All Forum Posts by: Ed O.

Are you paying wholesale or retail on your roofs? How much a square for materials and for labor? 

Is there any reasonable chance the person with 7 dogs can cash you out? 

I've had the best luck getting good leads on PMs from subs working for me. My best, 10+ year sub referred me to a good pm company. Subs will also be able to tell you if they pay their bills quickly. If they trust you, they'll probably have some unique insights to the management company which no one else will have. 

As you probably know, you've still got to vet the living crap out of them. Asking about repair costs for me has been a big deal. If the management company is getting a bad deal on expectable repairs, like changing a furnace or air conditioner, that's a bad sign. 

Good luck

To live in, sell or hold as a rental? 

Coming up with and sticking to a budget is the most critical step. This is really difficult starting out, not knowing what wholesale prices / rates are for builders vs. retail providers - think of Lowes installing tile vs. a guy that does new construction work. Their pricing is usually very different. 

You've got to make sure you get a good deal on the land and can build a house for the right cost if you're goal is to sell it. It would be wise to pull comps on like properties in the neighborhood to see the price / sf and aim to build something similar. 

Be mindful, you may need to fire a lot of subs. So many come and go. Your best, honest guy might be stealing from you 2 months down the road. I've had to get rid of a lot of people for not making my work a priority. There's a great book about building - The Owner - Builder Book. You can pick it up for the amount of change you can find in your couch from Amazon. It would be a great resource for you. 

Wow. This is a tough lesson to learn. I'm guessing all of your partners are busy with other daily arrangements? It might be prudent on future deals to take turns with one partner attending the preinspection of the property.  

As far as article 7, they can put whatever they want to in contracts like that. In fact, they put lines just like that into the report to discourage people in your position from proceeding. One hour to inspect a large multi doesn't seem acceptable. 

That company has a long list of commercial clients - clients I'm sure would like to be aware of the inspecting companies poor practices. 

You've probably realized this now - accepting a referral on a critical item with help of the opposing party in a transaction can be hazardous. I'd consider calling the agents broker and telling him about this conflict and your concern about being set up. Ask him what he's going to do about it and stop and listen. I enjoy using awkward silence to put pressure on people in situations like this. 

I hope you make some progress on this. It could've been even worse - try and use it as experience on all future deals. 

Try a few independent agents in the area where the home is. The national and regional brands usually want to sell a vanilla policy to a vanilla customer and are more likely to get lost when dealing with a situation like yours. The independent folks usually know their policies and options quite well - it's one way they differentiate themselves. Good luck!

@Eddy Dumire

I've considered buying carpet by the roll. Can you tell me how much a yard the carpet cost you, delivery fees, and it's quality? Thanks! 

@George P. if you needed something for supply lines do work in similar settings, shark bites, or their generics will do the same thing. 

These look and seem great, but...... 

Of all the tests, I see nothing about sitting dry. I'm looking at some land with push connection pvc pipes underground that have been likely assembled using this type of assembly. I'd be in the clear if they were traditional / glue. There's a high likelihood they've dried and failed at some joints as a result. 

Your credit score will go down a little. However, if your payment shrinks, it will improve your debt ratios. Apples to apples, it should not effect your ability to get financing most likely. 

It's really tough to be sure without some numbers. What will it cost you for the addition and what value will it add to your home? It would seem unwise to not look at these numbers and make your decision based off of them.

The 2 year own,occupy,sell,tax free profit is a beautiful thing in the tax code. It's on my list to do in the very near future. Lots of opportunity for tax free gains.