All Forum Posts by: Steven Gesis

Great tip. I follow the same path by trying to educate myself on common maintenance problems and walking the tenant through trouble-shooting before sending a tech. It's amazing how many people don't know how to properly reset a tripped breaker! 

I also have videos and trouble-shooting tips on my web site that I can point tenants to. This is very handy because we're not always coordinate schedules.

I allow dogs in my rentals, but not breeds excluded in my insurance policy.  Rotts, pitbulls, Dobermans.  When I informed an applicant of these restrictions, she told me her dog was a pitbull, but a therapy dog, and she could get paperwork.  How would I know what paperwork is authentic and not something paid for online?  Am I even allowed to require documentation verifying the dog is a therapy dog?  Will insurance make an exception as well if the dog is a therapy dog?

Finally got my first deal done!!! It was a hell of an experience, but I wanted to receive my first rent check before I posted my success story.

Quick background on myself: I am 25, finance degree, work full-time, aspiring to be financially free, father owns a house building company in Houston, TX (moved out of Michigan after the housing crash)

I picked up this SFR property in Westland, MI. It's west of Detroit in the Metro-Detroit area. I bought the place for $76,500. 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom, about 1,000 square feet, 1.5 car garage. It was the least taken care of property on the street.

Updated the kitchen and bathroom. All new paint, installed vinyl plank flooring, updated electrical, new fixtures, misc small things.

I went the conventional mortgage route and put 20% down on the property. I spent about $20,000 in repairs and now have it rented out for $1,175 per month.

When I say it was a hell of an experience that is because I ran into a lot of issues along the way. Finding and house and purchasing was not the issue, but the rehab portion of it did not go as expected... It's a very long story, but I had issues with my first contractor and painter. I knew not to pay them a large portion up front so I luckily did not lose any money because of them.

Things I learned:

• Process of purchasing a house
• Process of rehabbing a house
• Rehab costs
• The tough process of firing people
• Additional items to look at when doing a walk through (dead tree that needed to be removed, gutter work)

Advice I can give:

• Don't be cheap. Sometimes saving as much money as you can, is not actually a good thing. My discount contractor and painter turned out to be a nightmare. 
• It's OK to make mistakes! I am chalking up my overspending and mistakes to part of the learning process.
• Use your resources. My father used to build houses in Michigan. He gave me phone numbers of some guys to speak to, but I thought they were too expensive for what I was trying to do. Hindsight is always 20/20 lol..
• Talk to the neighbors!!! I learned that there was fire started by a mishap with a grow operation someone was running out of the garage lol. This lead me to understanding why the garage looked basically brand new.
• Dive in! I learned more in a couple of months after "diving in" than I did in the time I had spent researching and reading about how to invest in real estate.

This was a major learning experience for me, but after receiving that first rent check it was all worth it. Knowing that I will be mostly hands off (using a property management company) is an awesome feeling!! I am now reevaluating my investment strategy and am in search of another property to buy!

Before and after pics:

Rental property: Tenants found 'wet spots' on the ceiling in 3 different rooms. I've called out 2 different contracts so far. We have been in the attic and can clearly see the 2 areas where wood is rotten (probably 2- 4 long), rest of the wood looks nice and dry. 

A) Contractor A bid $1,000 to fix 2 leaks, replacing 10 feet of plank wood 2 pieces, replace shingles, place plastic cement and fiber glass along the valley. 1 year warranty, $300 advance, $700 when complete. He had a bandit sign that read "leak repair $150.00", so I estimated total repair of 4 items would be $600, but his bid is for $1,000.00

B) Contractor B bid $700 to fix 2 leaks, replacing 10 feet of plank wood 2 pieces, replace shingles (no plastic cement). Payment at completion, 30 days warranty. OR $3,000, to overlay new shingles on top of old shingles.  This guy was recommended by someone I know, but get the overall feeling he really wants to sale me on the overlay.

I plan to get at least 2 more quotes. I'm looking in Craigslist , and have tried thumbtack. 

Questions:
Where should I look to find reasonable contractors, all types?
I'm in Houston, Texas. House on pier and beams, house shifts. I plan to have the house leveled, so I'm wondering if I should do that first?

When seeking materials for your remodel or flip, how many different companies do you pull quotes from before you feel you are ready to make a decision?

Hi y'all!

For those of you who are contractors working on your own flips, how do you manage the projects? Can any of you recommend software or apps that you can't live without?

Thanks!

What's up BP!

I'm working on my first subdivision (10-25 single family homes). I have the land and am working through the process with the civil engineers and the city. There are a few items I have no idea about, I'm hoping someone here has some experience in the field and can provide a ball park means of estimate 3 costs:

1. Tree removal: the land is heavily wooded with pine trees

2. Cost to run city water/sewer and electric service (it's already at the street)

3. Cost to run a road

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance

HI All,

My partners and I own 25+ units.  We are also managing 10 units for others with another 10-20 on the way.  We are struggling with minor maintenance repairs, dishwasher not working, broken lock, toilet clogged etc...  These jobs are too small for any of our contractors so they won't take them.  For the most part we are doing all of these little repairs ourselves but, with our added growth we will not be able to do this much longer.

Other property management companies in the area are charging $25-$35 per hour for maintenance.  We are finding handymen that are $40-50 bucks an hour.  We are not large enough to hire a full time person yet but, too large to handle all of the work ourselves.

Anyone else had this issue?  Any advice would be great.