All Forum Posts by: Alecia Loveless

Hi Marcus, you've brought up a good point. While I can attempt to lay down the law with this contractor, both the plumber and electrician are also hard at work so I can make sure they are being paid when they want to be paid, every week, or at the end of the job. They only had bout twenty hours apiece so far and came and went as they pleased so I'll be sure to check on that tomorrow.  

No need to perpetuate my bad habit with one contractor onto the others.

In my 20+ years of owning my own businesses pretty much everyone wanted to get paid and made sure to leave their bill or mail it to me. That's why this case is kind of stunning to me. Its not like its a little bit of money. 

Thanks for the advice! Alecia 

Hi Nathan G. Fortunately this contractor has worked for me for over a decade so I would be completely shocked and amazed if he brought me a bill that I thought was exorbitantly high. I'm not saying its not possible, because I realize anything is. I realize now that I should be handling these situations differently which is why I posted about it, to get some expert advice.  So thanks for helping me! I've got so much to learn. 

Hi Michael Hayworth, thanks for the idea of the escrow account. I hadn't thought of this before. This would definitely be a great idea for keeping the money separate even if I only do it in my bookkeeping software so I am not seeing it in the physical account! 

Thanks! Alecia

Start looking around at markets now that you might be interested in. The time constraints on the 1031 are quite short as I'm sure you know which is why you should explore markets now. That way you can start assembling a team to help you manage your new property if it is OOS or otherwise not local to you. I have started doing this myself. 

I'm hoping to do a 1031 in May/June to start the process. I've begun looking at an OOS market to get a feel for it as mine is super high now and no inventory.  I could just as easily pay for the capital gains as my accountant always recommends, but I'd like to try the 1031 process.

Best of luck with whatever decision you make. The paid off house and $1200 a month cash flow isn't shabby either. 

Thanks Adam. You’re absolutely right I am guesstimating. Usually he does come in on the low side but you’re right I could be in for a nasty surprise.  Maybe when I tell him I’m planning on doing a 1031 exchange with the latest project he’s working on so he simply MUST be paid at closing if not before or I’m going to reinvest his money he’ll at least respond to that. 

I've got a great general contractor. In the past 8 months he's worked at 3 of my properties. The first doing odds and ends getting it ready to be sold, maybe about $3000 worth. Then he did a major renovation to the second side of the duplex I live in including installing a shower, laying flooring, and supervising other employees such as the plumber and electrician. This could easily have been as much as a $12-15,000 bill from him. He promised at my insistence I would be invoiced before December 31,2020 so I could properly account for these bills in the correct year. Now he is renovating a third house for me, another $12-15000 project. 

I have yet to receive a single invoice of any kind from him. I have referred him much business and many new accounts but I can't imagine he doesn't want or need this money. There aren't any other reliable, insured contractors in my area that won't simply charge me an arm and a leg for this type of work. He also comes at every emergency I have so I don't want to alienate him or offend him especially as my portfolio grows. 

If anyone has any suggestions on how I should handle this I would appreciate it. 

Thanks!

I've got a great general contractor. In the past 8 months he's worked at 3 of my properties. The first doing odds and ends getting it ready to be sold, maybe about $3000 worth. Then he did a major renovation to the second side of the duplex I live in including installing a shower, laying flooring, and supervising other employees such as the plumber and electrician. This could easily have been as much as a $12-15,000 bill from him. He promised at my insistence I would be invoiced before December 31,2020 so I could properly account for these bills in the correct year. Now he is renovating a third house for me, another $12-15000 project. 

I have yet to receive a single invoice of any kind from him. I have referred him much business and many new accounts but I can't imagine he doesn't want or need this money. There aren't any other reliable, insured contractors in my area that won't simply charge me an arm and a leg for this type of work. He also comes at every emergency I have so I don't want to alienate him or offend him especially as my portfolio grows. 

If anyone has any suggestions on how I should handle this I would appreciate it. 

Thanks!

I would try very hard for the duplex. I landed one of the only ones in my tiny town and it is so nice every month to only have a few personal bills like car insurance, cable/internet, and groceries while tenant rent covers almost all the rest. Best of luck!

Hi Javier,

I closed on my first bank financed 4-Plex two weeks ago and it did make me stressed and nervous. I've done other deals with creative financing before but that bank mortgage sure made this one feel a lot more formal and grown up somehow even though I'm almost 45 years old. 

However, when those rent checks arrived it sure did feel good, like I'd definitely made the right decision for my future. I know I'll have maintenance issues, tenant issues, etc down the road at some point but that's A part of doing business. 

So try to relax, stay focused, and continue to plan for the future with your new real estate purchase squarely in your pocket. You can do this! We're all rooting for you.

Continuing to do my own due diligence even though I have qualified Realtors working with me. It has been my experience that often I find the best deals then use a buyers broker to get that extra information from the MLS.