All Forum Posts by: Jeff Bridges

Forget the surround, what is a dehumidifier doing operating on top of the toilet:) Then they stuffed some tiny cabinet and tiled on top of it and put it directly in front of the already small space in front of the toilet? So many things wrong here:)!

I have a bathroom with same situation. Wood frames/windows in the shower area is ripe for water damage issues... It too is a rental. Ripping out a bathroom for 5-10k depending on your contractor connections or personal skills doesn't seem like a good pay off for a rental so I look for creative solutions for working with what we have...

There is prob no exhaust fan system so you either need to keep the window or install exhaust fan system. The least expensive path is to keep the window. Have your contractor rip out the rotting window trim and install PVC trim instead. its paintable and will resist future moisture. Then have him paint the trim with semigloss and then use waterproof caulk to seal the trim against the tile surround to make sure water doesnt seep into the surround. That tile is cracked because water intrusion is messing with the drywall and causing it to expand. I'd also use that tub/tile caulk to reseal that tile surround against the tub. Finally I'd pay a professional tub reglazer 200-250 to reglaze the tub white and maybe have him also reglaze the entire surround while he is at it to cover up the cracks and imperfections. most reglazing jobs by guys who know what they are doing last 3-5 years. I use a guy where reglazing tubs is all he does. Ask around in your neighborhood who is good at this. This way you have a working and clean bathroom without the thousands in gutting a bathroom. You can gut it when you are ready to sell.. that's my take... others might do it differently if this was a flip of course..

Here is what I did with my situation. This is post rehab with PVC window trim, sealed, and tub reglazed. Looks all new...:

Original state. Plenty of other stuff wrong here, but note the rotted windows and stained tub:

You're realtor is obviously not licensed in DC and his research comes from magazine tabloids from the grocery store because that is the only source I could imagine would offer that bunk. Perhaps he is using disinformation to encourage you to remain an investor in NYS so he can continue to get commission from you as buyer agent. Either way, I'd be very weary about keeping him on as your realtor or trusting his advice. 

I've purchased foreclosures in DC so I'm living proof this is false. Foreclosures and short sales exist in DC. This market is almost as supply constrained as NYC and also almost as expensive, so I'm not sure what the advantage is for you to choose a business which is 5 hours driving distance from you...

What made you start a fix and flip business so far away from your hometown? Clearly, if you chose a long distance place you are chasing higher profits than your home base so please let me know what led you to DC. Please read both of the below articles as they might help you reassess. Have you flipped locally with success? what makes you think you can reproduce this with a different or new team from afar? I don't expect you to answer these as much as seriously ask yourself these and see if realistic.

See these articles that might be relevant:

DC’s House-Flipping Salad Days Are Over, Investor Says

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dcs_house-fl...

83% Profit: P.G. County Ranks As Most Profitable For Flippers- maybe use this to make a better decision on where your business should really operate....

http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/83_profit_p....

Long Distance Fixing and Flipping: How We Did It

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/02/10...

Well you have a team that is confident of the repair costs and know that you'll come out with about 38k profit after closing costs (did not calculate additional holding costs like financing and utilities and insurance but 30k might be conservative and still works). Make double sure of your ARV and check comps in your neighborhood to confirm you can get that with the level of trim in your renovations and that it will be at the level of trim expected in your neighborhood. Don't over renovate.

One liability issue might be if you don't remediate the mold properly and dont a thorough enough job removing affected drywall and areas and then try to sell the house with it just covered up. if your contractors know best practices with mold removal, then that should be sufficient.  Be sure to get mold testing done after remediation and removal of drywall areas so you have a record of clean air following the remediation if anyone were to ask, but you shouldn't need to provide this information unless requested. This could be good for your records to show no dangerous mold in the air after rehab. I've never done a rehab with a serious mold problem beyond a limited area so be sure to chat with others who might have dealt with a big mold remediation..

