All Forum Posts by: Jon Reed

Hey! So... just my thoughts below...

1. You should find a contractor before you purchase your first property. In fact... I would say find yourself 2 or 3 contractors before you buy your first deal. Because it will be no surprise if 2 out of the 3 of them turn out to be duds and you have to fire them. You should always ask them for references and then contact those references (not their friends and family... but actual customers from recent work). And yes, you should be transparent with them because if you try to fake like you know everything they will quickly see right through that when they start asking you pointed questions or about your past projects.

2. You should take your contractors through the property before you put in your offer or during your inspection period after you get it under contract. 

Not A Realtor Here

DO NOT use a part time realtor. If they really were an amazing and great realtor then they would be doing it full time. You need someone (or even a team) who eats and sleeps the local real estate market and can provide you with the best ROI.

I think you are worrying about something that is a non-issue. A person who has become successful in real estate has not done it by taking advantage of new people's time... you are WAY more likely to get screwed over when you sign up and pay money to some of these 'real estate success' programs that you can buy online.

So, don't go into it thinking that they are out to use you... go into it giving 100% to find ways to save that Mentor's time and you will be rewarded with some awesome knowledge transfer. 

Depends on what you plan on doing with the money. If you are wanting to take the money and pay off debt incurred while purchasing/renovating the property then you should do a cash-out-refi.... if you are wanting to take the money and use it as a short term asset source (such as using as a down payment on the next BRRRR deal) then you should get a HELOC.

Our leases always state that any document signed prior to the date of the current document are null and void. But if that is not in your lease then you can easily add that in. Also, no need to call out who is not on the lease... the new document will only pertain to the people listed on it.

Nope, not without a tenant in place who was affected by COVID. If the tenant was in place you could file on their behalf for rental reimbursement but now that it is vacant then you just have to eat the losses sadly. 

If you want to do this just so you enjoy your home more then go for it! But, there is no ROI on this investment since you need at least 7' ceiling for it to be living space. When you go to get a HELOC on it or cash-out-refi the appraiser will not count that as finished square footage.

I am by far not an expert in this but looked into it a bit in the past when researching building storage units in an AE flood zone. With a residential property don't you have to put the property on stilts or bring in fill and compact it until the 1st floor level is at or above the zone base flood elevation? I would think you would need an engineer to plan out the flood zone remediation method in order to get building permits approved. Seems like a big undertaking for a new constructions... is the location so perfect that it makes ROI sense to build there?

*sorry if I hijacked your question with more questions

Do you notice interior issues in the house? Sloped floors, cracked walls, un-even door ways, etc? If not then don't worry about it. People freak out about cracked concrete but the truth is, all concrete will crack. It is only an issue if it cracks and then shifts.

If it is anything like here then it will cost a lot more than you expect. I would not be surprised if someone was to ask $1,600+ to do the work given the current demand.