All Forum Posts by: George Skidis

In the late 50s and early 60s "National Homes" were being constructed at an amazing pace. They are mostly on a slab. The sections were assembled in a factory and brought to the construction site by a truck with a boom and hoist to aid in assembly. Frequently they were built in areas with a high water table such as Cahokia, IL right across the river from Saint Louis. We have bought and held these homes for decades. We have also flipped almost two dozen of them before the bubble burst.

The typical national home is a 3 BR one bath. and the exterior length and width were built with 4' sections. Some were wider but almost all of them were 24' deep. The width could vary at 28, 32, 36 or 40 feet.  Everything divisible by 4. Some had a one car attached garage.

They also had a fuel oil furnace, asbestos siding and other issues to start off with. to begin with. 

As long as there is no termite damage and the slab is still in one piece, you can't go wrong.

All sides need competent legal representation. The investor friend probably has his already. You and your other friends will probably need to sign a personal guarantee as well.

Seen too many friend deals go wrong over the years. Is this one good enough to help your friendship survive?

I spent 30 years as a claims adjuster. Slate Roofs are great. HOWEVER, if the repairs are not done with the correct fasteners your insurance company may deny any claims you make.

You indicated that the roof was 100 years old. Was that hard and fast or just an approximate? Take the year the roof was installed and subtract it from the current year. Example 2018 - 1915 = 103 years old. Depending on the type of slate the roof is rapidly approaching it's life expectancy. The warranty period is over. It might not last the number of years claimed.

Leaks come in various sizes and velocities. They also run to the lowest point before showing up. Just because the leak is visible in the kitchen does not mean that it is above the kitchen. It can also start out large and cause a lot of damage.

Slate erodes ever so slowly. Every time a roofer or claims adjuster walks on your slate roof they run the risk of causing more damage than the actual leak because of thin spots in the slate.

If this home is more than one story tall your maintenance costs will go up with the cost of your roofer's work comp insurance. Slate shingle can snap under the weight of the roofer and become a sled ride to the ground. Make sure your roofer carries workers comp insurance.

Whenever the roof is worked on have all pipe jacks and chimney flashing checked for maintenance needs. Get it all done in one trip.

Almost no one uses 3 in 1 tab shingles anymore. Everyone is going with architectural shingles and 25 to 35 year "Warranties" The warranty does not apply to wind damage or hail damage.

Make sure your roofer places a salvage tarp where they drop the roof waste. They also need to clean the grounds and sweep for nails with a magnetic roller.

Have you considered a metal roof? In my opinion better than a shingle roof and more distinctive with older homes. Lie you said. This is your home.

Land Value: The "Basis" of a property is allocated between the value of the land and the value of the structure plus renovations prior to being placed in service.

When you allocate the land value it must be based on a provable value or every return filed after that date can be challenged. The likelihood of a challenge on that alone is almost negligible. It just gives the IRS another avenue to explore during an audit. If it does come up in association with other issues, the cost in accounting fees to refile the last three years of taxes and any interest and penalties will make you wish you had never considered it.

Bye the way, the IRS can go back as many years as they want. YOU are capped at three. 

Play it safe. Play it reasonable. Play it honest. The worst thing you will ever do is explain to your wife and children why you are going to prison for income tax evasion.

Check out Jane Garvey and the Chicago Creative Investors Association. Learn as much as you can as fast as you can. Don't wait too long to jump in or you may never achieve your dream.

Hey, I am in Belleville "almost Neighbors. Been doing this since 1993.

It may be that your project is based upon a flawed premise. The landlord needs to protect their investment and any tenant screening service needs to provide as many answers as possible for the landlord. The tenant already knows their problems.

It appears you are approaching this from the applicants view point and they don't have any skin in the game. They don't have an investment worth tens of thousands of dollars to protect. They need a place to live. 

Any worthwhile tenant screening service needs to provide the following information. Where that social security number has lived for the past 20 years, Credit score, Nation wide criminal history search, Nation wide eviction search and many other items.

We use a tenant screening service called Rent Perfect (formerly Investigative Screening and Consulting or ISC). They answer all of my questions except two.

The primary question is will they treat my property like a home or a pig sty. Pigs are pigs. They bring roaches, bed bugs and damage. The only way to answer this question is to go see where they live NOW. This is not something you have outlined above.

The other question is will the applicant lie to me? If I catch them in a lie they are done.

Clarification. My earlier comment specifically stated it was about Illinois Real Estate Taxes.

Real estate taxes for a personal residence are itemized on schedule A along with mortgage interest expense and other items of a personal nature. There is also a way to deduct R.E. Tax on a second or vacation home.

Real Estate Taxes for Rental property are listed as an operating expense on Schedule E of the Tax return and are not impacted by the change.

A first time eviction is not the time to learn by trial and error. Hire a competent attorney that does these on a regular basis.

The problem with giving eviction advice is that what works at the Saint Clair County courthouse is not the same as Cook County. They have their own rules that us the folks in Southern Illinois just have not been exposed to. By Southern Illinois I mean anything outside of greater Chicago and environs. Every municipality has it's quirks.

My friend Steve who has done hundreds of evictions in Madison County tried to play by Illinois rules in Saint Louis County and lost. The judge read him the riot act and made him start over. GET AN ATTORNEY!