All Forum Posts by: Alex Nelson

Hey DFW guys, I just bought a duplex in Arlington and it currently has all single pane windows which are causing a bit of mold around them. I want to replace the windows in the duplex with double pane windows. Does anyone have a reliable window replacement guy (or girl) in the area who does good work and won't overcharge me? Also i don't know much about windows. Is there anything that i need to know other than that i need double pane windows?

Thanks in advance!

-Alex

Hi guys, I just purchased my first investment property (Buy and Hold) and am about to start my renovation in about a week. I've always read about successful flippers/rehabbers that have done so many flips that they now have a set of items that they use in all of their properties because they know they work well together and are priced right. This is what I'm referring to as your "House Kit", the set of items you use in every house that always works well together.

So, what is in your go to kit?

examples: 

Type/Size of house - (so we know what you flip using this kit)

Paint color/brand indoor-

Paint color/brand outdoor-

Flooring type/brand -

Cabinets type/brand -

Counter top types -

Pulls (style, type, etc.) -

Lights & Fans brand/rooms/types -

Appliances type/brand -

Exterior modifications -

Other (anything I forgot to list) -

Anything else that you guys have to add about renovations would be welcomed!

@Scott Anthony

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/2015/09/15/6-in...

This article has a few good tips in it on finding off market properties. You can also try driving for dollars where you pick an area you are interested in and drive the streets. Look for neglected houses that have unmowed grass or obvious signs that the owner doesn't care for the property. Write down the address and then search public records for the owner.

Some people have luck in looking for rental listings on craigslist and asking if they would be willing to sell.

It will definitely take more work to find a deal, but you've got a much better change of actually closing if you find it off market.

@Scott Anthony

The issue that you are going to face is that you are in a hot market and asking the seller to agree to jump through many hoops for you. If you put yourself in the sellers shoes, they are likely getting 5-10 offers, possibly more. If you had that many offers, would you not also immediately discard the ones that required a bunch of hoops to jump through and look only at the straight forward, easy to close offers? Also with FHA your requirements on the seller are going to be higher than even that of a conventional mortgage as FHA could have seller required repairs before they will loan on a property.

You are at a big disadvantage in a competitive environment. Have you considered alternative methods of finding a deal that would give you a less competitive environment? Houses on the MLS are like giant bilboards to everyone looking to buy. You may have better luck with an off market home. Given that will take more effort on your end to locate a deal. But once you do find one your chances of closing are greatly increased since there won't be so many offers to compete with.

@Bart H.

I used a Redfin realtor (Yeah yeah i know) and with all of the mess we had with the IRS, I guess she didn't think about the issues with inheriting tenants. 

We had the title company lawyer message the seller explaining exactly what you said. that he is still liable to uphold the contract. He has reluctantly agreed to send me the deposits, but only after arguing that "well only one side actually paid the pet deposit and was on an installment plan and only paid part of their pet deposit" they tried to tell me they were sending about $400 less than was on the leases because of this. I then replied that i would seek legal representation if they did not send the full amount as listed on the lease. They have agreed to send this but it is taking forever to receive anything. they claim "it has been put in the mail and you will receive in within 10 business days".

Definitely learning a lot of lessons on this first deal.

As for the AirBnB plan. From what I understand Arlington has passed an ordinance that will begin near the end of the year that requires a permit in order to operate an AirBnB if it is not in a "tourist zone" which they designate as with 1 mile of the major attractions such as the ballparks etc. I'm planning to keep up with this to make sure the price of the permit will not ruin my cash flow. Worst case scenario I have a furnished apartment to rent less than 5 minutes from UTA.

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $170,000
Cash invested: $31,600

2Br 1Ba each side, 1650 sq/ft duplex in the heart of Arlington. 5 minutes from UTA, 8 minutes from AT&T Stadium, and 15 minutes from Six Flags. This unit is set to be my first house hack / AirBnB.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I'm looking to start my investing career and a house hack is the best way to do that in my opinion.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found this deal on the MLS. This was listed at 157k but i knew this is a hot market so i bid well over at 170k. I didn't get the deal at first. About 2 weeks later i got a call that the buyer pulled out without doing any inspection or anything. I took the deal. Ended up going through almost 5 month under contact due to multiple IRS liens on the property.

How did you finance this deal?

I used a conventional 15% down Fannie Mae Owner Occupant loan that I got through Redfin Mortgage with an interest rate of 4.25%

How did you add value to the deal?

(planning to as i haven't moved in quite yet) remove popcorn ceilings, repaint all interior walls and exterior facade, new LVT flooring, new cabinet doors on all kitchen cabinets as well as repainting cabinets. Update appliances throughout. New tile and vanities in both bathrooms.

What was the outcome?

As i have not yet done the renovation and subsequent renting of the unit, i can not say the outcome of this quite yet.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always check the title before committing large amounts of money to the deal.
Make sure that any tenants leases are turned over to title prior to closing.
Stay with it, especially with the IRS. They are a pain to work with.

I got the Title Attorney to look into it and in our contact it does state that he is legally required to send these deposits to me. The contract also states that he is still responsible for this even after the deal is closed.

The problem was that the seller never disclosed to Title that he had tenants in the units. Since this is my first purchase i didn't even think to bring it up. I assumed Title would have already had all of the information and documents. Then with all of this trouble i had with the IRS it must have slipped through the cracks.

This is definitely a learning experience. I have had the lawyer send the seller an email stating that he is legally obligated to send this to me, even if it was not listed previously in the contract. Hopefully this will get him to transfer these deposits over without me needing to get legal representation myself.

Well it looks like the ride isn't over. In dealing with all of this IRS mess, I realized that the tenants deposits was never discussed. 

When i asked the seller to send me the deposits for my inherited tenants, the seller just said

"I just realized that the buyer never brought that up in the contract. I'm sorry but I think the deal is over. He would need to refund the deposits on his own. I already gave a concession of $750 off the price. I do not think I am obligated to do anymore past the closing here."

The concession was for repairs, not to cover any kind of deposits. This amount wouldn't even cover the deposits as the deposits total up to $1,350.

Does anyone have any tips on how i can get the tenants deposits back so i don't have to fork this over out of pocket? I'm already looking for a lawyer just curious if anyone has any ideas.

@Ronald Rohde

So you are saying that if it is not explicitly requested or mentioned in the contract, that i am now liable to pay my tenants back for money they gave to the old owner to hold? I was under the assumption that this money still belongs to the tenants and is only to be help by the landlord. I thought it was legally required to be returned to the tenants in full with only listed and approved deductions being removed.

So now i am expected to pay my tenants money that was supposed to be recourse against them if they damaged the place? while the old owner gets to keep this money that was supposed to be returned?

I just purchased my first duplex and after we just closed the sale, i realized that we never discussed the tenants deposits. When i asked the seller to send me the deposits for my inherited tenants, he said that this wasn’t brought up and the deal was already closed. That it is not his responsibility. 

I need a good lawyer in the DFW area that i can contact to discuss my options here. Does any have a good recommendation for a lawyer that would be good for this type of thing?