All Forum Posts by: Matt Jones

Thanks @Ed Emmons I'll definitely look at the inside of the remaining sheetrock to check for additional damage.

I'm also planning to have the electrical inspected. 

I'm considering buying a home that flooded in 2014 during a 500 year flood.  It appears the home had a few feet of water in it and the bottom 4ft of sheetrock has been removed, bottom cabinets removed in the kitchen and bathrooms and most of the flooring has been removed, this home is on a slab. This home is in flood zone X and does not require flood insurance.  I have done a few rehabs in the past but never a flood home, what extra considerations/problems should I look for in a home that has flooded?  There are no obvious mold issues.  How much does a previous flood hurt the value of the home when I go to sell it?  Does anyone have success or horror stories with flood homes?

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond!

@Christopher Adams It sounds like you are looking for a lot of information and you want to up your comfort level and chance of success.  I recommend listening to a ton of the BP Podcast episodes, start at the beginning and listen when you are getting ready for work, in the car or any other time you have some downtime.  The BP Podcast really does have a ton of good information and is easy to consume.  Also, I recommend readying the ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy.  It is a great book for understanding the numbers better at any level of investing.  Finally, practice running the number on deals and don't buy until you find a great deal.

Awesome @Tom Mills is it rented or will you need to renovate?

@Joe Fairless I actually found it on homepath.com, I check there regularly and saw the deal come on the market. Not everything that comes on the market from homepath, homesteps or an auction site is a good deal but every so often there are real gems mixed in there.

Thank you @Percy N. I hope to use this as a spring board into more deals!

@Victor N. you hit the nail on the head, pictures are great but rents are better! 

Last year I bought a quadplex an hour from my house that needed a total remodel.  To add to the fun I was in the middle of my first major rehab, which was on a 100 year old house in a historic district, and I was trying to sell my personal home all while working full-time.  What was I thinking??  The good news is that the home in the historic district is fixed up and on the market, it came out great.  The even better news is that my quadplex is finished and I have deposits on all the units and will have all of the tenants moved in within a week or two.  It is great to finally have money coming in after two $50k remodels on two different properties...  Numbers on the quad plex:

Purchase Price: $54,500

Rehab & Holding costs: $51,000

Total investment: $105,500

Gross Monthly Rents = $2800, Tenants pay all utilities

I'll post before and after pics below.  Thanks for reading!

Concrete floors in the living room.  Issues with the sheet rock & popcorn ceilings.  Some interesting paint and wallpaper choices.

I went with all tile to keep maintenance low, put up trim around the fireplace and put up a mantle.

Fireplace before

Fireplace after

Kitchen before.  Also had cabinets hanging down to the right that separated the living space and made everything feel closed off and dated.

Took down the cabinets over the bar, cleaned up the rest of the cabinets and added new counter tops and stainless appliances.  I heard someone on the podcast talk about adding touches like the stainless into rentals that would not normally have that kind of feature.  Extra expense was about $200 per unit but I'm getting $50 more per month than the surrounding quads that are identical.  I also had tons, I mean tons, of applicants.

Bathroom before.  Leaking shower valve, missing toilet, tile issues from the moisture.

Tile surround, new toilet, new tub in this unit.  Turned out two of the original tubs had significant rust. 

I also added ceiling fans to all of the bedrooms, put in 6 panel doors, replaced the missing AC's and furnaces and added tankless hot water heaters among other things.

Let me know what you think and thanks for reading if you made it this far!

Homeowners insurance doesn't cover items that wear out because of age like your roof, appliances, floor coverings, and pretty much everything else in your property unless there is damage from a storm, fire or something of that nature.  Even then you will have to pay your deductible.  Have some savings for these items before you buy and then tuck away some funds from your rents each month to account for those expenses.  Plenty of investors don't put away money for cap ex, many times those are the ones you see selling distresses rental property...

I rented out 1-2 rooms in each of my first two houses.  The rental income was huge for me at the time and allowed me to still make strong contributions to my 401k and own a home at a young age.  I was fortunate that I always knew someone that needed a room so I knew all of my roommates prior to agreeing to take them on.

Welcome to the community, Charlie!  I recently moved to Pensacola from Mobile and started investing.  It seems like a good market and I'm also looking forward to attending my first PIG meeting tonight.