All Forum Posts by: Sam B.

Thanks @Rogers Smith

No true GC, although my contractor has sort of turned into a GC (he'll pull in contractors that he knows for some disciplines - electrical, plumbing primarily).  In reality, he's just passing on his network to me and I usually use them as they work well together.  The electrician I pay directly, the plumber is paid by my prime contractor and I reimburse him.

The project coordinator was involved on the first two projects for a flat rate $1800, distributed in two payments, first payment at the kick-off of the project and the second payment at project completion.  

My arrangement is overly simple and is benefited by a good team that works well together.  If I was embarking on a project with a new team, I would probably install a more robust payment schedule tied to key completion milestones and there would be a project coordinator to verify.  Especially if you're talking about doing larger spec projects with fixed margins and a lot on the line.

Hope this helps but I don't think it will provide much value given the scale of projects you're likely embarking on.

@Bruce C.  Haha, debt pay down mode is right!

Nice work @Matthew John house came out great and you killed it on the appraisal. 

@Carson Wilcox  Congrats on the close, looking forward to the numbers!

@Michael Stewart Before refi, I was using my own cash and occasionally drew down on a LOC at 6 or 7%, can't recall. For a couple of the deals, I also pulled in a private lender I've worked with for years at 10% but very short term, only used him for a few weeks in between refis.

@Bruce C.  Hey Bruce, how's it going?  % for maintenance, I don't set aside a specific % amount for maintenance (although I account for 5%/mo in cash flow analysis).  But yes, I keep cash reserves and as you mentioned, credit is always there as a last resort.

Why even go through the stress of this?  Who cares about the damage to the metal cover? Was the generator put out of use?  Where was it in the the depreciation schedule?  And even if she took a bat to it and blew it up, is it really worth your time, money and again stress to go to court for this?  Let it go.

I understand how you feel, I've been there and on far larger scope items with obvious, undeniable intent where I would have won in court...but as investors, we need to focus our time and energy on EV+ activities.  This is not one of those.

@Jim K.  Preach it man, preach!

Real interesting discussion here, one of the best I've read on BP in some time.

A super personal discussion though and certainly one size doesn't fit all - a 30 year old single person with $1mm in assets and $80k/annual passive income is a whole lot different than a married couple with three kids and those same assets/income.

I'd even ask the question...are the married folks that posted about achieving the $1mm in assets...does that count?  Isn't that a shared asset, not really yours?  Should you not split that in half?  

Aka, you need a joint account of $2mm to say I'm a millionaire?  Or correct the statement and state my wife and I achieved this goal.  

Food for thought.

Fun to see all the petrol heads come out of the woods.  It's hard for some to understand the joy of a well engineered, fast, connected vehicle...albeit expensive.  Yet some of those same folks have no issues procreating and taking on a high risk endeavor such as raising a family.  Different strokes for different folks!

I'm done stirring the pot.  Some car content @David Zheng  @Dan Z.  @Jeff C.  @Adam Peacock  

And of course, that's a manual 991.2 GT3, right @Dan Z.  ??  :)  Prices finally starting to drop a bit.

@Tom Brickman I just sent you a personal introduction to my contact at Huntington for a LOC that can be done on investment properties. Use that contact.

@Greg Downey While LOC on investment properties are more difficult to find, there are banks that offer them. Huntington bank offers LOC on investment properties, as do several other banks (PenFed too, as you mentioned). Agreed, I got hit with the same no more than (3) properties crap with PenFed, which ended further dealings with them.

@Heidi Kenefick  Yes, pursue this further.  Personally, I'd rather negotiate a lower purchase price vs having the seller make repairs.  But yes, pursue this further.

Again, none of these inspection items should scare you away, just incorporate them into your numbers. Better yet, the sellers want to make a deal...you have the leverage now, be tactful and execute.

@Heidi Kenefick  Inspections are meant to paint the worst picture possible to give the buyer leverage.  That doesn't mean it's a bad deal, what do the numbers say, as others posted.

None of those things you mentioned scare me and aside from the septic, all are quite minor.

- Failed water flow tests - no problem, new pump and you're good.

- Carpenter bee infestation - no problem, easy fix.

- Termite infestation in the garage - no problem, easy fix.

- Leaking pipes - not a huge issue, would investigate to see if water damaged caused (although this probably would have made the report if there was already damage)

- Bad roof - no problem, easy fix.  

- Windows are bad - define "bad".  I have single pane windows that are probably "bad" in a few of my rentals, I change them out as needed.  No problem, easy fix.

- Mold in crawl space/attic - Show me a crawl space or attic that DOESN'T have mold.  No problem, easy fix.

- Asbestos insulation - Typical with older homes. If exposed, correct it.  If not, leave it.

- Rotten sills - No problem, easy fix.

- Electrical short in bathroom - Not a big problem.

- No grounds - Not a big problem.

- Not enough AMPs for the house - not a huge issue. Obviously the house and cottage are functional right now.  Not a huge issue to upgrade or cost.

If I read and believe verbatim every inspection for every home I've purchased, I'd never buy real estate. Again, their job is to point out every little thing and paint the picture that the home is going to burst into flames.  As a real estate investor, it's important to take what they say with a grain of salt, read in between the lines a bit and reach out to your community (here at BP, trusted local contractors, etc) before you walk away.