All Forum Posts by: Mark Yuschak

I never thought about using baseboard heaters. (but my brother does HVAC for a living so I get all my HVAC work done for free + materials at cost).

But, with these electric heaters, how much do you guys spend to pull new wire to power them? What if the service panel can't support another breaker? Or what if the home has knob and tube or a fuse panel which is full? Do you then get the service upgraded?

This deal is a goner. Thanks for all who contributed.

The listing broker told me that the sellers have already turned down an offer for $290,000. The best case scenario I could come up with for my offer was $185,000. I'm tempted to ask the broker what their basis is for the asking price....but I won't. I'll move on and find a more suitable deal. There are millions of potential deals.

I'm 2 for 2 when buying properties with an existing tenant. In both instances the leases with the tenants remained in place after the transaction closed.

To the contrary, I wouldn't say that I paid substantially less for either property, but rather paid closer to the average rate for an investment property in the area. The reason being: proven cash flow.

The one tenant remained with the property even after I resold it. I never increased the rent and treated them fairly. As far as the tenant in the other property goes, they weren't too happy with me because I enforced the terms of their existing lease, rather than the side-bar handshake agreement with the previous landlord. They moved out two months after I owned it and it was just as well because they would have been evicted.

If you do adequate due diligence, buying an occupied property can be rewarding.

Don't be overly glorified by the sounds of a new house.

Remember, new houses come with a lot of hidden expenses depending on how much the builder finished on the homes, and the local ordinances. If the local ordinace requires a lawn, but the builder didn't put one in, count on several thousand for it. The list goes on and on and may include: landscaping, exterior lighting, mailbox, patio/deck, air conditioning (although it probably has it considering your area), etc.

Also consider the quality of the home. If it's a cheap production home, it likely only has one color of flat paint throughout, cheap carpets, etc.

After you consider all the costs it would take to complete the home, the price may not be as attractive. And, it will take you longer to at least breakeven on the home because you have more invested than the market could bear.

A "used" home does have benefits.

Hey there!

I'm from Grand Blanc, which is about 15 miles south of Flint, or 45 miles north of Detroit.

I only invest in areas that I can self manage. And, being in Michigan, it's quite hard these days to do much successful investing at all. I tried using one PM company that talked up a golden story to get my business, then did nothing once they had a check from me.

Until I know how to find a good PM, I'll continue to self manage.

I've had great success selling personal property on CL, but not so much luck with selling real estate.

It is a great way to advertise homes for rent, however.

I'm from the Detroit area. However I don't have any experience with wholesaling.

The MLS sheet should have a spot that tells the date the property came on the market. If it doesn't your Realtor can definitely look it up for you in the database if the information is ommited from the sheet.

Furthermore, the property may not have originally been listed with the current agent. Have the agent search on the property address in MLS to see how many recent listings there have been for the property. That should get you a good idea of the days on market metric.

I assume he's talking about the HOPE for Homeowner's program.

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr08-150.cfm

I still don't understand how you can draw up a lease on a property you don't hold the deed to.