All Forum Posts by: Slava Menn

Very helpful thanks to you both!

Hi,

We're in Boston and need a great and reasonably priced CPA who knows real estate tax and 1031 Exchanges.  Any recommendations?

Slava

Another good resource we founds were myknobs.com for kitchen hardware and Home Depot "Bid Room" when placing orders about $2500.  Just go into home depot and ask about it!

Thanks for the input everyone!

I will certainly check out Build.com and the others recommend.

I am already an Amazon Prime addict as well, but I haven't really considered it for building materials. Definitely going to start. Nothing beats two day delivery :)

Hello fellow rehabbers,

So we have been able to save a good amount of money on materials going through the bid room at Lowes and Home Depot, and on Lumber through our local lumber yard, but sometimes they do not have a ton of options for finish materials. 

I am curious if anyone has found any good websites to save on finish materials? I am interested in plumbing fixtures, appliances, lighting fixtures, cabinet hardware, etc. 

What does everyone use?

I'm in Massachusetts and I'm looking for landlords dealing with evictions or with code violations on their properties. Not sure where to begin - assuming these notices are posted online, where would I look?

Have you tried other motivational elements? Evictions/back taxes, etc?

@Roy N. Thank you very much for the information. Your post was very helpful and informative.

Your assumptions about the project are correct. I am currently doing a 3 family gut rehab in Boston on a triple decker that was built in 1900. There was no insulation, balloon framing, and has the live plank sheathing that you mentioned. The exterior walls are all 2x4 (true 4")

I've been considering two options:

1. Installing insulation board on the exterior and R-13 on the inside

2. Doing everything with spray foam insulation

It seems like the spray foam insulation may be the easiest and best route for me to take. I found a company that installs Icynene closed and open cell insulation. It seems to be one of the more reputable and desirable companies out there.

Could you recommend any specific brands/products that you have used in the past? Or any brands to stay away from?

@Glenn Espinosa WOW, you guys did a great job on the renovation. What a transformation!

We are looking into some green options for our rehabbed homes as well. One of the main things we are looking into is the spray foam insulation.

- How does the cost of spray foam compare to the cost of normal insulation?

- How long does the spray foam process take?

- Do you have any advice for a first timer using spray foam?

@Bang Tran We just purchased a multi family in February and had this exact situation where we had current renters, but had plans to renovate the property once the tenants were out.

We got just a normal landlord multi family policy for the time being, which we will cancel and get a builder risk once we start the renovations.

Just watch out when you get the landlord policy that there is not a "Minimu Earned" amount on the policy that conflicts with your timeline. For example some policies require you to pay 50% of the policy amount regardless of cancellation. Just be sure that this coincides with your reno schedule to avoid paying more.