All Forum Posts by: Mike Reynolds

As has been said (can't be said enough though) this is a business first. Learn just as much about that as you do about the trades. Don't be afraid to walk away from a low ball client. Chances are, they will call you before they are finished. 

We got called to "finish" a 30' gazebo that a guy says he could do for 12k. We had to tear it down and start over. We gave her a slight discount because we felt  bad for her. From that job we have got many many other jobs. Stick to your guns. 

 I dont. We use our own and bid it out to subs. We are GCs though and that's what we get paid for. Not trying to be flippant but each job is unique and needs it's own scope of work. What does your current job need as a scope? Do you need MEP's or just cosmetic? In between?  

They may have to take out a loan to save it. It might even have to be a hard money loan. Not familiar with that state rules but in Texas where I live there is a 25% annual rate to redeem. a HML will usually be less than that. But need more info anyway. When is it going to auction?

 One thing. Don't rely on OPM. Rely on YOU first. That is the first hurdle. OPM comes after you are ready. 

 I dont know what your credit is but mine was substandard once too. I used the same little ole bank and they always gave me a loan so I assumed they would be reporting my credit. Something wasnt going right though for whatever reason. I checked my score about 10 years ago and found a 620. Even though I had paid on time for decades. I didnt realize what credit scores were calculated from. I went to Credit Karma (there are others now and Karma has been bought out now I think by someone) and found out I was getting robbed. 

I have also been homeless so I know where you are coming from. I also know that asking for help is not easy. I am too far away to be a mentor but if you are willing send me a PM and I will help the best way I can. I am a get rich slow type of guy and dont gamble unless it's expendable money. I do invest on some pretty sure things though. Nothing is 100% but some deals are better than others. The good news in this market of not many great deals is that you are not ready to buy yet. You need to spend time on damage control. I can help with that somewhat. I have walked in your shoes. Reach out if you are serious. 

 I didn't see the original post a year ago Samir but the builder in me wonders about asbestos and lead paint in an old building. If the numbers pan out (and they might) then find out how much asbestos and lead abatement would cost just in case. 

 My father used to rent fishing cabins on Bolivar way back before the internet. They were nothing special but stayed rented most all year. Back then they were 35-60 a night. Winter was for bird watchers and duck hunters and people who wanted the beach without the crowd. He did a lot of weekly rentals for the hospitals in Galveston. All they wanted was a place that had TV/ac/heat and a bed. Many were cancer patients who just wanted to lay down after treatments. I dont know the area you are talking about but seems like if I was a patient, I would not want to cross that ferry after treatments. 

Just a thought. 

 Where are your properties at? 

Originally posted by @Bruce C.:

Originally posted by @Sam B.:

How's things going @Bruce C. ?

Crazy.  How are things for you?  I think you ended up with about 10 properties a couple years back, how is the appreciation treating you?  

I’m sitting on the couch recovering from knee surgery.  Doctor thought it was a meniscus tear, ended up being a  congenital placae (sp) issue.  I’ll be happy to be able to move around without pain again, but I started the year off with a partial pec tear and am ending it this way, so a little unhappy.

We bought almost 2 acres in Brazoria (the town, yes, there is a town) with a triplex and two SFH on it. Triplex is three 2-1s with oversized 1 car garage. All need serious work. We also want to add 6-10 RV spots. Got it for only 70k, and there is a renter in one sfh paying the short term loan. We've only leveled the triplex so far. It needs a new roof next and a total redo inside. It's a long term project. It has put the plans for the Bolivar lot on hold. This property we're calling the FHouse. The kids think F is for fun, the picture below is the real reason though 😀

We’ve been doing work on the larger AirBnB since just before thanksgiving. Figured with the kids in home school it’d be the only time we ever got to do something like this.  We were getting it prepared for an appraisal and refi. At a minimum, well knock off 300-400 a month between the lower interest rate and dropping pmi. If the appraisal comes back near the county number, we’ll take money out at a lowe rate than our short term flip loans. We’re also appraising the smaller Airbnb as we believe we can get some money out too with the way values have gone. 

 The FH house looks like something I would take on. I am a builder though so not daunted by that one. I have seen waaaay worse. 

I have bare land down that way but cant figure out what to do with it. Took a year to find a realtor to even give me a call back. I figured RV park on the bay but couldn't buy out the neighbor land so my thinking was it would be too small. Thought about AirBnB but was told by a few locals that the bay is cursed on STRs. The gulf side was the way to go. Galveston county is for locals only I guess. 

Anyway, good to see you are doing good down that way. I ended up investing in Little Rock and that has been pretty great so far. I would like to hear more about what you have going down that way as it might align with some of my interests also. Keep us posted. 

 I just noticed your from Austin. I used one from there 12 years ago that I have never seen his equal. I'll see if I can dig up that number.