All Forum Posts by: Chris Seveney

One thing to realize is a 1000sf home is a lot more expensive in cost per square foot than a 2 or 3000 SF home as the $ on a home is in the baths, kitchen, and electrical/HVAC and plumbing.

Thanks for the info that is good to know. For my situation I was owner occupant.

See if any investors or fix and flip companies would hire you. When a person has no money, what can they provide to the investor? You need to bring some sort of service to make it worth their while. Maybe bring them a deal thats worthwhile and if it works out to get a portion of profits etc. in order to build money to get your own place. 

Another option would be to see if you could buy a duplex and rent out one side and live in another to save money. But if you only have $300 that will not get you there. 

Is the floor floating or glued down ? If it's floating and you put flooring down first and use a granite countertop you may get board cupping under the floor. I work for a company that builds several hundred town homes and condos a year and we put cabinets in first every time.

I was not aware of this. It may depend on county but in fairfax county the owner of the property can pull the permits and act as the GC. You of course are required to use licensed contractors

I did this when I built my house.

For financing purposes if you are using conventional lending the bank will require a licensed general contractor and will not let the owner act as the GC without a license - but this is a lending requirement and not a county requirement

What county is this in ?

As noted above, what does your agreement with the contractor say ? In regards to missing equipment that will be on him and an insurance claim. I would refuse to give in to his demands he is in essence threatening you to try and get another $1200 One comment that has not been noTed is to make sure to have lots of pictures taken of the work done. If it is not per your standards note it. Also send him an official letter terminating the agreement and note reasons why

All,

This one is a doozy. I have a family friend who leased an apartment in maryland then sub-leased it to another person . (I guess they did a sign an agreement but never got it blessed by the property manager which was stated in her lease she needed to do). She left town and now he stopped paying rent and is living for free. . She now has gotten an eviction notice and has a court hearing this week. 

She is afraid of a civil suit from this person if he is evicted because his agreement is with her even though he has not paid rent and also has not paid the utilties (which they are going to shut off), but she left them in her name but he is responsible.

Long story short, anyone know a good tenant/landlord attorney she could call.

@Jarrett Haynes

- Welcome, I am a newbie as well in the DC REI market. If you ever want to get together let me know. Looking for new investors to discuss and bounce ideas off of that are local

One thing not discussed in this post or in many posts that I have read is the number of new apartment buildings being built in major cities. In Washington DC area there are apartment buildings going up everywhere in and around the district. This will add competition and I am not an analyst nor an expert in supply/demand but one would think rents in the District and surrounding areas will not have large gains in the upcoming future because of all the rental units coming online in 2015 and 2016.

Thoughts?

Goodman, Trane, Carrier or Bryant (is owned by carrier and cheaper).