All Forum Posts by: Roy N.

Google SketchUp works well, but has a bit of a learning curve.

If you are a Mac user, then OmniGraffle is a good all-purpose diagramming tool.

Joel Owens: - Oren may be dealing with a property in Canada, so your guy may not be licensed for the jurisdiction.

Oren Karp: I hear you on that one ... a 5-10K paper exercise to tell you you need a 25-50K Phase II, which was obvious, is just silly. I was told the protocol requires the completion of a Phase I, even when it is certain a Phase II will occur.

If you are dealing with one of the (inter)national engineering firms, they probably will not play ball, but you may be able to convince a regional firm to credit a percentage (perhaps all) of the Phase I costs if you use them for the Phase II.

Alternatively, you can approach the Vendor about shouldering {some of} the cost of the Phase I.

@Oren Karp:
The commercial lenders with whom we have been "working" (I say that in quotations, because after pursuing three potential deals we have walked away from each of them) require a Phase I assessment (the paper tiger) as part of the due diligence. So far we've pursued one on a mixed use Office/warehouse and on a multifamily residential.

In one of the above instances, we walked based on the results of the Phase 1.

When pursuing a property we always ask the vendor if there has been a recent Phase 1 performed (as they are "theoretically" bound to disclose).

Jean Ridlon:

I concur with Bill Gulley on this one. We have allowed tenants to bring their chattel (fridge, stove, laundry), but require that all modifications to the property (repair or improvement) be approved by us and performed by a tradesman/service personel we have sanctioned.

We always pay for the improvements ... for small, reasonable, things we typically attribute it to "happy tenant" and absorb the cost. For larger "improvements" that were not on the {near term} plan for the property, we negotiate a rent increase and/or extended lease term {Naturally, it would have to be a tenant whom we would like to keep longer ;)}.

Initially we only prohibited smoking inside our buildings, but the littering of cigarette butts on the property and the drifting of smoke into apartments via open windows, eventually led to smoking being prohibited on our properties. We tried, unsuccessfully, for several months to work with the tenants to resolve the littering issue. [As a ex-smoker, I know first-hand the addiction and really tried to work with those tenants who smoke] Finally, we were left with no choice but to gave all tenants 12-months notice that all our properties would become smoke free.

The non-smoking status of our properties is made very clear in our application and our lease. When we acquire a new property where smoking has been permitted, or tolerated, we initiate a 12-month notice period and remind the tenants several times during this window the property will become smoke free.

Here in Canada, determining an applicant to be unsuitable for tenancy in a non-smoking property, because they smoke is permitted.

Bill Gulley:

Here, north of the 49th we have mortgage brokers who pool funds from folks like Byron Broadnax into what are essentially "private" REITs. I have never explored this option {these day's I'm the guy looking to borrow, not lend}, so do not know if one needs to be an "Accredited Investor" to participate.

Is there an avenue similar to this which might be an option for Byron?

Page Huyette:

I still like drive-in's ... but most folks under 40 have no idea what one is .. and I do not know if there is still an operational drive-in within 300 miles of here.

I would lump Roller-rinks and, to a lesser degree, bowling alleys into the same category of recreation that no longer have a wide appeal ... especially amongst the younger generations.

That does not mean a roller rink is a bad idea or that it will not have traction in Helena, Billings, or some smaller town in their vicinity. It just increases the case for solid diligence.

Roller Derby and, consequently 4-skates, have made pocket resurgences in specific locales (Montréal comes to mind).

Devon Young:

Welcome to BP! You assumption was correct, there are many Canadians purchasing "vacation" real-estate in the southern US (Az, NM, Tx, Fl) ... though most of them are snowbirds 3-times your age ;) Mexico, Costa Rica, & Nicaragua are also popular places for Canadians purchasing vacation real estate ... @Ali Boone invests in Nicaragua and could provide you information / guidance on that market.

If you are going to be working in Ft. McMoney and living in a camp, then you should quickly accumulate the capital to buy a "vacation" property.

If you decide that you would like to acquire property here at home as well, just keep in mind there are some, mostly subtle, differences between real estate investing in the U.S.A and Canada (or elsewhere) and some of the information on BP will need a little tweaking for use at home.

Cash-on-Cash = {annual} cash-flow before taxes (CFBT) / total cash invested

CFBT = NOI - debt service

Galvanised pipe was sometimes used for smaller drain lines (tubs and sinks). If you have it in those places, I would remove it.

As Jon Holdman indicated, your sewer main in a house this age is likely cast iron and it does eventually fail. I have replaced the drain/sewer lines and stacks in two properties in recent years as the cast iron was "weeping" (both buildings over 75yrs in age). We also had the sewer line to the street sleeved in one of the houses (the sewer line ran under the house, from the rear wall to the street ... it could not have been any longer) as we did not remove that section of cast (the last 10' had been upgraded from clay to ABS by the city a few years ago)

I am also planning to replace the cast in my personal residence next year (it will be 64yrs young).