All Forum Posts by: Bryan Devitt

@Charles Cooper have you looked into what it takes to get a license in CA? It isn't a state you must send money into. I believe you need to show proof of an apprenticeship and take a detailed test to say the least. If you do that and get a license that does zero for you. You can hire the same subcontractors right now and they can pull their own permits. Your only benefit is being able to pull permits so you could hire illegals and that will get you hated among the good contractors in the area, they'll consider you a hack and they'll tell everyone around that you're a hack. Contractors cost money for a reason and if you think because they're busy and you have some free time that you can magically become a contractor and do as good of a job or better, get ready for posting sob stories on here about jobs going many months over, being taken advantage of, out of money, underwater on properties and not having a clue how to get out of it. It's been tried many times and there have been many many threads on here about it

@James Nix she was asking because she wanted to spend money on something else and short you. When she found out it wasn't going to be ok in the future (she planned to do it again) then she scrapped that plan and decided not to buy the thing she didn't need or go out for that night

@Mike McCarthy your mortgage works with compounding interest, paying early cuts into the interest due. It is completely different than paying someone when there are no penalties or interest tied to the payment as long as it is in before a certain deadline. The best analogy would be paying taxes. When the IRS wants it is irrelevant, if the 15th lands on a Saturday and Monday is a holiday and I get until 9pm on Tuesday to get it stamped at the post office, that's when I'm I'll be in line to send them my check

@Hahna Reyes everything depends on where you are but start the eviction process because no, they cannot do that

@Adrian Vega how dare you want rent on the day that it's due! You shouldn't pressure people to be on time unless they're at the last day of being late that is legally allowed! They're very responsible and trustworthy just make sure to give them a grace period or they'll always be late

Pulling money early might be the worst and most financially stupid moves you can make in your life. If you're lucky (depending on your state taxes) you'll get 50% of the money in there and you hand over the other 50% to the government for absolutely zero reason. If you think you can magically double the money instantly and beat the compounding rate until you're 59.5, go for it. Otherwise if you like real estate as an investment move it to a self directed and find people you trust to use it in their deals. Then stop putting money into your 401k and other retirement accounts and do deals with that. Depending on how old you are even taking $100k out now to use the $50k you're allowed to keep when it's done and using it for real estate investing, you would have to be one of the best investors out there to beat what would happen in the long run if you left it to someone else. I also wouldn't have a penny in the stock market right now because that is another way you could lose 50% in the not so distant future but that is a different topic for a different time. I just don't want you to leave it in stocks, lose a ton and think it's our fault for telling you to leave it in a retirement account and you should have pulled it. 

 The mold is the landlord's responsibility. If it was painted with the proper paint that wouldn't happen even without a fan. 

The puffed up drywall could be from the wrong paint or a water leak in the shower, both landlord problems. 

Is the toilet super old and the coating has worn off? If so then it is on the tenant but I have never seen a toilet that had spots on it that couldn't be cleaned. If it was bleached, left to sit overnight and scrubbed again and they wouldn't come out, that is a tenant issue due to being a nasty person.

IMO there are very few times in this economy when I would be OK with rents dropping right now. Unless there is a giant employer being built within 15 minutes, jump ship ASAP. We're at the peak of the economy and it's not going to turn around for you unless there are special circumstances 

If BRRR won't work then buy and hold won't work in general, so prices will drop due to lack of demand, making the loan payments come down. They probably wouldn't be as low as they are at 4% APR but they'll be low enough to work as an investment.

 Definitely don't count on past appreciation for future projections. They're like stocks, the last 3 years were insane, that doesn't mean it will keep that pace forever. I don't know where you want to live or how far you can commute so I can't answer about your area. In your situation your options are limited right now though. Do you qualify for any town/city/state grants for down payment assistance? Unfortunately a lot of people only have a couple options and most of them are too much for them to do in order to create the life they want in the future ie moving to a better area, commuting over an hour each way for work or living in a dumpy construction zone for a year or two while they turn a dilapidated auction/wholesale house into something livable