All Forum Posts by: Karl B.

Check local laws. I had a suicide in one of my units and wasn't required to tell anyone and so I didn't. 

I believe many local laws are more stringent on murders/suicides when it comes to selling a property VS renting out a property. 

I've never had this happen but imagining the scenario: I would tell them if they want to move into a different unit they must pay you the cost for your cleaning person to clean the current apartment, no debate. 

Finding some cheap land that's already properly zoned for multi-family would be great. 

For a 4-unit you're likely looking at $120 sq.ft. 

If you've got a track record you could likely get an FHA loan for new construction (of course you'd have to live in a unit for a year).

Poorly run properties are my FAVORITE. They often reek of value-add & a deal to be had. 

Now when you turn on a faucet at that place you'll smell money in your pocket.  :-)

How long was the property on the market?

All my properties (including my primary residence) are pre-1940s and are old as 1903. A well-built property will last - especially if it's been both taken care of and upgraded. 

A good inspection report will be your main guidance as to the issues of a home (flaking lead paint, cast iron plumbing, etc.) and whether or not they should be addressed immediately; with that information you can decide if a property is a green light or isn't worth pursuing. 

Just because a property is newer doesn't mean it's better than an old property (I lived in a condo that was built in 1990 and it was on prime property overlooking the lake but was built so badly it has so many issues - luckily the condo association dealt with most of the problems; there were also a lot of the plumbing issues occurring on the 2nd and 3rd floors - point is - newer doesn't necessarily mean better). 

This happened at my duplex. The cost wasn't bad - I had knob & tube removed and some additional electrical work done (added some outlets, added/moved some light switches, added a few wall lights, etc.) and it came out to under 2K (luckily my electrician is very reasonable - $40 an hour).

As far as I know they removed all the knob & tube VIA the basement. 

I had to have the knob & tube removed before I could get insurance on the property - if your insurer is similar and you buy the property then try and have the electrician lined up in advance so there's no delay. 

That's awesome! It would be cool if you told management about the underwriter being great and helpful. 

Congrats on the find (both the property and the leaks)! It sounds like an exciting property that has the potential for value-add. 

Since it's Halloween and all I'll tell you two stories told to me by my ex-business partner (we had a wholesaling business though we also did a rent-to-own mobile home for a guy we knew which I reckon was my first R.E. deal although the business partner was the one who dealt with the project).

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OK… so let’s pretend my ex-business partner’s name is Newton (it’s not—but Newton sounds like a fun name). He told me two weird stories based on properties.

The first dealt with his girlfriend-at-the-time (and current wife). When they were dating, Newton’s girlfriend (let’s call her Helen), owned a home—two or three bedroom—nothing crazy. It was in a standard, safe neighborhood.

Well, Newton would sometimes sleep over there and a few nights a week Newton’s daughter (from a previous marriage) would stay with him as well. She was roughly 4-years old at the time.

Well, Newton’s daughter DIDN’T LIKE sleeping in the guest room because it was "scary" and Newton felt weird about the room as well—he told me he would have nightmares when he slept in that room and he claimed he wasn't one to have nightmares.

At some point Newton told Helen that his daughter didn’t like the room and that he felt weird in there as well (as had nightmares) and Helen told him some years back there was a murder in that room prior to Helen purchasing the property.

That story is kind of creepy but the next story is much crazier.

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At some point, Newton and Helen were looking for a property together. There was a big house that had been abandoned for some years and they (along with Newton’s daughter) went to go look at the property.

Thinking back… it’s kind of weird a realtor wasn’t there to meet with them—I don’t know what the deal was with that.

Anyways, they’re inside the house checking it out. At one point they’re on the second floor and they enter a bedroom where the windows—all of them—are painted black—on the glass. And in one room (I don’t remember if it was that bedroom or a different room) there was a pentagram on the floor.

At this point (whether it was the painted windows or the pentagram), Helen wants to leave at once and Newton is in agreement.

They went back downstairs and as they were walking toward the front door Newton claims as he was about to grasp the doorknob to the front door he heard footsteps on the front porch.

Newton said he was terrified but he flung the door open and no one was on the front porch (which he claimed was long) and he was adamant that had someone been walking on the front porch they wouldn’t have been able to hide from view in time.

What’s also very strange is some time after this happened (I don’t remember if it was months or a few years afterwards) the house—which was still vacant—burned to the ground.

Creepy stuff. 

Hello. I do. Most of my properties are in B- to C- areas. The main pro is cash flow  - C-class as a whole tends to offer better cash flow than a higher class property in the same town (purchase price VS rent tends to be at a better ratio in C-class). 

Cons: It can take longer to find a suitable tenant, there tends to be less appreciation (unless a neighborhood is improved which would in turn likely improve the grade of the neighborhood), and C-class tends to have more issues like litter, vandalism,  and crime than higher-grade areas.

So I happened to be near an Orchard Supply Hardware today and saw they're going out of business and everything is 50%-90% off. I went inside and although a lot of the shelves were bare I was excited to see they had houseware fixtures (cabinet handles and knobs of all kinds) at 90% off. 

At that price I figured I'd buy everything I liked, style-wise, as when I buy a new property and need to add a cabinet or drawer fixture I often have to replace all of them as it's rare to be able to purchase one that matches the fixture(s) already there (as they're often older fixtures that have been discontinued).  

It was a fun experience, seeing which styles I like and would look cool in a future property. 

At this location they also had a lot of screws/nails and a lot of light bulbs and lawn care chemicals. I reckon different stores have different items but the more popular things are likely mostly sold (like garden and power tools).

I figured I'd post here to let you DIY folks know about the sale as it was really fun (for me, anyways) and if you've got a Orchard Supply Hardware in your city it could be worth checking out.  

Here's my fixture haul (feel free to judge me):