All Forum Posts by: Anthony Thompson

Luis, welcome to Bigger Pockets! You're definitely not the only one in the Ocean State on here at all.

You mentioned making new friends, so when your time allows, I'd recommend checking out the RI Real Estate Investor Group and if you have any interest in Massachusetts I'd also recommend Black Diamond REI.

I'm assuming the real estate classes you picked up were through the RI Association of Realtors but in case not, I also recommend the RIAR classes. Even if you don't intend to become an agent, many of their classes are good and can be taken for just a slightly higher fee for non-agents.

Good luck, and I hope you'll need some bigger pants soon (for those "bigger pockets" :)

Jay, welcome to Bigger Pockets! It sounds like you have quite a background. It's not as fast-paced as tech investing, but I think there are still a lot of challenges to keep things interesting :)

Since you're based in New York, I'm wondering what drew you to put an offer on a Rhode Island property. I'm based in RI so it seems, from my perspective, like every other part of the country has more going for it than RI (economically), but it's always nice to hear what others think, especially ones from out of the area that find RI attractive for some reason.

Also if you're planning on doing short term rentals in Rhode Island you should know that starting last year RI added a special short term rental tax. A specific property may still make sense for you but I didn't want you to be caught by surprise since it's a relatively recent thing.

@Kendrick Salazar If you are arranging contractors' work on multiple projects, for not-your-own-home, you may want to check with the Contractor Registration Board or your real estate attorney because I think there is a good chance you may be required to register as a contractor (see CRB FAQ and RIGL 5-65-3).

Someone from the CRB spoke to the RI Association of Realtors last summer and, I was told by a good friend who attended, pretty much said that in the situation you described, the person doing the arranging of various contractors' work would absolutely be required to be a registered contractor.

That is secondhand information and you're welcome to take this advice or leave it of course, but my impression was that the state takes contractor registration seriously so I'd strongly urge you to consult with your real estate attorney or with the CRB itself before you start arranging work on your next job.

Kendrick, you could quite possibly get several good recommendations here in response to your post.

In case you don't, I wanted you to get at least one answer to your question.

Besides checking criminal record you should also check with the RI Contractor Registration Board and make sure the contractors have current (sent to you from the insurance company) liability and workers comp insurance policies.

As for specific contractors, the reason I'm posting is that by making a general query like the one you posted you're likely to get responses from general contractors who will have subs working under them, and who usually will try to (contractually) prevent you from going around them and hiring the subs directly in the future.

However it sounds like you actually want to be the general contractor yourself, and are looking for specific contractors for specific things (e.g., plumbers, electricians, etc.).

If that's the case, I think you'll have more success finding such specific contractors if you post about a specific job need rather than a general query.

(And if I'm wrong and you're looking for some general contractor recommendations, send me a PM and I can give you few.)

Greg, your story is very inspiring and it sounds like you've got a great start and the right attitude.

If you're not crazy about your agent but still want to know about properties as they hit the MLS, RILiving.com is the consumer side of the MLS where you can set up similar searches, get email alerts, etc. If you contact anyone through there I believe you'd be contacting the listing agent for each particular property.

If you're looking at MLS properties the seller is the one paying the commission, so it shouldn't be you paying an increased percentage to the listing agent, it would be the seller paying the same commission either way, and just whether the listing agent has to split it with a buyer's agent (if you use one).

Some folks say they don't use a buyer's agent because they think listing agents are more responsive when they know there's no buyer's agent they have to split a commission with, but other people say smarter listing agents just want to do transactions and make deals happen so it's not as important, and there is something to be said for having a (good) buyer's agent negotiating on your behalf, looking out for your interests, etc. So as with a lot in real estate there are pros & cons, your mileage may vary, etc.

From time to time I get together with newer folks for coffee and would be happy to do so with you, just send me a PM here and we can figure out a mutually-good time & place.

Matt, I haven't been to this group personally, but it looks like the South Shore REIA is still active and has an upcoming meeting in Wareham April 5th.

I have personally been to and can recommend both the Black Diamond REI and RI Real Estate Investment Group but they are a bit farther afield than the areas you mentioned - I think the Wareham group is probably closest based on a quick web search.

Good luck and I hope you make some good connections whichever group(s) you attend!

Tony, minor thing, the link to the Rhode Island Landlord Tenant Handbook I posted is to a version dated 2000. There used to be a link on providenceri.com to a 2007 version, but the link is dead and it took me some time to track down the new location.

I'm not sure if there are m/any differences from the 2000 version, but the 2007 version is available on the website of the agency that wrote the Handbook, the Office of Housing and Community Development.

Within the next day or two I'll probably put a link to that at the bottom of the ripropinfo.com site in case they move it again.

Joe, like many things in life, you have to take all the information and make a calculated decision. So I guess "it depends".

Some factors you could consider consider are, what is the size of the job (amount of work, dollar amount), is it something more risky (e.g., structural repair, electrical work, etc.), or something less risky (e.g., painting), do contractors have more work than they can handle or are they more desperate for work (supply & demand), is it someone you've done business with before or someone new, do you have 1 property or a portfolio of properties (and can thus promise a good amount of future work if someone "plays ball"), do you need to get the job done ASAP or can you afford to make some calls and see who will agree to your terms, etc.

Not being an attorney myself, I can't advise you about covering yourself from a liability standpoint (you might consult with an attorney on this question as well as how to own the property such as within an entity etc.).

But I can say that no, in my travels it seems not everyone gets copies of insurance certificates and workers comp from every contractor, especially for smaller jobs.

Should everyone do so? Arguably yes, but again sometimes other real world considerations might override that goal (e.g., having to finish a project by a deadline or else facing a huge penalty when doing a reverse 1031 exchange, or to meet a deadline agreed with the city who will impose punitive fines if you miss it).

This is also a good question to ask in a local real estate group such as RIREIG or Black Diamond REI, as I'm sure others will give different answers to this excellent question.

Last minor note: Years ago someone told me it's a good practice, if you ARE going to get proof of insurance, to insist that the insurance company send it over to you directly (fax or email) since it's possible an unscrupulous contractor could alter an old certificate to change the date. Also you can look up a potential contractor on the RI Contractor Board website to check their status there.

Yes it's the Rhode Island Real Estate Investors Group and there is a meeting in Warwick this Thursday (2 days from now). The best source for upcoming meeting dates/times/locations is the website www.rireig.com

@Tarcizio Goncalves No, they're entirely separate (East Side of Providence vs. East Providence).

One thing to keep in mind if you're going to set up MLS searches via riliving.com is that "East Side of Providence" is such a separate market compared to the rest of Providence that it has its own city/location entry apart from "Providence" in general.

(If you're going through a real estate agent, he/she probably already knows that - at least I hope so! :)