer. This client I knew got a very bad lawyer who got the suit thrown back into his face due to so many technical mistakes. 

Try going through township first, maybe its an easy process. Litigation should be last resort, but dont wait around. In PA statue of limitations is 2 years

 Fingers crossed it doesnt go out of style in 5 year LOL!

 As you start changing HVAC, windows, etc your budget certianly goes up. Im around 50-60/sqft when doing a full cosmetic rehab plus new pex, windows, hvac and roof. once you get into structural, siding, pointing, landscaping, concrete that budget get closer to 80-100. 

 This is in NE phila, I am expecting to get around 1650/m without renting the garage

 Unfortunately no line item cost breakdown. I hired a GC to do it so they covered the entire scope of work. project was supposed to take 1-1.5 months but ended up taking closer to 2.5 months. GC was doing other project simultaneously, and the overlap of holidays didnt help.

I measure kitchen incorrectly because when we did demo we realized the shared wall was only on furring strips. So we have to put in 2x3 fram which meant we needed to resize kithen 

 This rehab I didnt have to do while occupied. But the sheetrock securing I did for the spot that was affected. When the tenant moved out I did the rehab. 

I pay around 5k-6k for a bathroom rehab and around 12-15k for a kitchen on their own. 

Yes this was an update to the unit. To be honest I couldve gotten away with a much cheaper rehab (kept older kitchen and bath, just did sheetrock work, flooring, and lighting). I figure I wouldve already invested so much that an additional 15k or so would've been silly not to. It wasn't the best ROI to be honest but should help me rent higher (around 200/m more) and quicker

Get as much info as you can. get their bank statements see what comes in and comes out. Personally I don't love it. If your gut is throwing you off I would trust that. There are many ways to scheme a decent credit score though rebuilding closing acccounts etc. 

Ask for 2 landlord references and see what they say. Make sure you get that landlord info of the housing before the one they are in now. Verify that the info of that landlord is correct through property records.