All Forum Posts by: Mindy Jensen

I like what @Watson Smith had to say. I just remodeled my own kitchen, top to bottom, side to side. I did all the work myself. I moved the refrigerator across the kitchen, moved the gas stove so I had to re-route the gas line, can lights, new water line for the fridge, 18" travertine tiles. The only thing I didn't do myself was the drywall, because that was part of a larger project with a specific finish and I hate drywall work.

My total cost was $5,000, not including appliances. The granite guys came and installed the granite for free, along with a free sink. I think the prices are pretty high, especially for the rerouting the refrigerator water line. That takes about 7 minutes, and the copper pipe is about $20. The hardest part of that job is unwinding the tubing so it doesn't crimp.

Not sure what the other contractors came in at, but if you can handle it, I would act as my own general contractor to get the jobs done. It will take longer, but you could come in a lot lower. 

Is this guy using subcontractors? If he is, get signed lien waivers from every single subcontractor before you write that final check. I got that piece of advise from my dad and that saved me about $11,000 when my GC walked off with the drywallers money...

Good luck!

@Brandon Turner recently wrote a great post about BRRR strategy. Buy, Rehab, Refi, Rent. I think there are more R's. Anyway, check that post out. It is a great strategy for hot markets. Good luck!

@Dumitru Anton, thanks for that suggestion. I did end up buying a new pump, along with a water alarm. I tarped the area, stapling the tarp to the house and spreading it out over the entire side yard. The neighbor's clogged gutters pouring down onto my side of the yard didn't help matters...

The rain turned to snow last night about 9:00, but we only got an inch or so, so that was good. The water has stopped flowing into the basement so for now, the pump in unplugged. I just have to get down there and monkey around with it. I didn't want to have to install a new pump and all the pipes during the storm at 10:00 at night.

Thanks for all the advice. I really appreciate it!!!

@Jonathan Guerrero, welcome to BP. You have already started listening to the podcasts, that is a great place to begin. Did you read The Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing yet? It is a free download, and a great read. 

Go through the BP Blog. 

Do you know what niche you want to invest in? Rentals, flipping, wholesaling?

Once you find your first deal, present it to the forums to get other opinions on it. This is such a welcoming community. Good luck!

How comfortable are you with the payments? Where are you living now? What would you charge the people renting the other side of the duplex?

From what I gather, duplex house hacking gets homeownership, landlording experience and starts building equity, while the person you are renting the other part of the property to pays the mortgage, or at least a significant portion.

So let's work with nice round numbers because I suck at math. You buy a duplex (triplex and fourplexes also work for this exercise.) You buy the property for $100,000. Your payment is $1,000 a month, and you rent out the other side for $900. Can you come up with the $100 a month consistently? Can you come up with the entire $1,000 a month if the other side is empty? How long can you afford to have the other side empty? 

The realtors are right, prices are going up all the time. We are recovering from the housing bust, and prices are starting to hit their stride again. 

How comfortable are you with fixing up a property? Does your market have distressed properties? My market is so hot there are almost no distressed properties or foreclosures. Buying a property with old appliances and ugly paint is easily fixed. Make sure you have a home inspection so you know what you are getting yourself into.

Good luck!

@Brian Hellenbrand, I suggest you read everything @Eric D. has ever written about the subject of landlording. He is hardcore, but very effective.

So these are some of the things I have gleaned from his many wonderful posts.

1. Ask them the address of the property they rented to your potential tenant. If the tenant has had a bad experience with the landlord, they may have a friend pose as the landlord. Most of the people pulling this scam don't think ahead to give the address to the friend.

2. Ask if they would re-rent to the potential tenant. If they say anything other than "Yes", take that as a "NO!!!" (Free to apply is code for no.)

3. Take everything the current or most recent landlord says with a grain of salt. They may be wanting to get rid of a bad tenant, and will sing their praises. Ask two or three landlords ago what they really thought of the tenant. Since the tenant isn't in their house currently they may be more forthcoming.

4. Google the potential tenant's name. You might be surprised what you find.

5. Ask if the potential tenant was ever late with the rent. Anything other than "No" is a red flag.

Most importantly, you want to screen like crazy. It is far better to have a unit empty for one month, than to spend several trying to get a bad tenant out. You want people who can give you the rent on time, not give you excuses for why they can't get it to you.

@Hal Thompson has some good points, and I am not as up to date on the Vegas market as he is, but Vegas was hit hard in the recession, and prices dropped like a rock. They are picking up now, but not where they were. I think potential homeowners are still scared to jump into the market there, but people still want to live there. 

@Cody Barrett I am also not that familiar with the Racine market. My own personal experience with condos goes like this: I bought my very first property, a condo, and did not do my due diligence. I paid $200 a month, every month, for my HOA dues. Until the second year, when they exercised a special assessment of an additional $200 a month, every month that entire year. The third year I lived there, they did the same thing. Want to guess what they did the fourth year? BAM! Another special assessment.

I moved into a SFR for a while, then bought another condo. I didn't learn my lesson from the first time around, and right before we sold it, the HOA issued another special assessment for $700.

I no longer have any interest in condos. 

If you are living for free, save like crazy and find an SFR to purchase. A multi-family would allow house hacking - you live in one unit and rent out the rest. You can qualify for an FHA loan up to a 4-plex. FHA allows as little as 3% for a down payment. Of course, then you are paying PMI (private mortgage insurance) and those rules have changed recently. It used to be that you only had to pay PMI until you had 20% equity in the home. Now you will have to pay PMI for the life of the loan. You can refi out of it once your equity increases, but that is still a chunk of change to pay every month. If you can swing a 20% downpayment, you skip PMI.

Good luck!

@Kyle Hipp, thanks for the suggestion. I was so hesitant to turn it off, in case it wouldn't turn back on. There are massive storms forecast for today, and then it should clear out. I will try this then. 

BTW, the sump isn't shutting off at all. Not because it is full, but because the float is probably stuck. The pit isn't filling up.

@Kevin Delaney, warmer climates don't have world-class snowboarding two hours away... You should see how much snow the ski places have. Too bad they all closed for the season at the end of April...

Thanks, @Mark Elliott. The sump float is probably stuck, which is telling the sump to pump non-stop. The water being pumped out is trickling at best. We put tarps over the ground where the grade is bad, hopefully that takes care of new water. 

@Linda Weygant, we moved into this house 2 months before the floods and had just started remodeling when the floods came. The river came to the end of the street... I know that rental place, have been there a lot. Thanks!

Thanks, @Jerry W., I got one of the last ones at Home Depot last night. I like that idea of installing two at different levels. We normally don't get this much water, we are a desert...

Welcome to BP, @Jacob Braaten. Listen to the Podcasts, read as much in the forums as you can, and go to the blog and read everything @Eric D. has ever written. He is pretty hardcore, but he also doesn't have vacancies, evictions, or any of the other hassles that go along with being a landlord. Follow his lead, and you will be glad you did.