Vandalism & property crime

[Kim Horn]

How do you cope when your rehab project is the subject of a crime? Someone broke into our rehab house and stole some of the GC's tools as well as boxes of brand new flooring. The police know who did it as the idiot took the flooring back to Home Depot to get the money for returning it, Home Depot had him show his driver's license (which he did) and then got the money for the return. My question is how do you cope with that?? This is my future that this puke is trying to ruin! This is the second "thing" that happened with this house. Someone threw a piece of roofing hardware through a window several weeks ago and broke it. It costs us nothing as the window was being replaced. The thing is that this is NOT a bad neighborhood! How do I stop the feelings of wanting his BLOOD for messing with my future??? 

[Christopher Brainard]

So, bad news, but flipping properties is a long series of miscellaneous problems and dead beat people. You're going to run into thieves, unscrupulous contractors, terrible vendors, lying real estate agents, and even awful buyers. If you're seriously agonizing over this issue, you may need to rethink how you're doing things. Otherwise, your blood pressure might rise to a smoldering boil. 

Now, about your specific issue, unless you're flipping properties in Class A areas (and maybe even then), you should secure your property with an alarm system. They sell portable ones now that you can setup anywhere, anytime. If the police know who the culprit is, you need to press charges against them. We've had to do this multiple times and its not fun, but its necessary. Also, you need to plan for unanticipated situations. Always have a reserve budget built in before you buy to cover problems like this, or unexpected foundation problems, hidden mold, a contractor that runs off with his deposit, etc. Being prepared won't stop you from being disappointed, but it will cut down on the homicidal desires :)

-Christopher