All Forum Posts by: Michael Rogers

Happy birthday Brandon. 

On the bright side, getting older sure beats the alternative. :)

Very nice! That dirt work looks like it was quite a job. 

On building spec homes what kind of margin do you try to get?

Are you sure it's not originating from Detroit? 

After years of podcast jokes from @Brandon Turnerand @Joshua Dorkin Detroit may have decided to strike back. 

;) just kidding. Thanks for keeping us updated.

i just finished rehabbing a 2,500 sq ft house that was about 70% wallpapered.  All of it had 2 layers of wallpaper. I hate removing wallpaper.  The amount of time to remove can vary widely and is difficult to estimate so I always assume the worst. The first layer came off easily. The 2nd layer took more time to remove. Thankfully, the walls were primed 30 years ago before they put the first layer of wallpaper on the walls.  

Removing wallpaper from sheetrock that hasn't been primed is incredibly difficult and time consuming. I firmly believe there is a special place in he** for contractors that apply wallpaper directly to new sheetrock without priming it first. ;)

You mention that they won't hire out of state?  I'm not sure I understand this.  What industry are you in and why do you believe they won't hire you just because you don't currently have an in-state address?  

I've not heard of companies not hiring out of state employees if they have the skill set the employer is looking for and are willing to move to the company's location.  A lot of times companies prefer to hire local if they are trying to avoid paying a relocation package.  I'm surprised they are unwilling to hire you because you haven't moved yet.  Am I misunderstanding something?

I would recommend you look at the plans available on the health care exchange (obomacare). I know its not popular, but it is quite a good deal for an entrepreneur that is starting out. If you have a family of 4 you get a subsidy up to about $80k of income. A silver plan for a family of 4 would be $630 a month, including the $70 subsidy.

The amount of subsidy varies by where you live, annual income, and number of people in you family. Here is a link for you to get an estimate based on your situation.

http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/

Really nice job guys! I love the open floor plan with the wood floors.   @Todd Whiddon 

@J Scott 

Are you guys 100% flipping houses now or are you holding any remodels for rentals? BRRR strategy. Just curious on the pros/cons you see now in your markets for cashing out in flips vs. holding and renting.

Moving before you have a job lined up makes me nervous.  Not sure what field you are in, but websites like www.indeed.com aggregate available jobs in markets and can email you each day with the new jobs in your field for the zip code you are looking in.  

I'd line up a job first and make sure you find a market that is promising for an investor.  It's going to be impossible for you to get bank financing on an investment property if you don't have a job and if you go very long without a job you'll drain your reserves and will just have to spend more time building back up cash before you start investing.

Those are just my thoughts, but I'm also a cautious CPA. :)

Good luck!

Congrats on the press! I've also seen several of the articles that that @Brandon Turner writes for entrepreneur.com. Keep up the great work!

I have been working on a rehab and we removed all the carpet and padding in the house. We also replaced the plywood in several spots where the pet urine had saturated the floor. this has really helped.

Michael