All Forum Posts by: Jason Allen Taylor

perhaps a more important question we should all be asking is, how are you being compensated for the paint work? do you have a pre-established price with your client?

if the purchase price of an investment property is derived from:

sales price less repair cost, holding cost, overhead and profit;

the purchase price of subcontract services can be described in a similar fashion:

Painting revenue less direct costs, overhead and profit.

you see, we can all talk about how much we pay for trades, but until you see the rest of the numbers you're really not comparing apples to apples anyways.

new question: how much did you or can you charge for the painting work that your painters are performing?

I would expect to pay $.25/sf to finish taped drywall, $.40/sf to prime/seal + 2 coats of paint, $15each to paint a door slab 2 coats and reset. This is square footage of actual surface, not floor area - for example a 10' square room with a small window and door has 288sf walls (320sf - 32 for door/window) and 100sf ceiling. These are labor only prices.

Recognize though that I have established trades to whom I send pretty consistent work, and that these numbers are based on a whole lot of assumptions.

To me it seems like that price is high for a subcontract trade. It sounds like that is a company who sells direct to homeowners.

is the drywall taped yet, or is it bare? Trim and doors need to be installed or just painted?

Id love to give you an accurate answer... but first, What is spacle?

Are you a general contractor in this transaction?

IMO you should explain why their application is rejected, especially if you plan on keeping the non-refundable application fee. If I paid to apply and got the letter you wrote in response, I'd think you took my application knowing full well that the unit was likely taken, but wanted to collect my application fee anyways.

If you're refunding the fee you probably have more flexibility.

I took a quick look at your ad, not saying that this is "the thing", but the second and third photos are poor. Lots of clutter, cheap furniture, photos all over the fridge etc. 

Your ad is supposed to make people want to live in your property, and your photos basically say "All of this could be yours!" The other photos are very good, but I'd get rid of the clutter pics.

I hope this helps...

@Manolo D.

The business is good, just not as good as it looks from the other side of the fence. Average claim size varies by area, size of property, etc. I run a franchise company with hundreds of national contracts so the claim volume is probably different than you'd experience.

Insurance adjusters are great to build relationships with, so long as by "build relationships" they don't mean "give kickbacks to" or "slit your throat for". If you do good honest work and make them look good you'll get some that will trust and respect you.

Having an estimator experienced in insurance repairs is extremely important. Other things you need are a total willingness to subordinate everything that is important in your personal schedule, a strong desire to help others, the ability to wait a long time to get paid, and it helps to enjoy defending every decision you make and every line item you charge so that your bills don't get cut to shreds by the insurance company after the work is done. :)

I have to run right now, but I'm happy to discuss this further. It's honestly a good business if you do it right, and I'll be glad to share my experience. Send a message or some contact info if you'd like to chat about it.

Hi Dontae:

You sound like a nice guy who is looking for a way to get ahead in life. I'd like to help you get started in real estate investing, and you won't have to pay me a dime. 

You'll have to be sure to take this advice literally without letting it affect your optimism or hurt your feelings, because I really like your optimism... and I don't give a damn about your feelings - and neither will any "mentor" good enough to teach you anything worth learning.

Anybody qualified to teach you about this business is already busy enough. They all have a full schedule already. They already have deals in the works, they already have hobbies, and if they wanted to "plant a seed and watch it grow" they would grow a garden... but they don't because it takes too much damn time - and they don't have nearly enough of that.

Anyone willing to help you is looking to get something in return. If they don't tell you that upfront, then that "something" is likely the opportunity to take advantage of your total lack of knowledge and experience. If you have nothing to bring to the table, you're left with no option but to beg and grovel for help, and the only people you'll attract are bottom feeding slugs who want to use your doe-eyed admiration to make them feel better about themselves.

SO... the first question you have to ask yourself is, What do you have to bring to the table? I doubt you have much money. You definitely have no experience. You can't renovate a house, and you can't discern a property value, which means you can't evaluate a deal.

What you have a ton of, I'd bet, is time. Which happens to be the very thing that your future mentor needs more of. You probably have almost no bills or real debt and a ton of time on your hands, which is probably spent hanging out with your friends partying and chasing girls.

ADVICE:

1. Get rid of your friends. Maybe not all of them, but certainly any who do not share your ambition to make something of yourself. People who are like each other tend to like each other, and if you keep hanging around with the boys, they will hold you back and you'll never man up.

2. Get a new friend. Preferably one who works all the time and is too damn busy to hang out more than occasionally. Somebody who goes to bed at 10, is up at 6am, and works every day like he's fighting for his life. People tend to be like who they associate with, and your goal is to be just like this guy. When you guys talk, you won't be bragging about the tail you're chasing, but rather about all the work you're getting done, and your new friend will admire that, which will make you feel good about yourself.

3. Give it away. Make a new pitch for yourself - one that will resonate with successful investors and make them want to have you around. It should be something like this:

"I want to work for you for free. Since I have no idea what I'm doing, I have no bad habits to annoy you with. I want to learn your business, and I'm willing to sweat blood for you if you'll let me. I'll do the worst part of your job exactly like you show me, with a smile all over my face. I'll dig through county records, drive all around town, send a thousand hand written letters, anything that will help you make more money. You can pay me whatever you think I'm worth, even if it is nothing at all.

"HOWEVER, you can only teach me to be successful if you are already a success. NO LOSERS allowed! If you're not actively closing deals at a profit and have a long track record of making money without going to jail, then please do not waste my time. 

"If you are interested in having the best intern ever at an infinite ROI, please call me. I swear by God I'll answer the phone and be ready to start immediately."

Maybe the folks on this site have better advice for you, but from where I sit (somewhere higher on the mountain than you) this is as good as it gets. And unlike just about everything else in life, it's probably worth more than you paid for it.

Best of luck.

Clearly you might not know all of this, but the more info you can provide the more accurate I can be.