All Forum Posts by: David Stumpf

Taking a contractor to court will be a waste of time and money.  In most cases the contractor won't show up to court, the judge will find in your favor against the contractor in his company name, the contractor will abandon that company name and start a new on without skipping a beat.  

Anything that would make the house unsafe to live in.

Electrical Issues, Mold, Lead Paint Issues

What came up on the inspection?

Keep educating yourself. A good start is The Book On Real Estate Investing by Brandon Turner. The best investment you can make it in yourself and the most efficient way is through self education. Also find a friend/ family member/ old couple at church that has a few rentals and let them know you are interested in learning.

Get some window fans, turn them to exhaust setting, set them up and open other windows to pull the air from one side to the other(or top to bottom). The smell could be coming from the damp carpet and the heat, once its dry it may go away.  Hot humid stagnant air can smell terrible coming from older carpet.

Maybe start over at the beginning and give some details on what happened with the wholesaler and lender.  I'm having trouble following your story.  I'm not saying you didn't get scammed, just trying to understand what happened.

@Nate Ginsberg The total renovation cost with lost rent compared to your wife's is 19k and that will get you an additional 1200/ year. With those numbers it will take over 15 years to pay for the reno and that doesn't take into consideration the increased vacancy you will have compared to your current tenants. When the tenants do decide to move out the unit will need to be renovated but I would not force that cost. Keep them in there because you may never find another tenant that stays 10 years. I would bring up the rent increase by letting them know what current market rent is, maybe having a couple listings to show them. Let them know that because they are good tenants and they lived in the house so you, you don't want them to have to leave. You are willing to discount the rent to (amount below market) if they would like to stay.

I put carpet in bedrooms and a good LVT everywhere else.

@Nick Melm check md judiciary for public records for a birthdate. Im assuming you don't have it on an application or copy of driver's license? Depending on your judge they will most likely postpone it until the next week for you to gather the paperwork. Only one time did they ask me to testify to the best of my knowledge that the tenant was not in the military. Next time get a driver's license, application with full social, and print out and keep the screening.

@Luke H. Rentprep.com has an option on their screening tool to have them verify employment. I prefer to do it myself through paystubs and calling/emailing the employer.

Ask:

How long has the applicant worked there?

What does the applicant do for the company?

How much do they make?

Is the work temporary or seasonal?

Are they a responsible employee?

Also fake paystubs are a thing. I wouldn't rely on them alone. Usually applicants will make a mistake but I have seen some good ones. Verify them with your employer questions.

Like J Scott and Charles Goetz said, investor friendly contractors have lower costs due to being able to stay busy, having less marketing, and much less dead leads.  Home owners get multiple estimates.  If you consider that 3 is the average, only 1/3 of a contractors time going to the job site and completing an estimate will ever turn into a job that he will be paid for.  Some of the cost savings gets transfer to the investor making it a win/win and provides incentive for the investor to use the contractor again.

Unlike what some people think, it is not about nickle and diming the contractor or the contractor being paid less than what he is worth.  It depends on the contractors business model and how they prefer to conduct their business much like investors only investing where they are comfortable.