All Forum Posts by: Rusty Thompson

I would go lower. Personally I will never buy a house in a flood zone. It's to big of a risk. I think a lot of buyers thing the same way. To over come the misgivings you are going to have to price it very aggressively....

Has it flooded in the area in recent memory. If not it may not be as a big of a issue. But if it has in the last 20 years of so a lot of people may remember and be put off.

Have you considered the resilient vinyl flooring. I recently put down ~ 600 sq. ft. of it in a rental. Great stuff. Very durable and most importantly easy to install. Cost was .66sq. ft. Spent another 300 on self leveling for the floor. It installs ridiculously easy. Only need some tin snips to cut it. Looks like hard wood & tile, or laminate when finished. Everyone who walked through said how much the loved the floors. best of all its perfectly level between the tile ones I used in the bathrooms & the wood floor ones I used in the main area. Looks very high end. Best of all, if a couple do get damaged just pull up those ones & put down new. No more reason to redo the whole floor. I will be putting it in all of my rentals as the flooring comes up for replacement.

How was it different than managing a duplex?

I've been thinking about buying some houses on acreage, then converting them into " Horse Friendly" residents. Were I live there would be a huge demand & people would pay a premium.

Any thoughts

On the local MLS there a couple zero lot line homes. Per sq. ft. for the area they are deals. Understandable so, in my opinion. You only control half the building. Its bad enough ending up with a bad neighbor on a different lot, let alone one that owns half your house. If you want to paint you have to negotiate, want to re-roof you have to negotiate...

That's how I look at it, but at the price, its still very tempting.

Does anyone have any experience with these kind of properties

thoughts, facts opinions?

See above ;-).... i will post pics tonight. Im going to get a photographer out there tonigt

Things I did...

*Demo
Painting
Flooring
*Electrical
Fixtures
Gopher
Electrical
Landscaping
HVAC
*Framing
*Plumbing

a lot more I'm sure

Things I Hired out
*Drywall Finish
*Plumbing
*Framing
*Demo

Plumbing actually accounts for a 1/4 of the labor. * means that there was some cross over. For instance the Plumber did the water in and sewer out but I ran the vents. 2000 of the labor went to my friend who helped on all aspects of the job.

I closed on the house on July 7 & the Renters moved in on Aug 5

Sorry.... I think I may have written that wrong

Its finished as of Sun. :-) Those are the real numbers. I did most of the work myself. Which throws off the labor costs a lot. So anyone reading those numbers take into account that I put in over 200hrs of my own "free" time. Don't use it as a basis for any contracted work.

As for materials I cut about $1600 out of the costs by reusing and finding the deals. So again, unless your buying the materials yourself & willing to put in the hours to bargain hunt its not very accurate for future projects.

My strategy is buy and hold.

I feel that in this market it is the best strategy. Believe me... I've had to fight with myself a lot to keep from selling it, the equity position is very tempting. But here are my thoughts.

-the equity position hedges against future depreciation. So if something goes horribly wrong I can pull out.

-I was told that lenders look more favorably on investment properties with a lot of equity. Its a good addition to my portfolio. And will help me with my buy & hold strategy.
(per my mortgage broker)

- I have a full time job as a electrical apprentice. I need to finish the program (hedge against real estate investing doesn't work out).

- I am a bit of a miser. I don't buy things for myself. I use almost all my money for investing. So unless selling it would allow me to buy & hold "more" properties in the same are Its just not worth it to me. Especially considering how long it took to get this one.

- I would not get funding for my next deal if I held it long enough to sell it. Its a short sale and has a expiration date. It's one of those deals that i dream about. Exceptional cash flow.

If anyone see's any holes in my logic have at. I have a thick skin... and only cry when now one is around

Things I learned.

-Everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much

-There are a million things that you never thought you would have to pay for (garbage disposal)

-Getting things done fast always costs more money.(I needed this project done so I could get funding on the next.)

-If you have misgivings about a agent GET RID OF THEM. my first one cost me about 20000 in potential profit.

-Quality workers a worth there weight in gold.

-Listen to others council but make your own decisions. I don't know how many times someone said I should replace something that didn't need it. I finally just started telling them that if it bothers them that much they could donate it to the project.

- I love seeing a plan come together

- A good neighborhood makes renting something so much easier. I had this one rented before it was finished... they moved in as I was installing trim.

- Just because you can buy it at Lowes or Home depot does not mean it meets building codes...

- Cross price compare. I saved about $1000 on this project in materials by comparing prices.

- and probably a million other lessons

At the end of the day I am happy with the purchase. I have a strong equity position, which lenders love. And it cash flows as far as the bank & the 50% rule are concerned.

I will be closing on my next property on the 26th. It is not in as nice of a neighborhood. But its bigger, and a dual income property so it will cash flow much better. I will keep everyone updated

thoughts and tribulations gladly accepted