All Forum Posts by: Ashley Childers

In my opinion, and it is of course an opinion (based on experience), don't open a can of worms unless you plan or want to go further. If it works fine, and you aren't already planning on doing other upgrades/renovations or adding central AC, leave it. List the home, and if it becomes an issue during the buyer's home inspection, deal with it at that point. If it wasn't functioning properly, that would be a different story. Good luck!

Welcome Jeremy, make yourself at home here and good luck!

It would depend on a few things, what your experience and comfortability is, and is the property local to you or not. If its your first deal, using an agent to represent you could be a very good idea, both safer and a learning experience. They will help ensure that your bases are covered, from contracts to inspections. If the property is out of your geographical area, having someone on your side who is local can be priceless. Good luck!

Christopher Velijkovic, here in the south buried oil tanks from the 70's and 80's are a pretty common thing to encounter, so they honestly don't scare me very much anymore. I understand that it passed the leak test (I'm assuming they used a pressure test or some similar method) , but I would recommend still considering a soil test. I have heard of cases where a tank had had a small leak in the past, but then closed back up via corrosion, etc. I understand that its uncommon, but still a possibility to consider. Could be more trouble than its worth though, being in the crawlspace. Hope it works out well!

That's interesting, my 3/2s and 2/1s have always rented at about the same speed, just obviously for different prices of course. Now I will say that as prices and rents trend upward more and more, I have seen more families squeeze into 2/1s when they really need more space, but the 3/2s ultimately still rent out fine as well. I hope we get some more feedback on this from the BP community

Study, read, and study some more. You'll find pretty much all you need here on BP. I'm not too far from your area, hour and a half or so. Pick a farm area, say a 10 mile radius from where you live, and drive it. Familiarize yourself with the variances of the neighborhoods, learn them like the back of your hand. Join a few local REIA's (real estate investment assoc) and meet other investors. You want to make sure that you learn what kind of houses/deals that investors will want to buy from you. Talk to the other wholesalers there and learn. Network network network. Have some business cards made up that say you buy houses and that you will pay a (specific) referral fee on any deal that you close on. Your contracts and agreements are a huge part, most of what you need can again be found here on BP. Finally, don't quit. Its not easy but if it is what you really want to do, stick with it and persevere. There's more to it than this, but its a start. Good luck!

I recently went through a similar scenario here in NC with a commercial property that was previously a gas station. The old tanks were still in the ground, and completely full. The seller claimed to not even know about the tanks' existence. I had the contents tested, they were filled with 100% water. The soil around also checked out. I used the tanks as leverage to negotiate a much more favorable deal with the seller and everything worked out great. I learned that unused tanks can be removed, or filled with water, foam or concrete. All are acceptable and legal methods, providing nothing leaked. If any old fuel had remained, I would have had to pay a disposal company by the gallon to pump the tanks and discard the fuel appropriately. Verify that the tank really hasn't leaked, have a soil test completed and use the entire ordeal as leverage to negotiate a better deal from a seller who misrepresented their property. Just my opinion of course, based on my experience. Good luck!

Expensive yes, could potentially start you off on the wrong foot with the homeowner (how many good news letters come certified?), they could open your letter with a heightened anxiety level.. But I don't know, its an interesting idea and I hope we get some other opinions and feedback here

I'm an hour and a half west of there and from what I have seen, its hard to make a safe analysis without having the opinion of someone who has the knowledge and boots on the ground in that area. I would reach out to a local agent and pay them a fee if necessary to do a little prelim work for you. In the southeast, and also the closer to the mountains you are, the more difficult it can be to assess value long distance. Here, because of zoning, you can easily find a half million dollar home next to a single wide mobile home. It can be done of course, but as with anywhere, proceed with caution. That being said, there are many great areas there. Good luck!

Make a trip to lowes or home depot at 7am and see who the go getters are that are buying materials for the day. Don't be shy, get business cards and numbers. Then ask at the Pro (contractors) desk about the guys they see and work with every day.