All Forum Posts by: Lance Queen

@Jasi Edwards I am a licensed builder in WV and these type of conversions are nearly impossible. The municipality may approve to rezone but in order to get the occupancy permit the structure will have to be brought up to all modern building standards and to meet fire code. At least those are the challenges you’d run into in WV.

I found a 4 plex in an area I said I would never invest in but the seller is only asking $15k. It’s not what I would call a war zone but there are still burglaries and drugs in the area. 99 times out of 100 I would walk away but it’s a all brick building actual 4 unit not a conversion on a busy corner. Two units are ready to rent and the other two need work. I’m comfortable with the repairs and the condition of the building but I’m stuck on the area. I’m blinded by the asking price of 15k. Don’t know what to do.

You’re going to figure it out and make it in life. Most 19 year olds wouldn’t have made it this far. Listen  to podcast and read constantly. Learn and keep saving! You’ll make the move when the time is right. If I only had 5k to work with I’d buy and sell smaller things like cars and whatever you can to make a buck. I did that for a while doubling my money every so often then started blowing it out of the water once I got into real estate. Good luck!

Hey Brandon 

I live in Parkersburg and have a commercial rental in Clarksburg, WV (about an hour from me) without much trouble managing it. Couple reasons why it’s a good fit for me is it’s just a gravel lot that a oil and gas company rents to park equipment. Second is the corporate office is out of state and we communicate by email and rarely phone. They mail a check out to me every month and have been there about 4 years. 

    I have been involved in some house flips for a couple years now and just last year completed my first solo flip. I have a background in construction and am somewhat of a control freak also concerned about the details almost to a fault. That being said I would find it difficult to manage a flip from a distance. 

I would first focus on your building bringing it to its highest and best use. Renting as much of it as possible. Then buying a new place for you and your wife preferably a fixer that you can add value then renting your current unit. If you can decrease the square footage needed by your photography business to one side of the first floor that would be even better towards maximizing your profitably. Think in the terms of “is this room that I don’t really use this much worth $xx per square foot monthly to me?”. Maybe you need the whole building I don’t have a clue I’m just throwing it out there. But if you could get 3 of your 4 rented that would be an awesome start. Good news is it doesn’t sound like it would cost that much to get in the rental game. You already have the hard part done of getting your first property. It’s just down to maximizing your return now.  Commercial space leases for between $5 and $12 per sqft PER YEAR here in Parkersburg. 

@Patrick Philip pay the money to have it delivered from your supplier. If they scratch they buy. You scratch you buy.

@Patrick Philip handymen charge $40 to $60 an hour in WV. Also $500 to $800 for a big 30 yard dumpster or if you don’t need one that big people in our area rent dump trailers as dumpsters for around $200 and they are usually 10 to 15 cubic yard.

@Grant Dennis I would be careful in buying from the listing agent. In my experience the listing agent favors the property owner more than buyer. If you find your own realtor you can work on building a relationship with them and they will have your interest in mind. A good agent is more than worth it if there are problems. Also if your buying off the mls the property owner has already agreed to pay commissions unless other wise negotiated in the contract so why not use the opportunity to find your own agent.

@Kathy Young my license is inactive.

I’ve dreamed of being in real estate. When I was younger I worked in the trades and couldn’t seem to put the rIght deal or money together. So I got my real estate license in order to potentially surround my self with like minded people and learn about the business. Well needless less to say I floundered and ultimately ended up going inactive with my license. After swinging a hammer for 8 or 10 hours the last thing I wanted to do was go home cold call for leads. Also my broker was a prick :) .... Anyways fast forward 10 years and after running my own contracting jobs and doing other things I finally had the money and I didn’t need a partner or private money. I paid cash for my own little $15,000 dollar piece of the American dream. I was flying high and couldn’t wait to start my journey of becoming financially free through real estate. I thought that my knowledge of building would be a great strength and it is but you have to know how to manage that strength. I tore into the house with intentions of making it functional and livable (lipstick on a pig). However my first mistake. Making it livable to my standards. Second mistake. Over building. Third. Trying to fix every last detail in order to make it perfect to please my customer. I’m the customer and hate to admit it but like nice ascetically pleasing things. The good news is I was able to get everything done on the cheap wIth my contracting know how and sweat equity. Anyways I’ve got $20,000 of my money and $20,000 of bank money wrapped up. Im 6 months in and out of money and time. It stIll needs a roof, HVAC hooked up, and about $1,000 of odds and ends punch list things. My wife is about due with our first child and we are finishing renovations to our primary residence in the mean time. My flip house got kicked to the back burner quick. I went back to the bank like a whipped pup after running out of money for more. They are willing to give me more but made me get an appraisal to see what the as is valve would be ($66,000). A friend that is a realtor brought someone through to see it and they liked it but ended up being a low baller. For some reason I made the knee jerk reaction to list it with her ($65,000). My mind set was to just put it on as is and get what I can get and move on to the next. The ARV is $75,000 to $80,000. I wonder if I should take it all the way to the finish and borrow more money with little to no more reward or just see what happens on the mls. It’s going to take the right person to take it on. I’m nervous the thing will sit till next summer before I get an offer. I guess I’m kind of a smoldering dumpster fire of a real estate investor right now lol. Sticks and bricks aren’t everything you need to know in real estate. I’m just hungry to cash out and move on to the next as quick as possible. Any input would be cool. Thanks for reading.

Hey everyone I’m working on a house flip and ran short of money. I paid cash for the house (approximately $15,000) and then took out a loan from my bank for $20,000. The ARV is $75,000. We ran into some unforeseen termite damage and other issues that put a squeeze on our budget. The house is almost finished but won’t qualify for FHA or VA financing due to it still needs a roof. Just wondering if I should try and go back to the bank for addional funding or should look else where. I need $5000 to finish and correct the issues.