All Forum Posts by: BA R.

Depending on what kind of sealant you already have in place makes a difference, but last time I looked Walmart ( or any big box store) had  both black jack ( I LOVE THAT STUFF EVEN IF IT IS A COMPLETE MESS) or the white elastic stuff in 5 gallon buckets for like 75.00 to 100.00. That and a roller and your good once you ABSOLUTELY make sure it is clean and dry.

Hope this helped.

Yep! That's the plan. Am listening to pod cast like they are going out of style!

Am seriously looking at renting out single rooms, student style housing, only not for students. More along the lines  of being set up as shared housing for the low income crowd,  ( seniors etc.)  I was looking at rooming house statutes but cannot find any criteria they need to get a license other then the tax you have to pay for  motels or lodging , rooming houses etc if occupied less then 30 days per person. Does any one have any links to cover those details or experience in this area?

Thanks

I am seriously looking at Corpus or that area to start investing in for buy and hold . I'm thinking quads or commercial level apartments. I have been able to get a lot of detailed info about rehabbing on 4 units or less since they are classed as residential and since I'm planning on doing owner occupied for quite a while I think I'm OK there with doing a lot of  my own work. The questions I have are about commercial apartments. I am figuring  since what I have to work with is  definitely a shoe string budget, as far as start up , what I will end up with , worse case scenario is some ones white elephant that  the current owner just wants to get out from under.  I am allowing for the fact it may very well be vacant, That's OK. As long as they will finance it, I'm good with it.  I have tried looking up this info on net but so far I'm coming up blank. Maybe I'm just not using right search terms. I don't know.  For now , this first deal will be for very low end apartments. I am not into being a slum lord but the goal is to provide housing as cheap as possible and still make a better then break even profit. 

What I don't know is :

1. Can I do my own electric, plumbing and mechanical  work on an owner occupied commercial building?

2. As I understand it, occupancy permits require every thing be inspected first.  i figure electrical is going to be out dated. so  I am wondering  as long as it is working and safe  and fit the code that was in place last time it was done, will I be OK, or will I have to redo  the electric, plumbing and mechanical to get past inspections to get an occupancy permit since it is classed as commercial?

3. I found the city building codes. I have yet to find a link to Nueces county building codes. Does any one have a link that can help?

4. I realize the electrical, plumbing and mechanical licenses take  schooling etc but while I found the link to get licensed for handy man  other then paying the taxes to get the license is there any other requirements?  If so a link to the info would be well appreciated. Same question for dry wall and painting, grounds keeper, landscaping as owner occupant.

5. On an older building that your going to rent and hold and not wanting to do a lot of updating on, what is the bare boned minimum others are doing?

6. I read landlord tenant law for Texas.  As long as it is safe and not a health hazard is my understanding of all you technically HAVE to do. What are the inspectors looking at to satisfy this? I already know about smoke and CO detectors and the  bolt less locks and peep holes.

7. What is the average going rate for a decent handy man that is worth their pay?

Thanks for all the help

Troy Bevans Thanks for the encouragement.  It will happen sooner or later. I just hope it is sooner. Have been staying at a friends while I wait on house to sell.  It gets old but......

I don't know zip about flying but  it sounds like something that would be cool to do.  I have been on exactly 2 commercial flights my entire life  and that was years ago. If flying has the same affect on you as sailing does on me, I can see why your hooked. LOL If you want, PM me. I'm at the basic member ship for now so I am not sure if  I can do the PM's on BP or not. Cash flow is THAT bad until I get house sold and my first deal done to the point if collecting a salary but you can FB me if you want @ Barbie Rede. If you do just be sure to send me a message saying it is you right before you send the friends request. . I keep getting request from back when I was doing FB games and have gotten in the habit of rejecting new request unless I know who it is.

CK Hwang I seriously thought about it for a while. Thought about the flipping aspect of several things. Bottom line is the "professional" part of my life  rotates around  real estate being an absolute necessity. The living the dream on the boat is the private part of my life , although it does over lap that professional aspect. The "professional" aspect is ministry related. Yes, I have to make it a profitable venture due to details. At the end of the day it is about  providing people who cannot other wise afford it, a  decent  place to call home. There is a boat " angle'' to it  but for that to happen I have to have a place to build it. So it all comes down to I have to get started on one level or another with  the real estate angle.  

The holding cost of boats involves  slip rentals, an expense I do not want to be hogtied with , while waiting for a boat to sail. When I said this was a boot strap operation, I was not joking. Seriously once I get this place sold, I have a bare minimum to use to get started. I figure if it covers just getting the bare bones essentials covered as far as insurance, inspections, occupancy permits or what have you I will be doing good. I figure it will probably be  something the owner just wants to unload and will have to be extra vigilant on due diligence etc. May see a lot of places that I end up wholesaling or flipping while I wait on the right property , but that's all part of the game.

Thanks for the idea though.

Thank you both for the welcome and all the good tips and links. I can see I am going to e busy reading and listening to the pod cast for a while. This site is AWESOME!!!   Thanks  for building it! It beats the socks out of what I have seen so far.

Thanks for the vote!

WOW! That stomps the socks off of heat tape, even with  insulation wrapped around it! My dad would have said that was the neatest thing since sliced bread. Considering I lived for several years in Sioux Falls area, ( some of which was in a mobile home) I would have agreed with him. 

2 words HEAT TAPE!