All Forum Posts by: Steve Milford

@Joshua King FHA has a bad wrap! Old-timer agents usually care a lot, us newer folks don't really care. General rule of thumb is that FHA is less restrictive on credit and more restrictive on house. Conv is looser on house and tighter on credit. That being said, it all comes back to the individual appraiser and actual defects of the house, as observed by the appraiser. Don't confuse a Buyer's inspection for an appraisal. I've seen inspectors come back with 180 pages in a report, and then when an appraiser visits, only find 1-3 things wrong, with most of it is correctable. On a recent deal, Seller forgot to install vapor barrior. Once we were informed. Seller had it fixed next day, we called appraiser back, appraiser revisited following day, still closed on time. General rule of thumb for exterior, is that bare wood can't be showing. I'vr seen Seller's paint only the area called out, with colors not even close. If an appraiser calls it out, for that loan to go through it must be fixed or an explanation provided that appraiser accepts. I've seen houses sell FHA with sill plate issues, or firewall issues, etc. If a defect is called out, that doesn't mean Seller has to fix. Seller could say no, then put back onto market and not accept FHA. I have had many clients use FHA, most of the time buyers use it because they want large closing costs aside from credit challenges, but if comps are appropriate, it often still works out. A lot also depends on the skill of your agent in negotiation.

@Sean Hayes I can help you. Be aware, there are few quads avail. Mostly duplexes. Feel free to call me.

@Mark Karamalak Welcome! Don't look at 9-5 as a dead end, it is just another different income stream!

@Christine Johnson-Sundby I have a few I like, what are you looking for?

@Trent Davidson Be aware, finding financing for non-owner occupied manufactured home de-titled on land does NOT exist, except from private money. It doesn't meet Fannie Mae guidelines, so loans have no value of secondary market.

@Corbett Brasington My recommendations:

* Take the same scope of work that was provided without pricing and get 2 more bids. Paying a GC to come and bid on a job is a service. Appreciating the deal you received and helping each other is a relationship. I.e. The roofer I use, answers my texts fast, he squeezes me in between jobs, he doesn't charge me for bids, AND he is inexpensive. And he can do it quicker than I can.

* See more houses in person, a LOT more. The more you see the better you will get at estimating.

* Create a spreadsheet that is regularly updated with Home Depot Pricing, then when you look at the house, you can plug in quantity of things you need, to estimate repair costs. When I walk a house, I don't fall in love with it, I go to evaluate and work my spreadsheet from my phone.

3) Trust your gut. If you don't feel comfortable with it, get more education until you do.

What I saw as needing further eval: aluminum windows, roof, siding, brush/trees touching house (these help pests travel), cadet heater in kitchen, floors, pipes look galvanized (but closer inspection needed), cabs are old but not necessarily worthless.

Key is to not improve property more than neighborhood. Making money in BRRR, is about getting most rent for money spent, so look at how much rents are in area as well. That is your litmus test.

@Deanna Skelcy Live and learn. Who is responsible? You, the landlord. Identify the problem, solve it, then identify and implement processes and systems so you don't get "surprised" in this or similar situations again.

@Naoko Potts Work the problem in steps. 1) Go over there with a rubber plunger. Inspect the situation for yourself, get eye balls on the situation, ask questions, be nosy. Plung it yourself or better yet, have your husband use the plunger. Heck give the tenant the plunger to try since it got plugged oh their watch, why not? If that works, give the plunger to the tenant. 2) If it doesn't work out call someone else, someone licensed. * Also be aware of tenant-landlord code for your area, what does it say about the fix repair time? Sometimes it makes more sense to not rush a solution.

@Dwight Cook If it was me, I would set my market target at $750 for the most updated unit, and respectively each unit. Then evaluate each unit accordingly and discount a little, not a lot, for major things not updated. All I would care about is to fix now would be glaring deferred maintenance. Give everyone 60 days notice of their new rent. So I might have 1 @ $750, 1 @ $700, and 2 @ $650. Fix what has to be fixed now, build a schedule to make upgrades and leave the other stuff until next year or when tenants move out. Next year, everyone receives same increase. If a tenant leaves, renovate and raise rent. If not, don't pester them with promises, just let then pay rent. It's a business. Not personal.

Hello and welcome, I live in Vancouver as well, and am also a Realtor, licensed in OR & WA. Feel free to reach out!