All Forum Posts by: Jared Broderick

@Tom Rychlewski - What do you do about filter cleaning of the unit?

@Mike McCarthy - Thanks for the idea of a real duct fan, If I go all DIY I'll definitely look into that.

Thank you for that suggestion. :)

@Lee L.  - Thanks much for the response. 

How much did it run you to have it professionally installed?  

If you didn't have a wall acting as a barrier to other areas in the basement, do you think that it would dehumidify more?

So, in a few of the single family houses I have recently purchased for rentals, the basements are fairly humid.  The real estate agent that I've been using (who is fairly well versed in investment purchases) suggested placing a dehumidifier in the basement to help control the moisture.  

However, my property manager advises against purchasing/placing dehumidifiers as she feels that the tenants may disconnect, break, or steal them.  In searching for alternatives to a dehumidifier I've found some of the below solutions... 

FOUND SOLUTIONS:

1 - This looked relatively inexpensive, but requires a window in the basement (which may not be present), and is very much DIY:

https://www.finehomebuilding.com/2008/09/10/a-dehu...

I found 2 - 5 on the following site:  

https://www.hunker.com/12002792/how-to-dehumidify-...

2 - Placing Charcoal bricks around the basement

3 - Filling a bin with rock salt and drilling a few holes allowing for water to drain

4 - Buying desiccant's and placing those around the basement

5 - Running an electric heater, set no higher than 95 degrees.

I really like option 1... but if my basement doesn't have a window, it won't work... I'm also not that mechanically inclined.

I'm not so keen on solution 2-4 as it would require intervention from the tenant to cleanup and replace used up portions, and I'd really like the tenant to not have to think or worry about placing or emptying stuff.  

I'm not really excited about leaving an electric heater running unattended, nor do I think that curious, uneducated minds would think it was necessary to run one in an unoccupied space, nor would they appreciate the extra heat in summer, or the extra expense added to their electric bill.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried any of these, or if they have success doing something else to help cure a damp basement.

Thanks in advance.

@Luke Mitchell - I'm not Maurice... Nor am I an expert or married to the idea of Fund & Grow (I'm a recent customer, that's it)... Here's my thoughts on a few of the topics you've asked about:

Non-Recourse Credit - I don't know if this will directly help investors or not... My thought is, why not build good credit any and every way... just in case... it can't hurt.

Soft Credit Inquiries - Fund and Grow seems to have a guide on how to remove these (I have yet to see it... though I'm pretty sure the guy I'm working with will be sending me a copy soon, as I inquired not long ago about it).

Why Pay Fund & Grow - Why pay a property manager, you know how to take care of properties the way they would... But, do you really want to spend the time and effort that they are willing to do for a nominal fee.  It's the same thing here with Fund & Grow, you're paying for their expertise, knowledge, and willingness to do a good portion of the work for you (for a whole year, which is quite competitive in the realm of credit funding companies from what I've read).

Permissions to work on your credit - … This one you have to be willing to trust the business on... They ask for limited power of attorney to act on your behalf to get the credit cards setup for you.  They also ask for all of the information that would ever be needed to setup these accounts... Which can be very personal.

Anyhow, I definitely had my reservations about what they did at first... and I actually sat and waited for them to do anything for a month while they waited for me to "fix" my credit (moving money between different cards and removing myself as an authorized user on certain accounts). 

So, by no means is it a perfect solution... but it is a solution, and for the most part, it works.

So... I don't usually like leaving reviews... But, I do believe in showing gratitude for what and how something is given to you.... So, here's my two cents on Fund & Grow.

First, I heard about Fund & Grow from Clayton Morris's YouTube channel and by visiting his site... From what I've read in other parts of the Bigger Pockets forums, Clayton Morris is liked as a person... But, most don't like his turnkey business... Regardless of what you think of his business or of him, I believe he's serious about trying to help others in finding financial freedom in "creative" ways. Case in point, just for mentioning that I was referred to Fund & Grow by Clayton Morris, got me $500 off their price and allowed my wife (who is also my business partner), to participate as a secondary applicant for free (this would normally cost another ~$4000). So, $8,000 in service provided for ~$3,500, that was a nice deal.

The folks at Fund & Grow had us do some things to "smooth out" our credit, and then the application process began for me. It took me a few days to realize that I had to set my wife up separately, so her process started a bit later than mine, thus she is only now starting her first round.

So, I've finished the first round with around $64,600 in BUSINESS credit, whereas my wife is just about to start her first round which is focused on her PERSONAL credit, as she hasn't been using credit as long as I have. That's a good chunk of 0% interest credit that I'm currently using to purchase between 7 and 10 rental properties CFD.
They also continue to work for you for a whole year, trying to make sure you get 0% for as long as you can and getting you more credit where possible.

Additionally, not only do the get your credit cards w/ 0% interest to help fund your business, I’ve found that they have an extensive guide on how to build credit for your business… It takes some time to complete everything, but I can see how it could benefit me and my business in the long run.

They also have you sign up for a newsletter on investing and funding at $50 an issue, it seems a bit outrageous… but if you stay signed up for a year, you also get a free 1 week stay (travel not included) anywhere in the US… $600 for investing/funding information and a 1 week stay anywhere I want in the US, I just have to get there… I guess it’s an okay deal.

So, that’s pretty much everything you get from the business, and it’s not all too bad, and generally worth it…

To access the money, they basically recommend two methods outside of transferring funds and regular use, Plastiq (2.5% fee, tax deductible) and Goldmoney (no less than 3% fee plus transfer fees). 

Plastiq apparently works well to make down payments on property purchases with everything but American Express (they don’t seem to like it when folks use their card to buy a house). 

Goldmoney may get flagged by the card fraud department, even if you call and explain that you plan on extracting most of your money (this caused me such a headache). The other problem with Goldmoney is that you MUST buy gold, platinum, silver, or palladium before you can cash out and have the money placed back into your account… If you’ve been following any of the precious metal markets (and I highly suggest you investigate it before using Goldmoney) you’ll know that precious metals are falling in their value fast (it’s not a big deal if you intend on long term investment… but big if you intend to pull out soon after investing). I lost ~$6000 between the fees and the falling market in less than a week. Unless the market is shooting upward… take your money out of the precious metals about as soon as you put them in and count your losses on the fees.

So, there you have it, as detailed information as I can recall on Fund & Grow. I’m pleased overall at the service that they’ve provided so far and look forward to what may be in store… Now if there was only a better way to get the money out of the credit accounts...