All Forum Posts by: Jim Kalish

@Trevor Murphy Hi Trevor. Not sure exactly what you want to know. Opendoor is pretty active in my area (Charlotte, NC). My neighbor used them. His house needed a lot of cosmetic repairs so instead of putting in the effort he just let let it go to Opendoor. They gave him 266,500. The ARV when rehabbed well would be around 325k when he sold it 2 years ago. Probably 350k now So he probably lost 20k on the deal. But the rehab Opendoor did was terrible. The guys they brought in had no idea what they were doing And now the new owner is spending a lot of money fixing it. ANd since they sold it for 271k it sure didn't help comps in the neighborhood. I'm not real impressed with what I saw of the work they did.

@Account Closed According to Marketwatcch Wells has reversed it decision and won't be pulling PLOCs. https://www.marketwatch.com/st...  They say they are responding to customer concerns.  I've been with the for years.  I've never known that to really care about folks like us.  Maybe thy are trying to soften a little. :)

You are absolutely right. The trades need to pull their own permits. But if the total job cost is over 30k a GC needs to pull the building permit so the trades can pull their permits. And on most residential projects the building Your inspector might be the mechanical and plumbing inspector too. So he is going through know. You  can always hire a GC to pull the building permit and run the job but that can be as much as 15-20% out of pocket if not more. As the GC you can still hire a crew to do things like roofing, painting, windows, installing cabinets, and one of the big things here on small house rehab, knocking down the wall between the kitchen and living room, and not  incur that markup. If you hire a GC he may want to bring in his trades and mark them up. By being the GC you control the job and save a lot of money. I get the State's monthly newsletter about contractors being taken to court for doing work without a license. It only happens when it's blatant and habitual but it can end up in big legal fees, big fines and if it's bad enough in jail time. NC doesn't kid around.  Being able to say your project was fully permitted is a big plus when you go to sell. 

@Heather M. L. Check out the bestselling BiggerPockets book, "The Book On Flipping Houses." and "The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs", by J Scott. "BRRR" by David Greene and a couple of other books by Brandon Turner, "Investing in Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down" and "How to Invest in Real Estate". You can probably get all of these in the BP bookstore. And in addition to reading, watch the free webinars from BiggerPockets. As a PRO member you have access to all of the past webinars.

I understand your concerns and confusion. to get licensed as a trade contractor, ie electric, plumbing, mechanical, you are absolutely right, you need to work as an apprentice under someone. To get your GC license you simply need to take the exam. No prequalification needed. When you apply to take it there is a section that asks your experience. If you have ever remodeled your kitchen, built a backyard sshed, or hit a coupleof nails, you are good to go. The exam does not test you ability to do the work. It tests your knowledge of the code book, OSHA and couple of other books depending on if you take thee residential exam or builders exam. And you get to take the books in with you. Pretty much no experience needed, but it does help. The class you would take basically teaches you how to take the exam. How to granite and put tabs on your books, what to underline, what to highlight. I know, it doesn't make any sense. But in my class there were admins and bookkeepers. This is the way it works to be a GC. First, a person cannot be a GC. A business is a GC. If its just you, you set up a sole proprietorship LC. And the LLC will be the GC. A person takes the exam and if the pass they ar what is called a qualifier. Then the company they work for can apply to be a GC using the credentials of the qualifier. That's it. Its a 90 question test and I think you get 2-3 hours t take it. You have to get a 70. Don't get me wrong, its not an easy test. But it is very doable. And the insulation issue, that's an energy code thing. And that's huge right now round the country. Most things in the IBC are a result of something bad that happened in the past or some hot button issue. But of course its your project so you have the final say on what you do.

@Jonathan Barby You are absolutely right, NC takes construction very seriously.  But the NC rules are based on the IBC, which most states follow.  So you will run into this just about everywhere.  There are limits on when a licensed GC is needed to pull a permit.  Check with your local permitting office. But basically there is a lot you can legally do without a permit if the work is under 15k.  Once you get over 30k you absolutely need a licensed GC to pull the permit.  And your subs like electrical, plumbing, and HVAC need to pull permits so they are normally linked to the building permit.  And the local utility company won't do things like energize  new panel box or turn on a new HVAC system without seeing the approved permit.  If you're going to flip a house, you want to be sure anything you do is permitted.  Most good home inspectors will check to see if you pulled a permit on a major renovation.  And if you didn't an unscrupulous buyer could use that against you.  Besides, in this litigious world we are in covering yourself is best in the long run.  Not sure what city you are in but in Charlotte you can call the permitting office and simply ask them if you need  permit.  They won't ask your name or address.  And they give good advice.  And a lot of what you will be doing on a residential flip won't need one.  A new roof under 15k without and structural work, swapping out cabinets, swapping out a hot water heater in kind.  All this is exempt as long as you are under 15k.  I know, you can't do all of that for 15k but if its a quick flip you should be OK.  Take down a load bearing wall, regardless of the cost, and you need a permit.  But if you're going to do that you should have a licensed professional anyway.  So don't let needing  permit dissuade you from flipping in NC.  And if you plan on doing a  lot of this type of wok yourself, get your license.  Most community colleges have courses to get you ready to take the exam and as long as you are willing to put in a little study time you should pass.  And then you can do flips for other investors as well.  Good luck!

HI BP family.  To me Craftsman Style porch columns make a great statement.  I think they add real curb appeal.  I was hoping someone could suggest where I could get some detailed plans for building different configurations of these columns so I can build them in the shop.  I know the height will need to be modified but that's a pretty simply thing to do.  Its all the internal support details and angle that puts the craft in Craftsman.  So any advice (or a set of plans or 2) would be much appreciated.  Thanks in advance.  Jim

@David Robertson now that's what this community is all about!  Thanks David.  Helpful for all of us

Hi BP Family. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have run into this problem so I hope you can give me some advice. First, a little about me. I've been investing part time since 2008. Have some properties rented and have done a couple of flips. In January of this year I retired from my W2 job of 40 years. So now it's time to kick it into high gear. But regardless of what I have saved and have in investments I keep hearing that without a W2 conventional lenders have their hands tied by Fannie and Freddie. Before retiring I had no problem getting multiple mortgages, doing cash outs, etc. Now its a real problem. I'm at the point that I may get a job just so I have a W2 to point to. Has anyone run into this and does anyone know of any lenders who rates and terms are reasonable that will loan to someone like me. I'm ready to go the BRRRR route but if I can't refi I'm going to run out of cash pretty quick. I have plenty of reserves, just not that magic W2.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

@Miles Mardesic I'm going to recommend 2 books to you.  Both are by J Scott and available in the Bigger Pockets bookstore.  The first is "The Book on FLipping Houses".  It walks you through the process step by step.  The second book is "The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs".  It goes through each of the top 25 components that you should consider, one by one, when estimating rehab costs including roof, gutters, siding, ext paint, etc.  As you can see it start at th etop exterior and ends mold and termites.  And at the end there is an 11 page workbook with sections for each of the 25 components, the tasks for each component, the unit cost indicator (sq ft, cubic yard, each, etc) an estimate of labor costs (this book is from 2013 so you will need to make adjustments) and a column for material.  Watch out for material cost. They have tripled in some cases over the last year.  And you can use the spreadsheet format for a Projects Schedule workbook and if you so inclined a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for the PMs among us.  Good luck,