All Forum Posts by: Chris Lo

I need a rough estimate on this job. I'm renting a Townhouse size of 1000 sq/ft until i get a house in 1.5-2 years.

i currently use ~2800W on 110V and ~1000W on 240V running 24/7. My main breaker has only 50A so i'm planning to upgrade my 1900~1950s panel (Townhouse in michigan).

Going down the road, i'd like to have max of 7600W running 24/7. Preferably on 240v if that makes this panel upgrade cheaper. ( machine running ~2800W on 110V can be moved to 240v) (i can have the outlets right next to the panel since the machines are close enough to the panel.)

Reddit people are saying this job will cost upwards of 10K$ since the current wires need to be upgraded.

On BP, i'm seeing people say something like this would cost 1-3k$. 

How much am i looking to pay for something like this? 

I've contacted a lot of electric companies and looking to call more for availability. If you work for a company in michigan and will to do the job then let me know.

so i see there's a separate commission for PMC to find a deal. Whether i go through a realtor, Turn keys, or PMC, most likely i have to pay find a deal and close the deal. 

From my understanding, Turn keys fix the house and sell for at or above the value of the house. If this is not what i'm looking for, and what i want to do is buy a fixer upper and get it fixed my own with a contractor and designer, then is it better to go with a realtor or PMC to find a house? 

I'm thinking Realtors just want to Sell the house. Letting you know whatever and whenever something opens up in the Market based on what i tell them what i want.

With PMC, I think, they have the database of history of the house, previous owners/tenants, what type of are tenants live nearby, what type of tenants i can expect and etc. With all this database, they can suggest whether the house is good or not. Also i could be their potential client for property managing so they would treat me better with useful information in the beginning.

In the end, it may be better to use a PMC to find a deal(or bring my deal to them to check if it's good or not) then a realtor. Did  i get this sort of right?

PS. i didn't know before but the fact that i can deduct tax on PM and other expenses, "10%" might not be bad after all.

I got a newbie question. 

If Property Management Company can pick the right property, take care of it and tenants, and everything related to the property for ~10% fee, then why doesn't everyone do it?

Maybe many people don't know about it?

It seems like a best way to buy, refi, and repeat with a PM.

I thought about how i should go about this for some time. 

I see that it is a norm to hire(?) Turn-keys, and buy the house in most cases the PM might come with it. Then, firing PM.

I'm thinking maybe i can hire a PM who will find me a good and reliable investment house using all the info they have.Then after enough time, i'll have their Contracts info, their Website for collecting rent, and their Know-how.

After that i can fire the PM. This will give me a good ground to start from it seems like. 

Ive been only doing reading on google but no real experience.
Do first timers usually go through the Property management company? It sounds like quite a bit of money using them.

I'm trying to do most of the work to maximize the profit.

2) that's why i want to find reliable contractors before i do anything. But i don't even know where to start. 

I actually have seen many people pay cash and/or do half up front. It sounded to me that the contractors won't do it otherwise. They probably have an upper hand in this busy market now

I assume calling a property manager to find a tenant and contractors cost me though right?

I'd like to get in to the Real Estate business in Michigan but there a couple of things that keep stops me from moving forward.

1) Finding the renters.

To find the renter on a single family house, do i go through an agent who advertises for me? Where can i advertise (paid or free) my house? How many platforms do you usually advertise on?

2) Finding contractors to do design and renovate. 

I definitely want to take part in designing the interior but i'm not a professional so i would like the professional to work with my design and make it better. 

I'm hearing that it's pretty difficult to hire contractors since they are all booked, and not to mention that the labor cost and material are a lot higher than before the pandemic. I don't even know where to find reliable contractors.

Honestly, this is the biggest thing that's holding me back. 

I have 0 connections in this area. I've joined a few facebook groups. i can't tell if most of them are scammers or not. A lot of them spam their info.

3) with all this unstable things going on in America, China, North Korea, Omicron and more, i can't decide if i should wait out till next year. If i do wait out on RE till next year, then i'd look into other business ideas.

Please let me know what you guys think, and any suggestions would be appreciated.

If you are in Michigan then i'd like to link up.

 Oh ok i thought i have to use 3rd party companies that do that.

i'm looking at this land and it's a bit confusing. There are "3" numbers in this land. I assume it represents 3 different ownership?

First number shows that it's owned by the adjacent building, Second number says it's Vacant and Third number says there are no info.

Is this whole block owned by that adjacent building? 

what's the best way to find reliable source? i don't have any one in this industry