All Forum Posts by: Martin Cozzi

Hi,

Our primary residence recently got flooded and we had to move forward with a 4' cut all around the house. Everything needs to be redone..

I am looking for some recommendations for local General Contractors that are trusted by the community. Please let me know if you have any recommendations.

Thanks,

Martin

Hi,

I found out that last night a pipe broke in the bathroom of my house while I was traveling out of the country. A friend happened to stop by to check on the house and saw water coming out from every wall of the house.

He called me right away, I called the insurance company (state farm), opened a claim, and contacted a local 24/7 restoration company who sent a team within 90 minutes. They say that the pipe had only been broken for 2-3 hours before my friends arrived. There was about 1" of water across the entire house. The water has been shut off and the immediate flooding mitigated by installing dehumidifiers and fans. I am now flying home.

We just finished redoing the drywall, paint, and flooring across 80% of the house, so this is a major bummer, but I want to look past this and be as ready as possible for the insurance claim. 

Those of you who are familiar with the topic, or have gone through this in the past, do you have any recommendation to make sure that the insurance covers as much of the damage as possible? What immediate action should I take? I've read that hiring a private insurance adjuster can be a good idea, and that I should ask the insurance to provide for housing/hotel, as well as keep all receipts for eating out since we don't have a kitchen anymore.

Any info & advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone.

Martin

@Alejandro Calixto , I've decided to wait for them to put the house on the market at the price they want, so that they can get a feel for it. What they are asking for is way above, and they are convinced that someone will come grab it right away at that price.

Instead, I've been visiting comps in the neighborhood and am getting really familiar with what's available and at what price, so that I can put together an offer that makes sense when the time comes.

I will absolutely let you know what ends up happening!

@Jeff Groudan , thank you very much for your thoughts! This is very insightful, I like the idea of offering options to them. They already bought their new house and are super frugal, what I am trying to identify is whether or not they financed it or paid cash for it.

They seem to be in the mindset of "This is what we want, and we don't mind waiting years in order to get it".

I think that once they put their house on the market they will realize how high they are. I am hoping that my numbers will then make sense to them!

Hi,

My neighbor is, unfortunately, getting too old to maintain his property, and has decided to move 5 miles away to a new house that requires less maintenance (no trees on the new property). Here is what I know about the situation:

• He somewhat got in his mind that his house was worth $280k.
• Comps show that similar houses which were remodeled sold for ~$240k a few months back.
• The house he's moving to cost him $260k, so that's what he's looking at getting out of the one he's selling.
• The house needs about $15k of renovations.

It's not currently listed, and the market has been fairly hot in this area, so I am trying to figure out a way to make this work, throughout conversations, education, and some reasoning.

I'm thinking about ways to:

1. pay less than what the house is worth.
2. make sure he gets the amount of money he needs out of this deal.
3. close on it before they put in on the market (saturated with California cash buyers)

I am thinking about telling them that I am willing to pay "$260,000", which is what I know he wants, by offering him seller's financing. 5% interest rate over 5 years with a balloon payment.

If I reverse the $260000 after 5 years, it looks like this:

Seller finances $200000 over 5 years at 5%:

Downpayment: $12,000

Seller interest over 5 years: $48,076.10

Principal paid over 5 years: $15,268.85

Balloon payment after 5 years : $184,731.15

Total:  12,000 + 48,076 + 15,268 + 184,731.15 = $260075.15

That would help him get to his $260k price.

Now for my side of the deal:

Down payment: 12000

Seller financed loan: 200000

Repairs: 15000

Total = $227,000

That house will appraise at about $250-260k after repairs.

Am I headed into the right direction with this proposal? What would you do differently? Anything I should be aware of?

Feel free to ask me any questions!

I should add that the house was built around the same time as the one I recently purchased, and all the rehab work that I've been doing on this one will be very similar to what needs to happen in this other house, which strikes me as an advantage.

Hi,

About three months ago, I bought my second investment property in Las Vegas. A few days ago, a neighbor approached me to let me know that they were going to put their house for sale on the market in a few weeks.

I've been looking for an off-listed property opportunity for a while so this made me pretty happy. The price they are asking for is a bit delusional at this moment, so unless they are willing to bring it down to market value, it won't necessarily make sense.

The question, however, is, assuming they are willing to sell it for what it appraises for, I wouldn't necessarily call this a "deal", but, in your experience, are there advantages to have multiple properties on the same block that would essentially help me save/earn more money on this deal?

Hi,

I currently own a one bedroom condo in the Piedmont Area of Oakland. It's in a high rise located on top of a hill with really nice views over Downtown and the bay.

I am moving to Las Vegas at the end of next week and am potentially looking for a local property manager that can be trusted (hence reaching out to BP!).

If you know someone who has the experience required to deal with the tense Oakland market please let me know.

Cheers,

Martin

Thank you both so much for your answers. What a wonderful mine of information. Next step for me is to go over there and see it with my own eyes!

@Jay Hinrichs thanks a lot for the stories about your dad. That was quite fascinating to read!

Hi,

I live in Norcal, and everywhere is priced really high as we know. However, there are tons of property around the ClearLake area that are very approachable. I have not yet had a chance to drive up there myself, but before I do I was wondering if anyone was familiar with that area, and could give me some insights about why prices are so low compared to the rest of NorCal!

Thank you very much in advance.