All Forum Posts by: Michael Gessner

@Ashley Taylor I can't chime in on recommendations as to who to use, however theirs really no way to expedite any inspections or permits. Your at the mercy of the municipalities. You can explain to the building Inspector and maybe he can work with you. Regardless your on the right path finding the ones who work consistently with the building dept, make sure all your paper work is spot on, double and triple check all docs, if your missing one thing they could start the whole approval process over again. Best of luck

@Eddie Fleckenstein moisture will build up behind the planks, bad idea. Best thing is to size the exhaust fan according to the size of space and correct size duct.

@Christian Beebe if they missed the closing date 3 times then I'd certainly say they're sol, did u have an attorney ?

@Douglas Gratz i didn't read up on the whole post so please excuse me. I've flipped a few properties and have decided its tike to dive into new construction providing the market stays strong. New construction is a whole other animal in its self and is in no way comparable to flipping. Grant it I have an extensive background in construction so my only hurdle will be learning the business side of being a builder. Your best bet is if you continue with the new build partner up with a reputable builder and learn. This is and I say this with extreme emphasis NOT the time to be learning, the market is wayyyy to unpredictable, I mean the material market, weather my suppliers can't commit to a price for more then a few days or the item is 3 weeks out. Lumber started to come back down and sure enough in a matter of 2 days went up a solid buck, that's alot of money considering the amount of lumber going into a new build. I know builders and they're lumber packages were 25k now they're 70k, ++ that's just for the framming. If you partner with a builder he will have the resources to source out best pricing and if you in a jamb and short on something he should have a source somewhere. Yes the winnings on the end do seem well worth the risk, but seriously consider the major and daily fluctuations in the material market. A good freind of my just came out of the hospital and needed a walk in shower, something we do all the time has been delayed 2 weeks now because we couldn't find a shower pan and now decided to do custom, that's great and all but it double the price of the reno. So tread lightly on your decisions, I do belive new builds are they way to go if you can build a solid list of subs and vendors. Especially in this market where everyone is paying a sky hi premium for run down properties, but again you can also loose your shirt.

@Pedro Amador very simple answer for you, everything in your post that you desire to have done on this property will be illegal with out the permits, you will not be able to market the property with said upgrades, nor market the property with an additional room because now you are changing the occupancy of the dwelling. If you proceed without permits 1 of 2 things will happen, 1 you skirt by un noticed which I highly doubt because now alot of municipalities actually have staff sifting thru the listings for renovations, they have realtors who actually give them previous listings of the property to compare and so on. 2 you get caught and now u have a pissed off Inspector, either he let's u go easy by having licensed contractors verify the completed work, or he forces you to tear all the drywall off and force you to expose all the work you did. And yes he has the right to do so and if you defy all he needs is a court order, or he just tacks on the violations so now you don't have a clear title to close.

@Jeff Schemmel also install larger gutters, the roof is steep and by having no soffits its going to be very difficult with keeping the water away from the house, also your siding is wayyyyyy to close to finished grade that's how you invite carpenter ants and termites

@Jeff Schemmel what you have is completely normal in terms of the furnace, you have force air, sometimes it's in the basment sometimes its in the attic, the ice build up in the gutters is called ice damns, with out seeing the attic in person or better pictures it will be hard to say what exactly is causing the issue. I would start tho with increasing the insulation in the attic, depending on the type you have in they're now how deep it is you may need to add more, because you have no soffit from what I can tell means you have little to no ventilation in the attic so you may need to add roof vents to circulate the air. With the water getting into the basment, 1st pipe you leader drains several feet away from the foundation, make certain the grade is in no way pitched to the house. Depending on when the house was built you may or may not have footing drains, and the exterior walls may need to be sealed to stop and ground water from penetrating the walls.

@Shelby LeBlanc I would list it now as a coming soon, if all you have is touch up and counters then your just about finished. Or list it live on the market and allow the buyers to choose counters. Also you could reach out to your counter top supplier and ask them to put the install on credit and they can file a mechanics lean as collateral, and they will then be paid at closing. Sounds like you only have a few grand to go so you do have options, its nit like you need to come across 10s of thousands. Best of luck

@Bridget Grant just to add going foward, in your search for a lawyer who specializes in these types, look hard for a very good real estate attorney who will work going forward with you on any transactions you make in the future. Never assume anything, I run things by my attorney all the time even if I think I know the answers. Theirs 2 people in life you need in business who you can trust and are excellent in theyre line of work, your attorney and your accountant. Best of luck I hope things work out

@Gabriel Miritello a whole house rewire can get very expensive especially right now with copper wire double in price, and most material just about non exsistant. For example I've been trying to find new work single boxes for months now, no one had any till just the other day and I bought them all. I would deff get other estimates then compare. By me just a panel and service upgrade is 4-5 k