You're leaving out way too much information. Is it a 1900 house or a 1980 house? is it 2000 sq ft or 200 sq ft? multiple levels? You could easily spend 100k having to rebuild the entire house from water damage from neglected roof. We have no idea what your repair costs are. If your repair costs end up being 100k, then you have rebuilt a house for free. congratulations!:) I'm joking with you but also, you don't want to find out what your actual repair costs are going to be after you purchase your property. Finally, do you have the money beyond the 20k to repair everything needed based on your exit strategies? Most people have recommended that people who have never done a flip not take on a project with serious repair issues, or you'll find yourself in way over your head. Your margin for mistakes or increased costs are much higher than something with minor repairs and can be turned in a lesser amount of time...

if you are still interested, definitely negotiate with the attorney. The fees can be negotiated with the attorney, the outstanding original balance, if you are demanding a settlement lower than that, will need to be passed on to the board for final approval. They might bargain, but they might also stand their ground so be prepared.. HOA boards are unpredictable and don't often base decisions on logic. I've successfully negotiated about 50% of the balance with fees in previous deals, but I had more time to do these negotiations.

How much do you guys pay for lien searches? I was under the impression the title company would charge a few hundred for that service assuming you weren't a regular client of theirs and they didn't offer that to you free of charge. My recommendation was to speak to the HOA attorney to confirm the outstanding balance and fees to see if it was worthwhile to start paying people to due further searches. for example, if the balance was 40k and I didn't want to have to pay that off to get clear title, why should I pay for a title search? That would have been a waste of fees kinda like getting a professional inspection done on a property you don't yet have under contract.. I still suggest talking to HOA first before hiring someone to perform title search... The HOA attorney will have the most up-to-date balance anyway on what it will take to remove that particular lien. Other liens that may exist should still be investigated via title search at more advanced stage.. I think we're still at the information gathering stage, not the decision stage...

You don't really need to hire an attorney to do this for you. You can first try to dig for this yourself as part of your due diligence. Call up the association board or try to dig up the property manager office number for the association. Ask them how you get in touch with the law office they hired to collect deliquent HOA dues and place liens on deliquent units so you can speak to them to find out how to pay off outstanding balance. I'm sure they'll be happy to provide that info. Then talk to the law firm to find out the original amount owed and also the total fees on top of the outstanding balance. This will give you an idea of the amount your dealing with since the law firm via the HOA board has the authority to remove the lien once balance is satisfied... If the answer doesn't scare you away, then you'd need to check for any outstanding mortgage debt if the above is no longer in effect. Some counties let you check out recorder of deeds online to take a look at the history for free.... There is obviously something missing and you can't trust the answer you receive from the seller.

I started using www.williampaid.com

No fees for landlord/ tenant if they do direct deposit. allows roommates to split the rent etc...

google and amazon.com both don't have a customer service number listed on their site. just saying. Customer service is increasingly becoming a email based/ chat based enterprise that saves companies money since they don't have to open a call center. Not ideal, but its how services can keep prices down and adapt in a high competition market.

Where is your current rental out of curiosity? Beware of baltimore city taxes and they are much higher for than baltimore county so make sure to add those into your calculations for cashflow estimates. Beware of thinking baltimore city is your answer for 2% cashflow. Lets say you find one meeting your criteria since I see those 15-20k rowhouses in so many areas as an example. These or even higher priced ones might meet your criteria and appear to cashflow on paper, but those areas might only attract low income tenants where you might have terrible luck finding qualified applicants willing or able to pay on time or at all for that matter. Your projected cashflow might vanish. I know the city ones require very hands-on property managers. I'm just trying to get across to be very cautious about rentals in baltimore. BP has some people who do rent here and are successful, but its not for the faint of heart and personally, not the type of landlording I'd like to be doing. I'd much rather rent in catonsville, suburbs etc for example than in the city.. just my 2 cents..

From a business perspective, you have to look at your potential target audience and determine that percentage to see if that captive audience is enough to sustain a business and startup costs. Further and more importantly, I'd be looking at the entrenched competition more carefully. Ultimately you're goal is to get clients, but you also have to provide a service which is to get units rented. If 80% of your target market of applicants uses craigslist, zillow and the remaining 20% traditional advertising for example, how do you plan on redirecting that 80% of all applicants to search on your proprietary listing site when landlords know most applicants are using craigslist to search for rentals? I think that's the million dollar question. It's kind of a catch 22 that leaves the big players having the advantage: you can't get units rented if you don't have rental applicants coming to your website and you also wont have landlords interested in posting without a large flow of interested renters checking out your listings..

take a look at rentlinx.com- they seem to have perfected your model and chose to aggregate all of the major players through a single posting. this way, the landlord doesn't have to worry about which sites are being visited since they are posting at all of them.