All Forum Posts by: Tom C

Check out MikeOH's business plan. Very well written.

You gotta problem with my face??

My last "winterized" home revealed a major water leak in the ceiling when I turned the water on. It wasn't an expensive repair, but I did have to tear the whole ceiling out to fix the 2" leak in the cooper and then put in a new ceiling. I also had to replace 3 shutoffs in the bathroom. You may also have to replace the guts in the toilet. It all depends how long the house has been sitting vacant. At $800 a month you can afford to invest a grand into the place.

Keep us posted what you find when you turn on the utilities. Sometimes you get lucky and find no problems, other times the gas company comes out and red tags everything due to leaks or code issues.

scmasse,

I am courious.. When you looked at this purchase orginally, what went through your mind that made this look like a good investment?

WL,

Of course I get it. Thats why I pay a kid to scrape and paint my basement walls for 150 bucks on my rehabs. While he is doing that, I can concentrate on the more important projects. I work full time as a software programmer and I can't believe how many people that I work with don't have a clue how fix their car or fix a plumbing leak. In my opinion these people are at the mercy of others. I grew up poor on a farm and under those conditions you have to know how to do everything yourself.

There is also the pride factor that I struggle with all the time. My father would disown me if he knew that I paid someone to fix something that I am perfectly able to do. It's a mind set that many people now days would not understand. I was watching a flipping show the other day. This guy bought a rehab and didn't have a clue how to do anything. He paid his friends to come over to replace a front door, while he stood there looking stupid and he actually was stupid. Stupid in a way of not having any idea how do to any of the work himself or even what that job was going to cost him in labor and materials before he started it. He lost his butt on that flip.

WL,

Perhaps you are OK paying someone 200 bucks to fix a faucet or put the breaks on your car, I like keeping my money and doing the work myself.

Paul,

You need a skill.. You need to learn how to make repairs if you want to get into this business. I would suggest that you go into construction work for a while. Other wise you are going to be relying on other people to do work for you all of your life.

If you cannot attribute the broken items directly to them and they are paying their rents according to state law and your lease agreement, then you should live up to your end of the contract.

If still don't want to, then get yourself a small broken down RV and a homeless person and park both of them in the back yard. Scrap the RV for 300 bucks once they are gone. I actually have a 20 yr old nephew that is homeless and drinks a lot. You can borrow him if you like.

I hate to say this simply because I think Mike is one of those "grumpy Landlords"; lol, but if you buy Mike's Ebook and follow it, this will tell you everything you need to know to get started safely. Then study your state rental laws and find your market and study that.

If they are breaking stuff causing you to have to fix it, then you need to start charging them for it. It sounds like you need to get your arms around this thing and find out what is going on. You have left too much up to your PM and they are not keeping track of the type of repairs and the reason for these repairs. Once you file for eviction due to none payment, don't accept the rent or any part of it. Procede with the eviction.