All Forum Posts by: Sean Walton

my friend is an electrician and he said with LEDs the dimmer should be the same brand as the bulb. That isn't always possible because not all bulb makers have a dimmer but since LED bulbs should last 20 years and never burn out they just lose light output they are dying way too fast.

Hi @Corey Bodnar I would check with your local ADU laws. If you go this rout to get the "in-law" unit permitted you may not be able to rent out both portions once you move out. Also it is a little more work but I would look into doing short term rentals. Typically you can earn in 10 days what you would in 30 as a long term rental. If that is more work than you have time for you can also do 30 day minimum stays this will probably make your neighbors happy and will be almost no work on your part if you hire a cleaner for turnover.

As far as re-sale I would talk to a local realtor but there is a desire for more multi-generational housing either for Grandma to live nearby but not be in your space or for airbnb house hacking.

Usually there is carve out for rentals of 20 days or 30days and longer. Since it is already furnished you could try setting that as your minimum. Not sure there are many traveling nurses or doctors looking for that large of a place but it may get you closer to cashflowing but I would probably sell and try and 1031 exchange into a new property or 2

You can check out airdna.com. Some stuff is free but some you have to pay for

Can you get in the attic to see what if anything is landing there? (I’m looking at a tiny thumbnail photo I’m on my phone and there is no real way for anyone to evaluate from the photo you posted)

I don't know about Dallas but there may be a minimum number of parking spots or garage parking spots required in the zoning code so it may just not be allowed in which case there is no way to permit it except maybe building a carport in the driveway.

You should always check with state and local laws. In California at least for new buildings we need fire extinguishers within 75 from any point in the building. However even though my rental has one in the stairwell 15 feet from the 1br unit entry door I bought one to keep in the unit. For less than $50 I like the peace of mind knowing my tenant won't panic run out to get the extinguisher if they even remember it is there then have the door lock behind them.

As for linking smoke detectors between units I would only do that if required by law. You don't want to get tenant complaints every time a neighbor burns their bacon. (however check with local law, this is not legal advice)

Hi @Bri Austin I'm relatively new myself but some things I've learned. Get out there and network in person. Jeff Pollock in San Jose has a very good meetup from what I've heard. @Bobby Sharma has a good one in San Mateo which isn't too far of a drive. Checkout meetup.com and of course bigger pockets meetups section. 

Wholesaling is not easy and it is not necessarily low or no cost especially in the bay area.

You need to get good at sales, building trust and rapport

Get good at determining value and rehab costs. Learn how to comp properties.

The 70% rule is very hard to hit in our area and often in the right neighborhood and lot 85% works if you can expand the property

Learn the different sub markets. Sometimes homes across the street from each other same size and condition go for vastly different prices just because the school district they are in.

It is a great way to get your foot in the door offering to bird dog on commission for deals that close, but you need to have another source of income hopefully because it takes a while to be profitable. It is sort of cliche to say I'm wholesaling to build up capital. 90% of people who say this at meetups are not around a year later so you may be met with skepticism at first. 

Be weary of gurus but there are some relatively inexpensive template type courses that have video instructions, scripts and contracts you can find online. PM me if you want more info

Kenneth Lowry how much marketing do you plan on doing? Are you mailing or door knocking? If mailing I would recommend getting at least 500 addresses and that will be extremely tedious on a county website. If you are outsourcing mailing many companies can buy your list from listsource for $0.15 or less per address and you can also filter by equity, years owned number of bedrooms estimated value. If you don’t want to filter by equity or value many title insurance companies will either give you lists if you plan to use their insurance or have software that lets you make your own list

I think you can sort by square footage which may get you in the ballpark you want. I think under property type you can choose duplex, triplex and quadraplex but I don’t think you can choose 5-10, 10-30 etc but maybe contact their support staff. Also if you plan to outsource your mailing talk to that company they can probably order your list for about half the price