All Forum Posts by: Bienes Raices

In the same vein, are there safety issues with a 100 amp box? Or is the issue that that they won't be able to run a bunch of appliances at the same time?

I'm planning to buy a smallish (1200 SF or so) house and rent it out. I was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade from 100 to 200 amps, if I find a house with 100 amps.

Thanks.

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I should add that we do have termite problems here in this area. It's unclear to me what level of damage they can do in a concrete block home. From what I understand, they're able to burrow in and go up to the roof trusses and soffits. If anyone knows about block/slab houses and termites, please feel free to chime in, it would be very helpful.

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Originally posted by J Scott:

Make sure the siding is at least 8 inches above grade, ensure that there is no untreated wood in contact with soil or foundation, check any exposed studs for damage, check any exterior trim/sills that come close to the ground, etc.

Also, certain areas of the country are more termite prone than others. Where I live, it's not a matter of if you'll get termites, it's just a matter of when.

Personally, I spend $400 a year on termite treatments for my personal residence, but on my investment properties I don't pay for prevention, only treatment.

My termite contractors generally charge about $700 to treat an infected house, so it's more cost effective to remediate a problem than try to prevent it, given the likelihood of a termite infestation in any given year.

Thanks J, that's just the type of information I was looking for. It seems cheaper to self-insure rather than pay for that bond every year.

Do you know if stucco comes in contact with the soil, is that a warning sign?

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I'm trying to find a happy medium. This is for a rental house that doesn't have termites--yet. The termite bonds with annual fees seem like kind of a ripoff, and I don't know if the 50% rule accounts for them or not. Someone on another forum suggested to DIY with Termidor, but I've read that you can't even get termidor on your own, and then I wonder if there would be issues with doing it correctly, as well as liability.

What do people on here do, get a one time preventative treatment, or wait until there's visible evidence of termites before doing any treatments?

The houses in this area are mostly block construction with slab on grade foundation. It seems like I could do a visual inspection on my own without paying for one. I assume that all they do is look at the soil and structure around the perimeter of the house, at the trusses, soffits & fascia? It seems a waste to pay for annual inspections on a house where you can't get under the foundation anyway.

Thanks!

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Right now I'm doing the free trial of both SiteXData and RealQuest, trying to decide which one (if any) to pay for.

I've noticed that they're usually in line with each other. However, there's one house (short sale asking 61K) that Sitex and cyberhomes have valued at mid 60s, but realquest has valued at 108K! Also, my own recently purchased house, which hit the county public records about a week ago, is present in Sitex, but still appears as the previous owner in RQ. This is making me have doubts about RQ.

The problem with Sitex is that they don't have a month to month option. You have to do a year contract and pay $100 to get out early, which sucks. Also there is a $200 "setup" fee, but they are waiving it for October (so I need to make up my mind by tomowrrow!)

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Thanks everybody. I guess the next step is to find out what permits are required in my local area.

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I'm a little unsure about when you would use a GC vs. not.

As a hypothetical example, if the house needed painting, new carpet, cleanout, and had some holes punched in the walls that needed to be repaired, would it be better just to hire individual turnkeys for these jobs?

Is a GC just for when you have a group of major things that need to be done?

On my first property, I was planning to use a GC, but I don't know whether I'll just be needlessly overpaying if I use one for a bunch of non-major improvements.

Thanks.

3 Votes

Originally posted by P NW:

I find that with tile, nobody is the cheapest over-all. I have to decide what I want and then price shop.

The big box stores sometimes have specials (with no selection, take it or leave it) that are good bargains.

Last time I was in HD, they were having a really excellent sale on allure vinyl planks, but only the pine color. Unfortunately, I didn't need any.

I've purchased a through body porcelain at Color Tile, because after searching around nobody had one I liked as well for a better price.

For tile in rentals, I only buy through body porcelain. It's a lot tougher and harder to damage than ceramic, and if the tenants manage to chip it, you don't notice the damage.

It does cost more, though. I could buy ceramic for 79 cents, and the best I've done on the porcelain is about $3.50. Still, labor is the expensive part, so the more durable tile is worth it to me.

That's basically the conclusion I reached too--it might pay for itself over the long run if it doesn't get messed up as often. Porcelain or vinyl tile seem the way to go depending on how low end the rental is. Do you tile the entire rental, or just do the living room and do carpet in the bedrooms?

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thanks Mark

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Originally posted by Eddie Ziv:

Originally posted by Bienes Raices:

Eddie,
I think you posted a formula on another thread a formula for finding a range that houses in a neighborhood should sell for. It involved finding the median income and then figuring out what the average person could afford for a mortgage. But I can't remember what it was and I can't locate the old thread.

Bienes, this was part of a thread you actually created.
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/39536-bad-or-unethical-wholesalers-
Here is that post:
"When it comes to investing in SFR, one way of looking at range of prices when evaluating a property (Or properties) is to look at the average household income in the targeted geographical area. The idea is that a third of that income is going for housing (PITI). Based on that assumption, you can figure out the price of a property by calculating what price an average family can afford . For example: Let say an average household income in a given place is $2,600 a month. 33% of that ($860) is what the average family can afford for (PITI) house payment. That would translate into about $100,000-$120,000 depends on the down payment, interest rate and tax level, etc. That becomes the GOLDEN HOUSE PRICE for that area.
From that level, the higher the price gets, the smaller the market becomes. The lower the price gets the slowest appreciation you'll see since the quality of the neighbourhood deteriorates as the price lowers. Now having said that, this is not necessarily means that this is the formula for any cash flow idle, but for a long term investment, future appreciation, potential and possibly future cash flow, it would work"

Oops, I guess I've been creating so many threads on here that I can't keep track of them! Thanks.

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All Forum Posts by: Bienes Raices

Bienes Raices has started 437 posts and replied 2472 times.

Post: Should I update original electrical box?

Post: Cost effective termite prevention strategy?

Post: Cost effective termite prevention strategy?

Post: Cost effective termite prevention strategy?

Post: good Website for comps

Post: At what point do you need a GC?

Post: At what point do you need a GC?

Post: Prices at Color Tile for porcelain, and vinyl plank

Post: Short sale, go directly to listing agent?

Post: Appreciation VS. Cash flow - The clash of the titans....