All Forum Posts by: Ryan K.

I found Home Depot to be the best bargain after shopping around last year, its free install if you spend $699 in material or more. All the other local flooring places had separate charges for moving stuff, tear out, disposal, etc. Its all included with Home depot. The only issue will be how quickly they can get it installed, they dont seem to be in a rush fyi.

If the building needs some repairs and maintenance I’d get a handle on the costs and come up with a well defined game plan both short and long term to get it accomplished and how to pay for it. Perhaps the existing tenants/repair shops provide enough income to put toward the work. Once it’s completed you could switch gears and reuse the building for other purposes. I’d add a vote for storage if there’s enough demand in the area. 

If you ever do decide to sell please be aware of potential environmental issues that could arise with a transaction. I work in the environmental field and a 70 year old site with a history of auto repair and or body work screams as a high candidate for environmental impacts. Most buyers would want to know what they are getting into with an industrial/commercial site. Environmental clean up can get costly real quick. 

Anything adjacent to the super fund site might decline in value due to the perception of the environmental conditions. Further away it shouldn’t have much impact assuming the area is good from an economic standpoint and the environmental impact doesn’t extend off site (like a groundwater plume that extends for miles).

I’m in Chesterfield county where the rate is 0.95 percent of the full assessed value. The city of Richmond is a little higher at 1.25 percent and Petersburg is the highest locally I know of at 1.35 percent. A couple counties nearby are really low, Goochland county is around 0.55 and Louisa county around 0.72 I believe. These lower counties are generally offset by major commercial or industrial parks which help lower the residents real estate taxes. 

One thing to add though is the fact we have personal property tax here, on items such as autos, boats, RVs, farm equipment, etc. This can add hundreds if not more to your tax liability in Virginia. 

Where has Ben Leybovich been lately? Here is a link to a popular post he started a few years ago  related to this topic:

Don't Buy $30,000 pigs in Ohio (or Mid-West)

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/169878-dont-buy-30-000-pigs-in-ohio-or-mid-west

I hope everyone understands that per the current rules with capital gains on primary residence that only capital improvements to the house can be added to the cost basis when calculating a gain when selling. Many/most home improvement items and maintenance do not count, basically it needs to add value to the property like an addition, a new garage, finishing a basement for more living space, etc. Things like painting, landscaping, updating appliances, cabinets, , flooring etc, cannot be counted unfortunately. It could end up hitting people really hard in terms of taxes when they sell and dont meet the 2/5 rule, or the upcoming 5/8 rule.

I've see Chris Mason chime in on this topic in the past and if I remember correctly he stated down payments funds from a HELOC are OK without seasoning - essentially there is a tangible underlying asset (the personal residence) with equity backing the HELOC so underwriters are fine with it. But hopefully Chris can confirm this.

In my opinion they are not worth it and can really be a PITA to deal with when you have an issue. They also tend to exclude many items - for example the first personal house I purchased came with a home warranty purchased by the sellers. After about a month of living there I found out the pressure tank (home had well water) had failed. Called up the warranty company and was told they don't cover it. I checked the paperwork and sure enough it said it was excluded (along with quite a few other items). 

 The title companies that the auction sites and many banks (when dealing with REOs) use will basically do a poor job of clearing the title, essentially putting exclusions into the title policy to cover anything they are too lazy to clear in the chain of title. They work for the auction site or bank and don't have your interest in mind. 

Much better to use your own title company that will do a proper title clearing and be on your side. Can make a big difference if/when you go to resell the property in the future.