All Forum Posts by: Eddy Dumire

@Stevenson Foote I've found most of my deals on the auction sites (homesearch, hubzu, auction.com) and one on MLS.

Stevenson,

Welcome and good luck.  Please start with the beginners guide.  There's lots of really valuable info there.  I'm located in Stafford and I invest in Stafford and Fredericksburg.  I haven't done any investing in Maryland, but I know it's not quite as landlord friendly as Virginia so I would focus more on the Virginia side of things.

I'm not a lawyer, but I asked my closing lawyer and she didn't think that flipping was a problem because once you have a contract, you have a personal interest in the property.  You don't have to be licenses, but I went through the process and I learned lots of details and nuances to real estate that I hadn't gotten anywhere else.

I've been using HELOCs and personal funds for most of my investing so far so I can't offer much advice on where to raise capital.

Please let me know if you have any specific questions.

@Chris Mason After I started this thread I found a list of dog attack deaths on wikipedia.  By far those lists are dominated by pit bulls but a few other breeds make occasional appearances including German Shepherds.

Once again thanks for everyone's advice.  I've sent an email to my agent asking if they have a restricted breed list.  I use Allstate.

I fully agree that I wouldn't choose to have brand new carpet with pets, but things didn't exactly happen in the right sequence to prevent that.  The unit hadn't had new carpet in 10+ years.  We decided to allow the possibility of pets on a case by case basis afterwards.  I would strongly prefer NOT to have pets for that exact reason, but in this property, one month's rent is $2200.  I spent $3100 on the new carpet.  It seems like if it comes down to renting to a person with pets or another month of vacancy, that renting to a pet owner would take precedence.

Thanks everyone for your feedback.  You've given me some very solid guidance.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

@David Hedges I definitely charge a pet deposit in addition to my security deposit.  The last time it came up, I charged $350.  I make my pet deposits refundable.  I see it as further incentive to keep their pet under control.

@Edward B. Do you include German Shepherds in your list of more protective/violent breeds?

@Max T. excellent point about the puppy vs adult and the landlord reference. 

I do check references and I'm shocked that more of us don't.  I think that may be my best indicator by far of this specific dog's behavior.

@Frank Gucciardo I'm sure you're right about that, but how can I tell in a 5 minute interview of a tenant whether or not they've raised their dog to be violent?

I'm considering allowing dogs and cats in my newest listing and need a little guidance from the community.  I've never really owned a dog, though I have had cats.  We just put brand new carpet in the house in addition to repainting.  We're still on the fence about refinishing the floors.  If I want to control some of the potential damage, which dogs should I refrain from renting to?  When people have asked, I've generally said no very large breeds and no violent breeds.  A guy just called and asked about a german shepherd.  I know they can be trained to attack, but does the by definition make them a violent breed?  A Chihuahua could be trained to attack too.

So the delivery has happened relatively successfully.  I used a combination of suggestions.  The furniture mover from harbor freight was most effective, but it was a little difficult to get the roll up high enough to get the furniture mover underneath.  It would have been fantastic if I had a second one to put on the other end.  Since I only had one, I used a piece of PVC pipe as Bill suggested.  My painter was there at the time and he's a young, full of energy type so I let him do most of the work (with a bonus of course).

@Ed O.  We were honestly shocked at the quality of the carpet.  It is nicer stuff than I have in my own house right now and when I replace that, I'll definitely order again.  We bought from Dalton Carpet and paid $11.52/yd x 168 yds for $1935.  Delivery was $174.  My installer can get rolls of padding cheaper than Dalton, so I went that route.  It was $45/roll x 6 rolls (30 yards/roll).  My installer is charging $700 for removal, haul away, and installation.  My total costs are right around $3100.  The last time I bought carpet from home depot, it cost me about the same price for just really crappy carpet that looks absolutely horrible a year later.  My wife priced a comparable to this before we ordered and it would have cost around $5k at home depot.  We bought "John's Castle" which is a step down from their highest pile "Phil's Palace".  It is 48oz face weight / 80 oz total weight.  Hope that helps.