All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Portnoy

Hi Natalia. You're in one of my favorite cities in the country!

When you say "turn key" property, do you mean you bought it from one of those bigger companies or something? Normally when you buy a wholesaled property, you're getting it as is, and you're left to deal with the consequences.

As far as those issues, you almost never fix everything that comes back in an inspection report. Even retail buyers don't do that. However, usually the best thing to do is get bids (from your own contractor -- not the seller) on how much it would cost to fix ALL of the issues, you negotiate and agree on a number, and then you get that as a credit at closing. Then, you/your contractor/your property manager fix some of them...primarily the ones that pose safety hazards.

Since it sounds like you're out of state, you're probably going to work with a property manager...right? If so, I'd suggest asking their opinion, especially in regard to safety issues.

But if you want an itemized list of educated guess opinions:

FIX:

• Driveway and sidewalk...especially if the concrete has separated and poses a tripping risk

MAYBE:

• Upgrade electric panel to 100 amp.
• Ceiling cracks -- have them investigated to see if this is telling of a larger issue, i.e. water damage or settling foundation, unless the inspector didn't think that was the case. Otherwise, have a handyman patch and paint for cosmetic fix. 

MAINTAIN OVER TIME:

• Tree branches

There ya go. Good luck with it.

Benjamin

P.S. Ever been to the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel?

https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/fair-market-rent/

Congrats, man! Enjoyed reading about the experience.

I was looking for this as well, so thank you @Kyle Mccaw!

I think Mashvisor might have those stats? 

I have no connection to the platform; they focus somewhat on AirBNB.

Assuming the BP censors don't pull this down...

If you go to some of the local REIA events, there are usually at least a couple Realtors around you could network with.

I heard a great suggestion the other day -- find someone who needs things done that they don't want/have time to do. For example, if there's an investor who does some of her/his own rehabs, and doesn't have time to go to Lowe's/HD, be the person who does it for them. If someone has a list of cold calls to make and they can train you to do it, do it for them.

There's (more than one) a reason why, in days of yore, indentured servants became masters.

@Matthew Marcelissen, that's the same reason I got mine when I was in REI in a different market in the mid-2000s. I was able to blaze through the salesperson's license and get my brokers, which meant I didn't have to split commissions or deal with anyone else's rules!

Now there are so many tools out there...I'd prefer not to have to do it again.

With Texas being a non-disclosure state, I'm curious how most investors are finding ACCURATE (read: not Zillow, RedFin, etc.) comps for properties. Do you...

• Ask your Realtor? 
• Are a Realtor and have MLS access?
• Are an MLS Assistant and have MLS access?
• Use a paid service? If so, what is it?
• Something else?

I'm using RealEFlow's comping service and finding the results to be inconsistent with numbers I've gotten for comps from a wholesaler, which are straight from the MLS. Obviously, HAR's public-facing #'s are listed as a range and not accurate enough.

My apologies if this thread already exists somewhere, but I ran a search and didn't see it.

Thanks, gang.

Thanks, @Sammy G. Any idea if the presentation's going to be recorded and put online?

Thanks, @PJ Singh. Agreed -- great, low-cost way to cover marginal legal bases without racking up hours of billings with an attorney.