All Forum Posts by: Marian Smith

@Jonathan Stone There is a company in Austin that has a 3d printer printing homes...out of concrete, I guess. Thats a pretty novel building technology! They printed one during SXSW two years ago.

@Javontai Shamburger My brother did a fire rehab and he sprayed the studs with BIN to block the smoke odor. If you are in a bad part of town your first order of business might be to secure the property...but thieves are not too interested in wiring and pex...copper yes. I think he put one of those $100 security door front and back, but his client always puts those on for tenants anyway as she rents to section 8.

@Eric Weldon-Schilling The reason the police have a unit for evicting is because once the landlord has "faced" the tenant in court and the court issues an eviction verdict, the great majority of tenants leave. They obey the law. The tenants who do not comply are essentially breaking the law and our tax dollars pay for law enforcement to intercede. Sometimes it takes a badge to get people to face reality. If they resist they can be taken into custody, which happens time to time and would probably have been the expected result in this case. But anytime a gun is drawn or fired the expected result is for police to protect themselves and the public by shooting the gunman. So maybe vote for politicians who support gun control?

@Qing Willow If the seller doesn't want realtors involved then that might scuttle the deal. There is no standard septic inspection but there are inspectors and that is a huge risk/potential expense unless there is a sewer to tap into...sometimes the city adds sewer but doesn't force owners to tap in. If the owner doesn't know how to sell without a realtor you could agree on a price and have a lawyer or a flat fee realtor complete the tar 1-4 contact (its online and you need to read it) for you guys. Title and loan officer pretty much take care of/guide the rest...usually seller pays title policy but you guys can agree on title company. The price is the difficult part. If there are big issues like aluminum wiring and/or a fpe panel, old hvac or if the septic is old, has trees near the drain field, hasn't been pumped in years you need to figure out how you will pay to replace them.

@Mike B. You did it the way I see as the most successful. Buy a modest sized rentable house financed as o/o. Convert to rental and move into a new/better place. If you are determined to stay in the re market then it doesn't really matter which of your home or your rental is paid off, as long as one is safe/low stress for your income. You never want to be one of those names on three separate properties at the courthouse steps auction. Seen that. Steve Crossland is a long time Austin property manager, investor and was a blogger and outside of Austin he always recommended nw and Leander for investing. I personally think Leander is way out there but it is all new, growing, has a train line and close to the lakes, I guess. I like areas close to big employers but my tenants are never what I expect and now with remote work no telling. Congrats on your astute purchases...and marital choice.

@Mike B. You could sell no capital gains tax if you lived there 2 of last 5 years. You didn't mention your retirement assets. You are young and the stock market has a much better chance of good returns vs a paid off house. Leverage is the power behind real estate gains. Compounding and time for stocks. I would consider selling if you need to beef up your retirement savings. Put a chunk in the stock market and totally forget it. Buy a cheaper house to rent and leverage. You still won't have a good return but you took money off the table and diversified. IMO.

@Eric Weldon-Schilling Once a lender has foreclosed on a property it is neither immoral nor exploitative to buy it. If we have a large number of foreclosures, and I don't think we will, it will be particularly sad as the job losses were so unforeseeable and rapid. But we know life goes on and foreclosed properties will enter the market and someone will buy them and servicers snd lawyers will be paid and lenders will have the bulk of their principle returned.

@Max T. Whaaaat? Surely you'd absolutely want kitchen uppers attached directly to studs. Think about the weight of all that glass and china. Besides, do you plywood the entire wall? Some of the tips on this thread will make for an absolutely hideous property, aesthetically. Aesthetics are what brings the big bucks, ask the flippers.

@Travis Fisher Dry scrape should only be done after asbestos testing...wet is preferred because the texture just falls off so presumably a much lower chance of releasing asbestos fibers. And do not run hvac especially with dry scrape. My husband wet scraped a 2000 sq ft vacant house in a day. Mid 1980 or newer you should be fine (they allowed existing aesbestos containing materials to be used up after the ban).

@Samantha P. No idea about the legality of this, but you might let her know you will contact her work and ask that her paycheck be garnished for rent. They will not do it but you can ask. I might even go down and make a ruckus at her job. The threat of public humiliation at work might work to at least get her out. You can call whomever is listed as next of kin and say you havent been able to get her to answer the phone and no rent, concerned, etc. She will be moving back with them eventually, does she not think her next landlord is going to call her last landlord for a reference?