All Forum Posts by: Trace P.

Hi guys, I am in contract on a property, it is 80+ years old but pretty well maintained on the inside, plus a stable tenant who has been there for several years. The only major problem that the professional home inspector pointed out was that there are shifts in the basement and underground garage walls (structural / foundation issues), as shown in the pictures below. I have been calling foundation repair and construction companies to try to get a quote, but they have all requested for me to get a structural engineer in to make an assessment as a first step. This will cost a few hundred bucks, on top of the few hundred bucks I've paid for the home inspection, and I have not even closed on the house yet so I don't really wanna be sinking too much money in while managing my risks. I won't take anyone's word as an official quote here, but just wondering, have any of you had such foundation issues before, and how much did it cost to install rods / i-beams / etc.? 

Also, has anyone done grading before of the soil around the house? The ground is slightly sloping towards the house and I believe that's what's causing the foundation issues in the basement. Thank you so much!!!

Hi! I am an out of country investor, currently holding multiple rental properties in Columbus OH. I wanted to try my hand at foreclosure sales (sheriff sales). I checked the procedures on the Franklin County website, it says we need to pay by "cashier's check". Anyone has any idea if this can be e-check? Since foreclosures for Franklin County are fully online anyway.

Thank you!

Hi! As a buyer, I was just wondering when everyone gets their title documents from the seller. The S&P typically states that title docs should be provided 15-30 days before closing (I buy in OH), but for all the offers I've put up, the title documents only come after home inspection period and a few days before closing, especially for cash closings which can be really fast (e.g. 14 days from offer). 

Recently, I paid for home inspection, completed negotiations post-inspection, and only then I received the title docs which showed outstanding bankruptcy on the seller, and the title company was unable to clear the title (bankruptcy court did not approve the sale) so the deal was off. There goes my inspection money. 

So... I was wondering, shouldn't we be getting the title docs before committing to home inspection? What does everyone do to mitigate my mistake above?

Also, is the seller always obligated to produce his RPD (Residential Property Disclosure) upfront? For my deals in Columbus OH, there was always a RPD attached to the offer. But for my 1 deal in Cincinnati, the seller and realtors did not produce / push for RPD. Was wondering what the expectation should be... 

Thanks in advance! 

Hi everyone, I have a LLC in Columbus OH which I use to buy rental property. I am out-of-country so I'm not super familiar with the taxes, and just wanted to be clear before the filing deadline in May haha... What are ALL the taxes I need to file? There's city tax, state tax, and federal income tax? And...?

Thanks in advance!!  

Thanks everyone for your responses! I have a good idea of various ways to handle this situation now. Really appreciate all the kind people here!

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in a contract where the seller needs the cash fast to close on his new home, hence he sets the closing date to be on xx Nov which is before the closing date of his new home. However, his new home will only be ready for him to move in 10 days later, hence I will only gain possession of keys 10 days later. This means that there is a 10-day transition period where the seller is staying in my property. While the seller agrees in writing to cover all utilities and damages made during the transition period, I was thinking if there is any other more definitive way to protect myself during this period... I am planning to start my landlord insurance from the closing date to cover myself, even though there will be no tenant for the next ~2 months after the seller moves out as I need to rehab and lease the property (i.e. I could have started landlord insurance later only when rehab is done and the property is going to be tenanted, but now I have to start it ~2 months earlier just to cover the transition period). 

Was wondering if anyone has any other suggestions on how to handle such a situation. Thank you!

Cheers,

Tracy

Bumping this topic... Warren County OH seems pretty quiet on forums. If there are investors in Warren County, please PM me! :) I am interested to invest in this area too, as an out-of-state investor. @Account Closed I will PM you.

Hi @Joe Splitrock, nope the $3.5K does not include the digging, it is only for the City fees, so the contractor work fees are separate. Thanks for sharing your quote! I am guessing no more than $10K too, though I don't have enough case studies to be sure haha. @Mike S. thanks for sharing your quote too, that's comforting! I think I can make a better decision now, thanks everyone! 

@Mindy Jensen, what $30K in CO?! That's insane! I already spoke to the City of Columbus, @Isaac Pepper, they quoted me ~$3.5k total including meter: $2200 city fee + $1345 water capacity + meter fee, and they said I would have to get quotations from plumbers to do the job myself. I guess the other stuff you mentioned (e.g. length of trench, materials, grass patching etc.) would require a site survey, which only the owner can request for. Maybe I'll speak to the realtor and see if the owner can provide more info. Thanks all!

@Isaac Pepper, totally agree, I definitely wanna get it connected to city water, that's why I wanted to find out the worst case cost. I estimated $10k, but not sure if it could get horrendously worse. The owner is selling the property as-is hence I have to make the changes myself. Do you have any idea if it could cost significantly more than $10k? Thanks for your input, appreciate it!