All Forum Posts by: Bob C.

There are some $1M houses very close by as the crow flys - but in a "totally different" area

Synthetic - the same stuff I see a lot of commercial buildings around here done in. Again, the this is another element that makes it turn off for most folks around here - but may be VERY appealing (low maintenance, and insulative properties) to that right buyer.

Bathroom: What you are looking at with the fiberglass shower is the bath off the kitchen/family room/guest room. But the master bath (dark vanity with white top) is about the same (or perhaps a bit worse). At the time, I thought "neat and clean" will do the trick. Now, knowing more about flipping, I know that master bath is top importance.

Crown molding - no houses have that (except the old victorians) around here. I keep hearing it mentioned from out-of-the-area rehabbers. I'll have to ask my contractor about that in future flips.

Maybe I should spend 8-10k getting central A/C done and hold the price? (scary)

I know lowering the price will bring more people, but I think I was asking if I should WAIT for the RIGHT buyer to COME TO THE MARKET. (Assuming they are not in the market right now - or they'd have looked already)

Well.. I don't really trust what he is saying. He vehemently opposed dropping the price from $380k. Wanted me to stay the course and not consider price drop for 4-6 weeks. UGH!

My first two houses sold within 5 days of listing, so this is new territory for me and any guidance is appreciated.

This house has been on the market for 5 weeks and not one offer has come in.

The typical bread and butter ranch around here is $240k-$260k - so this more of a "step up" house.

First two weeks it was priced at $380k. Zero lookers.

Dropped to $364k and got 4-6 on the first weekend and maybe 3 since then. Two said they would likely make an offer. (2 weeks have passed sine then)

7 attended Agent's open house a week ago. 2 non-neighbors visited the public open house this past sunday.

Feedback on the house:

Positives: finishes, craftsmanship, neighborhood, large, priced right

Negatives: Funky layout (and I de-funked it quite a bit), high taxes (but awesome school district), Washer/dryer in garage (unusual here in the NE and no way to fix that with this house), low curb appeal (siding is unusual for around here and it's front is weird with the door coming into the "basement"), electric heat, no central A/C

Comments have been consistent in that the house is priced right, but the house just is not fit for them.

I was hoping to get it under contract before we get into the HOT (no a/c) and SLOW months of July/Aug.

Carrying costs are: $3,000/mo

Should I drop to 359k (or lower) or wait it out for it to get busy again in mid-September?

I'm a member of the local Mid-Hudson Valley REIA and just got an email from the leader that the Wed/Sat events with Robyn Thompson has not been sold out. This seems like such a great opportunity, I'm suprised that it's not sold out -- so I thought I'd spread the word here in case any locals are didn't know about it.

Robyn Thompson is a friend of the group and she is speaking at Thursday's monthly meeting AND running a full day seminar on Saturday. May 21 and 24th.

Cost (for non-members) $20 ($10 for Wed and $10 for Sat)

I know she might have that "Guru" reputation... but 10 bucks?! I'm thinking you can get your money's worth out of that. (and I hope I'm not being naive)

Yes, I also acknowledge that Sat is on Memorial weeked and that sucks and could be the reason for it not being sold out yet.

Anyway... more info?

Meeting

Workshop

EDIT:

Huh! Just did a search for Robyn and came up this this review from a BP member

Just purchased a 4/3, 3,000sf house that needs a buncha work. The ARV should be about 30% higher than the median around here. I have some choices to make with the laundry room

a) leave it where it is - about 20' into an unglyish garage.

(also I'm in the northeast. So that garage is unheated, will have slush and crap on the floor near where one would walk, in the winter) - Minimal renovation costs

b) Build a hallway closet near the bedrooms for STACKABLE machines.

I'd have to move one bedroom door, create a closet, install a pan, install all hookups. - Estimated $1800 cost

c) Same as "B" but move TWO doors for standard size units. - Est $3,000 costs. (Also, this may be a insurmountable challenge. I may not be able to get the closet big enough, even with moving the doors, to fit two machines)

d) Have the laundury room off the foyer.

I could make a room (from the space in the garage) that is accessed via bi-fold doors in the foyer. When the doors are closed, it'll look like a closet. Weird? Perfect?

Thoughts?

Yay!!! Much needed.

Hey! Had to share this new time saving tip I just figured out.

When making my shopping list out, I use this technique to note the aisle number where I can find it item. Knowing the isle number saves me GOBS of time hunting around - espicially when I frequent 4 different HD, each with it's own layout.

The Trick: Use the mobile version of their website.

On your home computer strip the www. and replace it with m.

Example:

www.homedepot.com/s/kilz+spray?NCNI-5

m.homedepot.com/s/kilz+spray?NCNI-5

On the item page, it will have the aisle number. It's perplexing that they don't do that on the full site.

if you are using a mobile device, you have this by default, but if you are home, this is a damn handy feature, agreed?

Around here - adding a bedroom is a PITA. Board of health review. Increased leech field capacity. Engineer reports. Months of additional holding time.

Are you clear to simply add bedrooms without all that? That's always a deal killer for me.

Well... the things you see in this business. This was a real eye-opener for me. The house has been on the market for about a month. From the pictures, it seemed priced well and was wondering why it hasn't got a deal yet. Had to visit to find out "the rest of the story". Walking around, all looks good. No foundation cracks, everything in good shape. Enter the house and head to the basement... AH HA! Mystery solved.

The basement slab has collapsed. The center has sunk about 18-20". I felt like I was in a poltergeist house and the house was getting sucked into the earth. I'm in the Northeast and we don't have sinkholes.

Foundation all looks good. No unusual cracks.

Center supporting foundation looks good.

1st floor is level, no cracks in the ceiling or walls.

It's a 1974 raised ranch

There's no pipes or electric in the slab

Looks like this happened 10-20 years ago

My Theory:

The lot was obviously built up, bulldozed, filled. I'm told that, in the day, sometimes the tree stumps from clearing the lot got burried under the slab. I'm guessing that either the ground was not compacted or there was debris that decomposed and left the slab floating. Eventually, the slab breaks and falls into the hole. The foundation is Ok because it's deeper, presumably on "real" ground. Heh... just had another thought... that if the contractor was this cheap to short-cut fill, the slab is probably really thin too, assisting in the breakage. (Hmmn... and the more I think about it, I didn't see any steel in the slab)

If this is the case, it's "simply" jackhammering the slab, removing debris, adding proper fill (maybe having to remove other debris that's still there) and repour the slab. Fortunately there bobcat is access to the space via the garage.

How does my theory sound?

Anything I should be thinking about?

Run away? Or do you smell a deal?