All Forum Posts by: Dianne Phelps

We did have it measured by a professional before it was purchased as we had a feeling the square footage wasn't reflecting correctly in the tax records and both of the other two appraisals reflect that. Second story has 8ft ceilings, is heated and cooled by central HVAC and as Steven mentioned, has a bathroom, windows and access to the exterior of the house. Also, we had several RE agents do CMA's and they have all agreed with the other two appraisals.

We've done about 12 projects and in the past year have dealt with constant theft and vandalizing - condenser being stolen, a whole house of staging furniture being taken, the meter loop of the house  being stolen & causing a host of electrical issues, then a few days later all the wiring being cut and stolen off of the same house.  Doors being kicked in, appliances being stolen.  My friend and mentor has had similar issues -- we've put the condensers in a cage, changed combo codes and locks.  One of the houses took the brunt of this theft and vandalism and resulted in us taking a loss.  It kills our morale - do y'all plan for this, are we the only suckers? How do you plan for this?

We rehab in San Antonio and when we have our houses under contract to sell there is ALWAYS an offer with an allowance - ex 100k with 4k allowance bringing the net down to 96k.  That being said, these are usually homes for sale for less than 200k.  When I was in Austin I almost never saw these allowances.  Thoughts? Is it common to have all these buyers with no cash on hand to close? Is it just an annoyance we have to deal with? 

Looking for San Antonio based weekly pool service as well as a contractor to bid concrete work around the pool - thanks!

If there was blood on any of your property make sure it's cleaned up by a biohazard cleaning company - no need to disclose further. Serve notice as this is a violation of any lease and get a new tenant.

Looking for contractors and vendors who are (obviously) reasonably priced to remove rock/stone from a house and replace it with siding.

hi! I'm trying to post a picture demonstrating what I meant. Yes the home is pier and beam. @David Grabiner,that is correct. The house itself is not rising with the flooring. I believe the previous owners cut them because they were unable to lift the house since it was stone. 

Steven was slightly confused - the 27k included both the foundation AND the removal of all the rock to install siding since the current rock and stone and concrete cannot be lifted and is in terrible shape. However, our first two foundation bids were 22k and 12.8k - foundation work in SA is not super cheap. The home is 2300 sq ft and build in 1932. 

@David O, the joist is cut completely through where it connects to the walls of the house. 

I'm speaking of the jointed part where the joist meets the wall of the house. They are cut completely through to allow the floor to rise when the previous owners attempted to level the house (& I assume were unable to do so due to the weight of the home). 

The floor joints are ALL cut and then a piece of plywood was placed in front of each joint. When the foundation crew went to raise the foundation at the piers, he realized that the floors were rising up but the house was not. So of course he began to fix it, but it became apparent that the joints had been cut because the house was heavy and the cement running around the house was crumbling - something my inspector said he would have 50/50 caught - basically he would have only caught the cut joints had he seen them (and neither did either of the foundation teams). Both companies assert they could have only discovered the crumbling concrete once it was broken open. Steven is asking - how do we protect our selves in the future from the exact same happenings?