All Forum Posts by: Joe Cummings

Maybe "Controlled" was a bad choice of words. It's more like "Work conforming to MY specifications". It just seem like so many of these guys can get clear written specifications, and then want to change things around to what THEY think is a better idea. Then the ******** starts.

Really, having worked so long in industrial and municipal construction (Wastewater Treatment Facilities) I find most residential contractors, and remodelers to be a F ing clown show. It's like they all want to do their own thing, but on my dime.

I worked in the world of blueprints, exacting specs, AIA Documents and change orders.

What good is a contractor to me, that wants to make changes on a whim, and totally frucks me when I have to do the next step because whatever he did is now in the way.

There are good ones out there, but damn they can really be hard to find.

Beware of guys with too much flash. Trucks with fancy graphics and without a scratch or a ding inside the bed is a bad sign. 

Study the signs of narcissism, and look out for those kinds of guys. So many of them in this business. They are the guys who come in, and after talking to them, you feel like they crapped in the yard, peed on all four corners of the house, and tried to "F"  your old lady. They usually want to put a sign in your front yard too.

Skills are very important in a contractor, but so is the ability to control them.

 Back in the day, they white washed them. I used to repair concrete trucks and equipment for a contractor. He was a firm believer in white wash (Old School Italian Guy). In fact he had me build a mixing tank and pump on the back of a truck for him to spray it with. And "spray" is kind of the wrong word for how he applied it. It was more like "squirt" from a garden hose.

He had me stop by a couple jobs he did (Barns and a Fruit Warehouse). While he was squirting it on the walls and ceilings I was looking at it thinking OMG what a F ing mess, it was running and dripping everywhere. I went by a couple days later and it dried and looked beautiful. I couldn't believe it. 

From what he told me, it's really really really cheap, it's non-toxic, bugs hate it, easy to apply and it makes the place smell fresh. From what I saw I believed him.

One change to the "recipe" he made was to add some portland into the mix. He said it makes it hold up better.

Talk about low VOC huh. I think that damned old Abruzzi was on to something.

One of my favorite TV shows. Ethics in America

http://www.learner.org/resources/series81.html

This series uses the Socratic method to build analytical skills and examine ethical questions. The programs aim to sharpen moral reasoning without favoring a particular position by exploring ethical dilemmas in legal, political, medical, corporate, and military arenas. Panelists include Antonin Scalia, Faye Wattleton, and Peter Jennings.

Produced by Columbia University Seminars on Media and Society.

While not real estate specific, it covers many ethical situations from numerous points of view

Being kinda an expert on dysfunctional relationships (Just ask any of my EXs). Just keep in mind they can be badmouthing each other all over town, he can be slapping her around, she can be cheating on him, and yet they both love it and f like rabbits. 

Cops can be called, one of them can get looked up, and they can be having passionate "makeup sex" and professing their love for each other within hours.

Especially if he is a narcissist, and/or she is a Cluster-B personality type. (Think Blanch Dubious in A Streetcar Named Desire)

Really the whole situation sounds like treading on thin ice to me

Just thinking, What about Asbury Park? I was working for an electrical contractor down there a few years back. The place was ghetto almost all the way to the waterfront. But money was starting to be invested along the water. I forget what year that was, but the Metropolitan and Palace Amusements were still standing, although ready for demo (probably 2008ish)

Jersey Shore is pricey if it's on the water. I was dating a girl in Bayonne who bought a place on the water in Tuckerton for 104,000 back in 2001. In early 2003 she was offered 220,000 for it. Although she decided to keep it and have it modified for her daughter who is handicapped.

I was dating another girl who was left a house in North Wildwood a couple blocks from the beach. The place needed a lot of work but was worth about 200,000 at the time (Summer of 2013). I also have friends with a small commercial property in Ship Bottom. During the boom I was hearing numbers like 1,000,000 for that place. It was a really good location though. Almost all traffic coming off the causeway into the island could see the place.

Inland a few miles everything gets cheap although the taxes are kinda high. On the west coast of South Jersey there are a lot of bargains. Towns are kinda sleepy, but for someone who wanted to live on the water and was into boating and fishing it's really a nice affordable area. Not much work or tourism money on the west coast though. Not to mention, it's about a good hour's commute to get to anyplace where there is work.

Keep in mind, short distances at the Jersey Shore can cause huge differences in value. A quarter mile can easily double values.

"Equitable Interest" in the form of money? Or maintenance and repairs to the property?

I don't understand the avoidance of getting a real estate license. I know a few people who went and got one. I don't remember them having that much of a hard time or spending a lot of money to get it. Seemed to me the hard part, and the real learning experience came after they got their license.

Because I need to raise money to support my favorite cause. Wayward Women. My dream is to open a place for them. I want to call it "The Kelly Wrenn Home for Broken Toys"

Poor Kelly, she never had a chance, may she rest in peace. She needs to be remembered. 

What is it? What service does a wholesaler provide? How do they take their profit? Is it just a legal loophole alowing the wholesaler to act something like a Realtor?