All Forum Posts by: Gilbert Dominguez

First of all the law is not that the owner has to be a licensed contractor. The law says the work has to be done by a licensed contractor. It also does not say you have to be a licensed contractor if more than one year has passed since the work was done. I would think you would want to wait the year out anyway so you get taxed on long term capital gains rather than short term capital gains but to each his own . All I know is that the laws says the work has to be performed and managed my a licensed contractor not that the owner has to be a licensed contractor unless he or she perform the work directly and even then you can do it if you are willing to wait out one year. 

By law a licensed contractor has to guarantee their work and carry both workman's comp insurance and be bonded. If a buyer comes into possession of that property they benefit from the guarantees. Most owners will not guarantee their work. Some structural issues have to be guaranteed for at least 10 years. 

No matter how you look at it houses are not cheap and a buyer deserves some guarantees and protection. 

The quotes are only to augment a word so you pay more attention to it. I find it helps people focus on the word as a subject. 

Yes, Word of mouth is the best advertising for contractors. Talk to people who have dealt with contractors in your area and they will generally be happy to tell you about their experiences with contractors good and bad. 

What a contractor does and how well the perform their work for you, stay within your established budgets and schedule will affect you emotionally and financially so they are very very important in your life. You really want to make as sure as you can you are dealing with someone reputable that you can trust otherwise you are leaving yourself open to suffer. 

You will see at the right top the word, " vote" that simply means you found someone's response , answer or comment fitting the situation, inquiry, or comment. It means you like the response posted by someone so you give them a vote. If you like someone's input, contribution or level of knowledge you will want to follow them, perhaps you feel you can learn more from them. If you send a colleague request to someone it means you have a reason to get in contact with them for whatever that reason might be. 

If this is your first time I would say go by the contracting law in your state or city. Here where I live a contractor cannot ask for more the $1,000.00 only at signing. You might be dealing with a contractor that is very poorly funding in which case you might have problems throughout the whole process of construction because his company cannot fund the job. 

Typically you start out by paying after certain percentages and work spelled out in your contract. These payments are called draws. Here we start from the foundation on up depending. Let us say the foundation was first on the list of things to be done for you by contract. I would not pay anything at all before the foundation is finished and passed inspection. Work completed , work paid. Then we would move on to the framing, 

You always want to spell out exactly what work is to be completed, and inspected, once it passes inspection you pay the agreed amount. 

Really if I were you I would not be doing this without the assistance of an attorney. There are just thousands of regret stories people have about dealing with contractors. The bigger the contracting company the better well healed they are financially and the more they will stick to the letter of the law. 

I would say that him asking or demanding 28% of the contract up front is against the law but make sure and look up contracting law in your state but also get in contact with an attorney that deals in this area of law so you at least have some guidance. 

Also use common sense if you insist on not having a lawyer review your contract for you. Never pay anything up front that is above $1,000.00. Then either buy materials yourself of pay upon proof of receipt and verify every item on the receipt. 

Honestly I would get someone that has done this before that you might know and have them advise you about how to go about it. 

Giving a contractor money before the work has begun is a good way to get ripped off. I am not saying this will happen but do not create opportunity to be taken advantage of. 

I will say this again get an attorney to help you out with this especially if its your first time dealing with contractors. 

Just file a claim with the contractors license board in your area, state of city. They will get a hold of them and hold up their license until they clear the matter up with you

Just a hint, If you get the right engineer should not cost you more than $2K plus permits. 

I do not know your area but most places around where I am never include a washer or dryer in the rental. what they do provide is only a hook up and the tenants provide their own but if you provided a washer and that is part of your rental charge then I would say replace it with a new one. You can write off the expense and then donate the old one and claim a donation as well off of your taxes. 

The closets are considered part of the living space so yes they count toward the room square footage requirements. If it is existing even if it did not meet today's codes they would still count as bedrooms. They go by the date the house was constructed no one is going to go around and measure everyone's bedrooms to make sure they qualify under the new code requirements for bedrooms. Plus if you alter a wall you definitely need a permit for that and have it inspected. If you alter what is known as a bearing wall then you may need a structural engineer to design that for you. I would not go around altering the walls in your house if you do not know what you are doing and for what reason. Better wait and ask the authorities.

I would say one of your best bets is to go directly to all the VA lenders in your area and discuss with them what your plans are. They will help you prepare what you need in order to qualify for a loan. You might ask if they will count the rents as part of your ability to pay for a loan. I do not think they will all allow this if any buy you will want to ask. Then I would ask if you are employed if not then I would wait until you do have a job. There may be a requirement that you be employed for a certain length of time. They will also check your credit rating. Of course the better your credit rating the more chance you will have of getting approved but as I said have a talk with various lenders and get to know what you have to have in order to qualify for a loan.