All Forum Posts by: Andrew Faukner

My vote for a travel card is the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. While it has a large annual fee, $450, they give you back $300 when you charge anything to do with travel. They will also pay for your TSA Global Entry card if you don't have one. We don't buy nearly as much as Jared buys every month, It took us two years to build up enough points to pay for our tickets to Tanzania next summer.

Safe travels!

While someone on BP probably has a list they will share with you, one of the best walk through tips I found on BP was to walk around the house recording with your phone, and talking so that any concerns you have will be on the recording. Then walk through the house and make another recording. Make sure you talk to record any concerns. This has really helped me. For example, I couldn't remember how many windows I needed to replace on the last place I looked at, so I just had to look at the video to find out. 

Good luck!

Jeff, yes! You should have kept working on Spanish! (Sorry, I have to say that. I'm a recently retired high school Spanish teacher).

Remember, you can always take some of the profits from one of your flips and go to Mexico, or Costa Rica, or Spain and take a one, two or three week intensive Spanish course. You might even be able to write off the trip. I'm not a CPA, so check with your CPA to be sure. 

Hi Kevin, If you are across the country dealing with a family emergency, worry about that first. As long as there isn't an issue like pets getting out of the yard, worry about the fence when you return. It might be an insurance claim, but you may want to avoid a claim on that old fence and just arrange to have it done yourself. For a contractor to replace it, ask your property manager, or real estate agent for references.  You could also drive around the neighborhood, look for someone with a nice new fence, knock on the door and tell them their fence looks great, then ask who built it for them.

Just some thoughts about fences...

Like Kyle J said, usually here in California the fence is on the property line, and costs are to be shared. 

If the neighbor can't, or won't pay half to have the fence replaced, make sure you have the pickets nailed on your side of the fence to make your yard look nicer. 

Exception to this rule of thumb, if the fence separates your yard from a street or alley, put the pickets on the street, or alley side. Makes the fence a little harder to climb over for those people you really don't want in your yard.

Lastly, before the new fence goes in, clean up any vegetation, or dig up any vegetation that is growing too close to the fence that may damage your nice new fence in the future.

Good luck.

Maybe start by telling us where you live in the country, so people in that part of the country can give you some advice, and then what experience do you have with rehabbing properties.

Just a suggestion.

Granted, BP has lots of wonderful tools for us to use, but with over 1.7 million members it seems like we should be able to work some type of deal with Quickbooks to give members, or even just Pro members a discounted price. It might be worth it to have someone from BP contact Quickbooks. 

Just an idea, (because I'm so cheap,... wait, I mean frugal...or thrifty).

I've been thinking about this measure T.  

A lot of investors who live outside of SLT own property in SLT. Since they own land there, shouldn't they be able to vote on issues that affect their property? The county seems to be able to find me when they want their property tax, why couldn't they send me an abbreviated ballot that just allows me to vote on issues that affect my property?

It looks like Measure T has passed in South Lake Tahoe. The measure says they will ban vacation rentals in most of the city. It looks like they are going to phase this in over three years. I'm sure there will be lawsuits before this is fully implemented. It passed at 51.23% to 48.77%, a difference of 113 votes. Here is a link to the election results, look at the last page for Measure T: Measure T

Early election results show that South Lake Tahoe may in fact ban vacation home rentals in three years. The early results are close, so this may change. Let's see what it does to home prices if it does in fact change. Here is a link to a Tahoe Tribune article: Measure T

Sorry for your loss Carven. When my parents passed away, my sister and I also inherited a house. One thing you might consider is using a property manager to rent the other unit out for you. I know many people here on Bigger Pockets are successful managing their own properties, but there are a lot of laws governing rentals, I prefer to leave it to the professionals. Another aspect is that since you and your sister lived in the four bedroom unit, you may have some "attachment" to the unit. Remember, now it is a "rental". This is a business. It does not have to be perfect to rent, and renters will probably not take care of it like your family did over the years. That has been a difficult lesson for me to learn over the years when renting out a place I lived in, and grew attached to. Keep telling yourself that it is a "business". Good luck, and when you have questions, ask on Bigger Pockets. This is a VERY knowledgeable group.