All Forum Posts by: Will Melton

Brandon Ingegneri While I don’t know about the entire line, it appears, at the meter and at entry in the basement, that the line is in fact below 18”, but it was COLD. It never (okay rarely) gets below 0 in Richmond, VA. Thanks for your response. Perhaps I could had offered to put them in a hotel in the interim, but I also read that the right plumber might have been able to use low voltage electricity to thaw the line.

So in this recent deep freeze, our water line froze between the house and the street. Inside pipes were fully thawed and eventually dried out as the main was frozen for five days. We had a plumber come from our warranty company because a pipe under OUR sink came separated from the valve. He seemed like a total idiot, so I didn’t entirely trust him when he said the only option was to wait for it to thaw. Since the coming days had a forecast for warmer weather, we decided each day whether to wait or call someone. (I was really just hoping they would thaw.) On day four, one of my tenants seemed a bit more agitated than the days prior. (His girlfriend was pretty cordial the whole time.) I decided to wait until the next day before I thought seriously about digging up the yard and fortunately they unfroze the next morning. I felt bad the entire time because I knew what it was like to not have running water. (We had to find daily errands just so we could take a ****.) But my question is, did I make a mistake by waiting? The city (utility), plumbers and the news that many others in surrounding states still had frozen pipes led me to wait, but should I have tried to intervene sooner. Did I have a legal obligation to do more? I hope this doesn’t happen again, but you never know. I’d love to know what others have done in the past. Thanks!

I just ran out of notifications, stories and news articles to read while on business travel. I’m glad your article was the first to come up as I did my first deal (a duplex house hack) last year. I’ve been slowly investing in the property and it’s old (100 years), but my ambitions may be higher than is needed. This makes me think about some lower quality finishes that might not necessarily reduce the rents I can get. Thanks for posting!

I have another meeting that will run until 8, but plan to arrive afterward.

Thanks for organizing this!

Will

I am looking at a triplex that needs some work and is likely to be valued much higher than is currently for sale. My end goal is to own the property as a buy and hold and perhaps live in one of the units. It's selling for $165K and will probably need $30K in renovations. Rents for the units vary from $1100 to $1300 or more per month.

I am considering a hard money loan to pick up the property and rehab, then refinance with a traditional loan taking advantage of the spread in the ARV.

Does this sound logical? Is the bank likely to refinance the property without much hassle if there is enough additional value? Should I just look to do a 203K loan?

This will be my first deal and I don't have a ton of cash to go into this. Just trying to make the best decisions and not get stuck.

@Rafael Brown, I have talked to a number of people and it sounds like a second mortgage in your backer's name is a good way to go. It may be tricky working with the bank as they may want the 1st mortgage in the name of the financier. The key, from what I have learned in talking with my investor is that you have a plan for them to exit. I'm still going down this road. Taking it slowly, however. I want to find the right deal. Another guy in my current area got his RE license and it took him 6 months to find the right flip.

Welcome to BP! I am moving to New Haven in the summer and will be looking to pick up some investment properties soon after. Would love to stay in touch.

Meng,

I live in VA, but am moving to New Haven in a few months. I am probably going to do a flip in VA before I move up there and want to do both flips and buy and holds.

Toured some of the neighborhoods and I have no doubt there are deals to be had there. I know there are a few other BP members looking in New Haven, but I don't know if any live in New Haven.

I would be interested to stay in touch if you do a deal in New Haven. I have a financial backer and am building websites for investors. Working on a couple of We Buy Houses websites right now.

Perhaps there is room to collaborate.

Best of luck to you,

Will

Hey @Kevin B., @John Hickey,

I am moving to New Haven this summer and am looking to get into a couple of deals. First, I plan to purchase a multifamily for myself to live in, but I am also looking at apartment buildings in the area. I know that the tenant situations will be different for the properties, but I am in desperate need to speed up my knowledge on the area before I purchase the first property.

I am going to be in town on March 28th. I am not sure if any of you are willing to meet or plan a meet up, but I would be willing to pickup the tab for lunch if anyone is interested.

Looking forward to putting something together.

Will

Thanks @Jeremy Ferguson. I have all of the tools in my arsenal to do exactly what you're talking about. I really appreciate your insight and will proceed with my plan. As for the ability to find an investor to unload good deals on, do you think I could find someone fast?