All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Alexander Flores I would suggest an accountant (preferably one that invests in real estate) help with these decisions. Are you a member of your local REIA?

@Pat McCandless we got pricing for our jobs (fix/flips) by getting just labor #'s from the contractors since material costs can be all over the board.  We spent some time figuring the materials we liked and figured out either a square foot price or an item cost for the majority of the items present in each job.  We had 3 contractors walk through the property with our notes in hand so we made sure we told them each the EXACT same scope of work.  We continue to select, pay for and coordinate delivery of materials because it allows us to watch/understand our project #'s closer and doesn't allow for contractor to mark up material costs.  Some contractors may even prefer that you get materials as they just have to show and get work done.  The downside--when something is wrong with an order it's on you to swap it out, however, this has been rare.  While this is probably contrary to most of what you're hearing it has worked great for us and our contractor loves having no logistics/materials to worry about.

Additionally if you're a member of your local REIA group you might have some luck offering some "labor services" like mowing grass, help with clean out of a property, etc in exchange for them mentoring you how they estimate costs for a job.

Hope this helps some!

@Ray Agosto I would try requesting a smaller time frame.  Maybe 1-3 months rather than 6.  We have requested them in 6 mo. intervals w/out any problem.  You don't have to be super specific.  Did you go in person or try to do it over the phone/email?  Part of what you're seeing too is kickback from someone who doesn't feel like doing their job but that's another topic...    

Remind me again what county/municipality you were looking for the code violations in?

What are my pros/cons of using a small business loan vs loc?  Up until this point we have used private money and hard money to fund our deals.  We have fix/flipped approx 20 homes so have a strong track record of success.  Would obviously prefer unsecured as we only hold onto the properties for approx 90-120 days so they are not long term tangible assets to loan against.  

Thanks @Paul Cadorette  That article was helpful.  I have begun to gather my info and have also contacted a local attorney.

Thanks @Madeline Burke and @Christine Swaidan  

We have a SFR in Camden County NJ and the assessed value is $203k. It's a small 3/2/1400sf and nothing on the street or neighborhood has sold over $160 since the bubble. What are the steps to file an appeal and have the assessment adjusted to reflect the true market value of the home?

Thanks,

Ray

@Ray Agosto we ask for "All code enforcement violations."  If it's a new town where we are making the request we will clarify to the clerk exactly what it is we want and that we want them for all properties within the past 6 months.  Once we explain it to the clerk that we are looking for the code violations such as long grass, broken windows, abandoned cars in the driveway, etc they have all known right away what we wanted and which dept. to get the list from for us.

Hope this helps!

P.S. While you're in there you might as well also include a 2nd request on your OPRA form for all of the tax lien/delinquent properties.  That almost always comes from the tax assessor's office.

Hey BP,

We recently put a great SFR under contract and are strongly considering making it our 1st (of hopefully many) rental. We have flipped about 20 properties in the past 19 months so we have a cursory level understanding of the process when retail is the exit strategy. We are looking for some input as far as what we should start to look at to make our first rental a success i.e. insurance coverages, tenant screening, etc. Any and all insight related to getting our first rental up and cash flowing would be greatly appreciated!!

Ray

Hey @Anthony Tulino we request the entire list.  We have found that from town to town it varies as far as which department is actually responsible for serving notice of code violations as well as enforcing the notices/fines.  Some towns have an actual code/housing enforcement division, some towns handle it through the police dept and some even handle it through the zoning office.