All Forum Posts by: Hugh Springer

1. Confirm (or request) that a Debt Service Company is used

    - not just a promissory note for the upfront financing/funding. 

    - but a service provider that acts as an alternative for all the things you'd normally get from a mortgage company

2. Confirm that the Debt Service Company used, will provide you with easy access to: 

     - monthly/quarterly/annual statements of your pymt history

    - ideally, easy user login web or app access

     - 1098 or annual (interest payment) tax documentation mailed, emailed, or pdf download-able

     - alerts, notifications, and pymt scheduling options for: pymt due, pymt applied/received, outstanding balance, etc.

3. Have a legal advisor or counsel review your documents before signing.

These will make your ultimate exit strategy, post Hard Money financing period, much easier when:

- preparing & submitting paperwork for individual tax returns

- maintaining the note in good stating with consistent payments & digital payment history paper trail

- digital and/or easy access to documentation

- preparing for a Re-Fi, Conventional financing, payoff, or even Flip/Sale & deed/title reconveyance to remove the Hard Money Lein holider at the end of the note's term

Seeking: Investment Partner for $500k 

Prop Asset: 2bd/1ba 1920s 1024 sqft bungalow, zoned multi-fam, with 180 degree ocean view, located between Seattle & Vancouver

Buy & Hold as an LTR: 6.8% cap rate, MTR: 10% cap rate, STR: 12% cap rate

ARV: $725k as a 1024 sqft 2bd/1ba (original)
ARV: $850k as a 1675 sqft 3bd/2ba (with finished walk-out bsmt)
ARV: $925k as a 2024 sqft 4bd/3ba (with finished attic)
ARV: $1.15M as 2024 sqft 4bd/3ba (+500 sqft DADU)

Recently watched an older BP podcast episode w/ Tarol, where he was walking thru a SEA fixer, and mentioned: "if you have foundation issues, dont just jump on board with the billboard ad big foundation contractors unless you want to spend $30k".

I'm looking for more advice on solid foundation contractors, to this end. I'm in the greater-SEA area, am house-hacking a BRRR, and -- since its a 100yr old house, sitting on a hill overlooking the ocean -- its settled over time. Plaster walls are cracked, doors are sticky, the whole 9yards.

Prior to purchasing, the seller had gotten a bid from a local contrator for ~$10-12k to install pin-piles to address the foundation.  The thing is (I've since researched that ), the pin-pile approach "holds up" the foundation and prevents it from sinking further, but it does not actually address or correct the existing sink.

I got another bid from a bigger shop, who's process is well advertised, and whose pricepoint came in at ALL-IN $37k, paired down to just the minimum, still at $28k. There was no structural engineer assessment, but their bid/estimate process was thorough & articulate: measuring the slope of each corner of the house from the center point on the main level, explaining Pin-piles vs. Helical piles, and leaving me convinced by their expertise and inclined to take action on their bid.

I didn't ultimately sign off, as I had not budgeted for that much into foundation work, and have since been able to do most of the foundation slab crack demo & repair myself with some local sub-contractor help.

The helical piles approach tho: drive a stake down until it hits bedrock and then neumatically "pump up" the foundation until its back to level...seems like the ultimate right approach & solution I need, before I proceed to a future phase of finishing the attic, bumping out shed dormers, and adding +1000sqft w/ +1bdrm, +1ba, & +1 wetbar/kitchennette for an STR unit.

That project phase is a few mos out, and will require a structural engineer, as I'll be adding interior structure posts, a major new ridge beam, and 20' of floor-to-ceiling full-light windows & french doors facing the bay.  But since all that will sit on the very exterior west wall that has sunken over time, it seems like the cost is inevitable. 

Other than FR (pin pile approach low bid) and R&R FS (the knowledgeable but med-high bid for helicol piles)...any other local contractors you know that I can consider for the helical pile approach? Or are the big dogs the best route to do it right for my situation vs. do it cheap/wrong?

Thanks in advance, Hugh