All Forum Posts by: Corby Goade

Thanks for the suggestions and links! I'd love to see more if anyone else wants to jump in.

It's tough to find files in the forms section here. Anyone have a comprehensive spreadsheet for estimating rehab costs? I'm doing an initial inspection tomorrow and would like to track repairs and start the budget as I walk through.

Yes, that's exactly what we do. Read up on the BRRRR method, lots of info here on BP. If you buy right and rehab right, you can pull all of your money back out and start all over, leaving a trail of rentals and passive income in your wake.

I have dealt with similar issues before. To me, it's extremely important to have a realtor who will offer their opinion, but gladly submit any offer you like without telling you how offensive it is. That can be a really tall order for an investor, but those realtors are out there, you just have to dig. 95% of realtors work with a client once or twice in their careers and don't deal with investors much- similar to what you run in to when you mortgage shop at traditional banks. You'll find many of them at local REI meetings. Best of luck!

I wouldn't buy this property- there isn't enough room for you to make any real money in any of those scenarios. Don't forget, when you sell you most likely have to pay 6% to realtors, which would eat up any potential profit in flipping the place.

I am a HUGE proponent of house hacking, it's a great way to get started. In addition, you can use the equity in your own home as leverage to acquire more rentals. If you aren't making $300k per year, it's almost the only way.

One (probably obvious) way is to use your access to MLS recently sold data to really hone in on real time values in your market.

Why wouldn't you do a HELOC, it's a far superior and more flexible investment tool than a cash out refi. I'd go as far as to say that it's a very bad idea to do a cash out refi with the intention of investing.

We've run in to that same issue with Cozy. We just ask tenants to fill out a profile with that info for our records when we offer them a property.

I've dealt with a similar issue. Rather than shell out the $6k, I took a shovel to the property and spent about three hours digging up the sewer line myself. I cut it open, found the clog and cleared it and replaced a six foot section of cast iron with ABS. Your line may be deeper than mine was and it's possible you could open a huge can of worms. I looked at it like that day I earned $6,000, which was an excellent return on my time.

As for the pricing, there are so many variables that come in to play on what a job like this should cost, I'd not hire anyone until you've had at least three bids.

One other item to note- make sure that your lease holds tenants liable when they are flushing feminine products, putting grease down the drain, etc. Sounds like this might be a reoccurring issue with these tenants.

Good luck!