All Forum Posts by: Karen O.

For starters: 

How are you acquiring it? Is it in move in condition? If so, are you planning to live there?  If so, could you do a live-in flip? 

You could also house hack/take on roommates to help pay expenses and start your income flow.  

If not, can it become your first rental property? 

If it needs work, do you have funds to make it ready for occupancy? 

Are you prepared to sell it to fund your Investment pot?  

If not, do you have ability to carry it as there are expenses (electric, heat, taxes, insurance, r&m)? 

Could he be a kleptomaniac or have OCD?  Since he was arrested but back working the next day, I'd also want to know what he took and if it wound up in your house.

If you have natural gas, then keep it.  For cooking, there's no comparison.  And it's efficient for water heater, dryer and fireplace too.  Would be different if it was LP.  

Congrats on your new addition and good luck with it.

Scoring tool or paper tiger. Less than $10 at big box store.  Wallpaper removal concentrate ($6) in a spray bottle or pressurized garden sprayer.  Worked like a charm.

One lesson: don't let it dry once sprayed. 

If all things equal, maybe.  But what if librarian is transient, doesn't meet income requirements, has bad eviction, credit or background check while b-tender is married with kids and actually manages the bar but b-tends because they like it or does nightshift so spouse can do day shift or pursue school?  

What if librarian is male with no tenant history because he lived with parent for 35 years while b-tender is female college student?

Just a reminder - don't assume. 

That's what I thought.  

Thanks for the confirmation. 

If/when getting into the private lending business, presumably one will strive for a 1st lien position and will have an attorney or title company complete and record promissory notes and such to protect one's investment.  Am I right to think of these as the equivalent of closing documents and the costs associated as closing costs?  If so, would these costs normally be paid for by the lender or the borrower?  Thanks in advance for guidance...

If you have only $127k to pay off loans, you could pay of 1&2 but not 2&3 unless you have other $ to use.  Right?

Besides that, your ultimate goal would have to be considered.  

Do you want to own/manage more properties?  If so, then paying off 1-3 probably doesn't make sense.  

If you've reached your limit and plan to go no further, find something else to do with the $127k.  Buy notes, do private lending or joint ventures.  

Many options are open to you.  

Congrats on the windfall.

@Tina Acevedo

@Tina Acevedo Just a reminder that county assessment may not truly reflect the current market value of the property.  Since your investment is bleeding you to the tune of $4k per year, not including repairs, capex and other possible expenses, you might consider taking @Duc Ong up on his offer of a CMA to see what the true value of the property is to help you decide what to do next.

I have to apologize to all because I just realized I never said where my project was.  I'm in NYC which should make getting a quote super easy.  But my project is in So. Central MA, just over an hour from any major city.  

@James K.

Thank you so much for this detailed response to my inquiry.  I wish I lived in Pittsburgh again.  I'd offer to tag along on a job.  

I suspected the quotes here are high. My guess is the windows are priced in the same ballpark as those you purchase but the contractors are doubling that price for their labor.  Which may make fixer uppers not so good an option for me.  But I'm determined to do one before I abandon the idea so I'll get this one done before I decide.  

@Shaun C.

Thanks for the info Shawn.  Again, I think you, James, Angel and Sam all make excellent points.  Unfortunately, you're also near fairly large cities where pricing tends to be more competitive for materials and labor.   If I choose to do another fixer upper, I'll think twice about the location.