All Forum Posts by: John Rooster

I would try replacing the circuit breaker first

Have you ever paid an electrican to rewire an entire house like that? I am sure all that is doable, and a good idea for one or two outlet/switches. But it has been my experience when you are rewiring a whole house that it is more cost effective to pay cheap labor to cut out and reset sections of drywall/lathe than it is to pay an electrican with the necessary tools big bucks to do wild drilling and fishing. And there are not any tools that will allow one to wire around a corner.

Probably cutting the bottom two feet of drywall off the bottom would be easier than cutting strips. Many variables of course. I have done this a few times. It depends on the market, what else you are doing and a lot on the expected sale price

Was he required to file a written answer? Was there a fee associated with him filing an answer, or did he claim he had no money and go it waived? Was he required to show ID when he filed the answer? Can you pursue a money judgment against him as part of the eviction, or would you have to file a seperate action?

No to the former, yes to the later.

Does the fact that this nonsense about shadow inventory is over a year old, and national real estate market values are up more than 10% since it was written, tell you something about the soberness of the person that wrote it?

You could write the contract that way, and given that the lady seller sounds like a scatter brain she would probably sign it. But the reality is she isn't going to pay the $3,800 in taxes to sell a property for $500. Then what are you going to do?

It is both funny and scary to imagine how this sale would work out given that neither one of you seem to have the slightest clue as to how transfer title. It would seem to me the taxes are a minor problem relative to other issues here, is there not a mortgage on this?

6% probably does not include appreciation. And he is also probably getting some substantial tax benefit from depreciating the properties.

I hate when the news media using the F word. I am of course talking about "flipping". The two sales referenced were not flips, he bought them for use as owner occupied properties and, though the article does not provide details, I think it reasonable to conclude he only sold them after owning for a few years.

My opinions:

1. Probably not a legally conforming unit. If you get sideways with the basement tenant, they will notify the building department, then you have a giant headache. You would then either have to correct, or pay for the basement tenants to relocate.

2. Is it really worth the extra effort and grief of splitting the utilities, the extra maintainence etc, for, I am guessing, another $400/month.