BRRRR in Houston TX first time investor

[Theo Humphrey]

Hi all BP members,

I am starting out with buy and hold exit strategy with SFH in the Houston area. I am looking for advice when estimating rehab. I recently found a few properties with foundation issues. I normally would back away but want suggestions and comments on estimating foundation repairs prior calling out contractors due to not having a contract signed yet. Thanks in advance.

[Mark Sewell]

Foundation deals are probably the ones that you ARE looking for. Seems scary as hell if you aren't from Houston originally (like me), but I can say this was the easiest part of the rehab that I did. You make a phone call, they come out and measure, provide a written quote. Then you accept it, schedule it, and they send their crew out to dig like madmen -- then you hand over a check. Done. Not really even that expensive. And it is a lifetime warranty that is transferrable. I'll give you the name of outfit I used if you like.

There are however different kinds of house foundations. Some are pier and beam and others are flat slab on grade. Engineers and professionals, please step into correct me on this. The one I did was a slab, needed 15 piers around the back end of the house and I think I paid about $3k all in. Took them 2 days to do it. I think these are way less scary than the pier and beam variety, but maybe that is just me.

You then have to let the house settle for some period of time before you really set about your renovations, but you can still use the time to rip out old stuff, get your materials ordered, and gather bids from contractors - all things you'll need to do anyway.