All Forum Posts by: Mike Reynolds

 That is very specialized for this forum. I have no idea and I live in the southern "land of the lakes" area. This will serve as a bump though and best of luck. 

Same, we need this as a Zoom.  

These lessons are often better than the ones that make you money. 

Back in '91........

I was married to a woman who didn't understand money. Admittedly, she was married to a man who had no internet and was severely winging it. 

This man found a beach house in Galveston county that was abandoned. He was thinking " What a nice house to buy and relax on the weekend."

He asked the neighbors who owned it. They didn't know the names but said they didn't get along well. So He went to a local long time builder there and asked him. He didn't know either but said maybe check with the court house. So he did. 

They said it was struck off.....hmmmm struck off doesn't sound good at all. Must be a terrible property. Who would strike something off the tax roll? Bad, bad, bad.... Not even good enough for taxes I hear. Then they say  can buy for 2658 dollars. No exceptions. All it needed was new shingles and 2 new doors that were tore out. Oh, and  windows knocked out. 

WAIT

I have a remodeling company. I had the means. I had the technology.  I can rebuild the 6 million dollar house. But I am only making clear profit of 20%. 

Yeah, I know that is not so good, but I didn't go to Georgetown business school. Remember, I was winging it. 

It took 2 months to save. I had it all in the palm of my hands. Hidden in the bank statement where no one would know. Except she found it and spent it. So I saved it again in a different account only to find out that it was already sold. It was a woman fresh out of the Marines. She was salty and gritty and driven. I offered to take her to lunch to talk to her. She told me she spent her life savings on the price plus remodel. She spent too much (to my eyes [but I was going to do the work myself and not hire it out]) but still made 20k on the pending sale. 

In 1991. 

I was hooked and used my 2600 to buy raw land instead. leveraged that to buy commercial. I dont care for SFH much. I want something with more meat in it. Aside from the raw land, I have never had to put up money for any other property yet. That will change someday I am sure but we are building up a pretty good cushion. If the SHTF we could pay off what we have cash except maybe 80k of it. But we have 7 figure portfolio. Hoping to be in the 8's next year when it is time to refi again.

You need replacement windows if it's what I think it is. I assume you are talking about fogged all the time and not fogged just when the AC is on? 

If fogged just when the AC is on you have a whole house ventilation issue. Think of a cold coke bottle sweating on that walnut heirloom table without a coaster under it. 

If fogged all the time then your windows have lost a seal and the argon gas in them have gone and now they are etched from the o2 leaking in. 

Now, make sure the replacement windows are for your area. In the south the coating is on the outside to block the heat from the outside. In the north it is on the inside so to block the heat from escaping from the house. Seems like someone would come up with a window that was coated on both inside surfaces so they would work on either side of the equator and no matter where you installed them. 

That will be in my next life I guess. But if you really care (or your contractor does) it does make a difference. Most window salesmen dont even know this info. They just want to sell you a window. Ask them anyway. If they dont know then run and find one that does. 
 

I dont really charge a deposit for mine but we try and really vet them first. Some do though and that's fine. If you like the park then go for it. 

 Yes, I have done many commercial and residential jobs that have lasted for ten years or more. If your floor is level your tile is level. I have glued it and have used non glue type. I have used the same installer also for the same length of time so there is that. 

Not to discourage you but the answer is likely no. I have been in the trades all my life and architects, engineers and builders only go for what you need now in regards to residential construction. The end client doesn't want to hear about your ( the next buyers) issues about building a second floor onto their foundation. All that client cares about is how you can cut the price by 2 dollars or more. How many houses have you seen advertised on the MLS that say " can be made into a 2 story because the last owner paid extra so you have that option"?

Ok, that was the bad news. Now for the good. 

There are many contractors, engineers and architects that will go the extra mile because they want to brand their business and you actually can build a second story on it. But, you need to check with an engineer first. I have been building all my life and can engineer stuff from memory and math as I am self taught from other engineers I have picked the brains of.....for my personal stuff only. Nothing has ever fallen in. YOU need a stamp and a real engineer. You dont want the liability. Even I go to an engineer if it gets out of my scope and my scope is very limited. 

Let us know how it goes and keep us posted. With pics if possible. Best of luck to you. 

@Allen Martin, I haven't had a problem buying a house and selling it since Dec of last year. We have bought a few homes and they sold the same week. We were lucky that we found a (very nice) mom and pop that was going out of the business and wanted peace and quiet and was selling the homes but not the land. They live on site.  These were nice homes and as they move out he sells them to us. They sell within the week for us and  he just wants out of it. He is retiring. 

We found him on FB marketplace but we had to offer him cash as soon as he listed the first ones. Now he calls us first when he is getting ready to move another one out.  

 We really should set up a meet.