All Forum Posts by: Kevin Dickson

Just a couple fences and maybe the power lines.

But I can't be totally sure of which way it will fall.

The odds of someone being in the yard and getting crushed are very slim but not zero.

If they can climb the tree, it's usually half that. This one isn't safe to climb.

Maybe a company with their own crane would be cheaper.

I have a 40 foot cottonwood on my lot, but very close to the property line.
It's been dead for a couple years, and is starting to lean a bit toward the neighbor's yard.

The Arborist says he needs a crane to remove it safely for $1900.

My insurance company was no help when I consulted them.

Once it falls, it will only cost $500 to clean up.

$1900 is just too much! The neighbor hasn't contacted me yet, but my tenants are concerned about it.

Any advice?

Rustoleum from HD WILL go over old latex without any sanding.
It's tough. I like the hammered silver, which looks like stainless steel when you're done.
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=159

I even use it on countertops for rentals, not flips.

They make a paint expressly for cabinets, but the colors are boring:
http://cabinets.rustoleumtransformations.com/colors.php

The make a countertop paint as well:
http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=549

The lowest interest rate shown on the website was 8%.
I'm certainly not that desperate for a loan.

I'm surprised, because I know private banks that would be pretty happy with 6% in first position and 50% LTV

"The reason to get into real estate is that once you have the income stream no one can take it from you and you're not trading time for money the way you do with a job."

Wow, that's the best sentence I've ever seen about the buy and hold business.

All the other strategies seem too sketchy for my taste. If I buy something, I control it.

If I try to stitch something together without ownership, it will fall apart because people sense that I don't have skin in the game.

I forgot to mention that vertical blinds don't collect dust, so they never need cleaning unless something gets splashed on them.

In Denver: A room in a share house with 3+ people. Medium to low quality neighborhood.

Brian Hoyt You're right about vertical blinds. The ones that slide like hotel/motel blinds are even more durable. (No cords)

You have to pay attention to the way they stack, however, because you don't want them blowing in the wind when the window is open.

CL can be really hard to search, which limits its value. For leasing, padmapper.com does a great job of searching CL based on location.
So if a CL ad doesn't have an exact address, it doesn't show up on padmapper. That alone makes your search much higher quality.

I don't know of an app that can do this for buying and selling homes, though. CL has been able to shut down most attempts at it. Padmapper is bravely carrying on under the threat of a lawsuit.