All Forum Posts by: JT Spangler

In my area I'd be shooting myself in the foot big time if I didn't allow pets. I do think it's a great idea to meet the pets, though.

Couple of things: why a 15 year mortgage? 30 year is going to give you a much cheaper monthly payment, and there's nothing stopping you from paying extra if you want to pay down the loan sooner, while if you commit to a 15 year you don't have the option to pay less and have the loan term automatically extend. 

Secondly, if you're going to live there and owner occupy, you already have enough money saved. You can do conventional financing with 5% down and FHA with 3.5% down. Speak to some lenders and figure out which programs appeal to you.

Thirdly, there's a time in everyone's life when they don't know how to do even simple household repairs. Luckily, we live in the future, and youtube/google will teach you 95% of everything you need to know. Start small, and remember that the worst case scenario is that you'd have to throw in the towel and call someone out to come fix it if you can't, which is exactly the same as what would happen if you didn't attempt it at all. So long as you're careful and use common sense I believe most people can and should tackle most minor repairs/upkeep themselves, at least until they know what it entails.

So, I've now laid about half of my 500 sq ft of Allure Ultra flooring in my current rehab.

Here's what I've learned:

Floor prep is critical. I've pulled thousands of staples from some idiot 40 years ago who went crazy installing linoleum. Minor dips haven't been a big issue, although any real low spots you'll need to use some flooring leveling compound.

You can cut the boards with a razor knife using the time honored score and break method, but for any rips you're better off using a table saw. Undercut door jambs so you don't see any gaps.

BE SURE TO USE THE SPACERS WHEN STARTING A ROOM! I didn't have enough of them, and it's been a lot of extra work trying to get some of the tiny gaps to tighten up after the fact. It is critical that you have a hard corner of the room to be banging the pieces into after you click them into place (made with spacers). 

You'll also need both a pull bar and a tapping block, along with a rubber mallet. DO NOT begin installation without all of those things. After you lay each course, you'll want to use the pull bar and tapping block making sure it locks up really tight. I was using the boxes of flooring (which are heavy as sin) to add extra weight to the already installed flooring. 

There's one good youtube video made by the company on installation, and viewing is mandatory if you haven't worked with it before. 

I'm happy with the material and the look, overall, but not overly so. It's certainly not the easiest flooring in the world to install, as is claimed by the advertising materials. But it looks great, and once I figured out some of the tricks I'm moving along pretty well.

Given all of that, and adding to it the fact that a lot of the home depots locally have it up on a high shelf on clearance, I'm gonna acquire as much of it as I can and install it in my next rehab, too. Or maybe even my own home.

I mean, those expenses are a bit high, but given the specifics and the fact that they're listed down to the penny I'd guess they're actual expenses and not pro forma numbers doctored up to make the building look better than it is.

So, high expenses, 70% occupied, and rents below market potentially? To me, that all adds up to a great deal for you. You cut expenses and get the building fully occupied and you've added a lot of equity here.

I am currently renovating a top/bottom duplex in East Nashville similar to what you're looking at. I'm not worried at all about basement heat, because basements don't typically suffer from the temperature fluctuations that above grade dwellings do for the reasons you just posted. 

I'll do a radiator or baseboard heat, and I doubt it'll even need to be used much. 

But I'll be able to answer your question for sure in a few months.

Also, I just saw a decent deal on cl a few weeks ago for a duplex in east nash. Listed ~80k and probably needs 20k per side to be rent ready. But I'd guess it's all in for 120k-130k and would get GRM of 1400-1600.

There's no such thing as an 'aggressive breed' of dog, FYI.

Emotional support animals must licensed as such, and if your tenant wants a puppy, I think this might be your avenue to object. There are websites that let you answer a few questions about your dog, and if it basic obedience trained and well behaved they'll 'certify' it online. I would talk to your lawyer about whether you can restrict which organizations certify.

I strongly suspect your tenant just wants a dog without paying extra rent or deposits, but it really doesn't matter. So, here's the script I'd use:

"Hey, if you need an ESA for a medical reason, I will work with you however I can. A few things I'll need from you to make it an easy process, though: first, our insurance won't allow large breed dogs (pitbull, rottweiler, husky, or any mixes containing those breeds), second, make sure you get a letter from a physician (because I'll have to verify it), and third, make sure the dog you get is certified by XX organization [they're all bogus, but no reason you can't pick the strictest or most expensive one as a hurdle]."

Reading (a journalist who purposefully took advantage of the ESA/ADA laws in NYC):

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/20/pets-...

Also, you might not know that the fair housing laws do not apply to all property types. 

From

https://www.animallaw.info/article/faqs-emotional-...

Good luck!

As a beginner, I am hoping to minimize risk where I can and mitigate risk where I can't. So far, the best way I've figured out to minimize and mitigate is (1) learn everything I can, and (2) invest only my own money (and the lender's) until I have proof of concept and can verify my actual returns with my projected returns.

Only when I'm reasonably sure I'm evaluating deals correctly can I think about using OPM to fund them.

The disclosure just tells you what the sellers know to the best of their knowledge. The permits will tell you if the electrical was truly upgraded, and done by a licensed professional with an inspector signing off. There're lots of horror stories of listings with 'updated electrical!' that's really just a few feet of romex spliced illegally to old knob and tube hidden back in the walls, so until you open up the walls it looks updated.

Most duplexes in East Nashville are going to have the exact same age and floorplan nearby. Find a few that've sold recently and you have bang on comps. 

I'm using Allure Ultra in my current rehab for a buy and hold. It's floating floor that clicks together and doesn't require an underlayment. Now, I'm actually laying it starting tomorrow, so in 24 hours I should have more info on it.

Personally, I'm curious about how well it lays under slightly uneven flooring (multiple layers of linoleum underneath, not all of which came up. If it's uneven, I'll have to do some self leveling compound in a few places.