All Forum Posts by: Donald Crockett

 Thank you! I only just now saw this. I don't come to as BP often as I should.

edit to add; I just spent a few minutes looking around there. I like what I see.

Anyone here use that site and/or that map? I find it very useful however I am having some trouble with it. When I zoom in for a closer look at a zip code, neighborhood or block I lose the ability to show data on the map. I get a read error message that says to reload the page, but when it reloads it goes back to the original un-zoomed map. This using two different computers and three different browsers. Has any one found a solution for this? I browsed the City-Data forum and not found an answer. I don't want to sign up there just to ask one question. I don't need another forum to try to keep up with! Thanks in advance!

I thought I replied to this already, but I will be there.

Even though I would not “Do This Myself” I think this is the right forum.

Most of our properties are 3 bed 1 bath houses with slab foundations built in the 60's and they've done very well for us. We continue to look for properties that fit this profile. Basements around here usually have problems which are costly to remedy.

Now, I was watching a video of replacement of a drain pipe under a slab house. These guys actually hand dug a tunnel under the slab large enough for a person to crawl into all the way from the perimeter to the point where the pipe came down through the slab. That looks difficult and expensive.

I”m pretty sure that our houses have galvanized drain pipes. I think these pipes are prone to rusting internally and becoming slow, eventually stopping up completely. We've never had to deal with that. We have had some stop up because of convoluted, complex bends always accessible from inside the house but never had to replace a complete drain line.

My question is, if it comes to this, how is this usually addressed? The rooter guy says they can be cleaned with the rooter, the jetter guy says rooting doesn't work but they can be jetted and the plumbing contractor says neither of those will work they have to be replaced with plastic.

I'm not expecting any trouble like this but forewarned is forearmed. Does anyone here have any experience to share so I (and others) might be prepared with the knowledge should we be faced with this? Is it worth having the drains looked at with a camera when rehabbing?

Sort of looking at two, one in Meadowlawn near 275 & 694 (Gandy Blvd.) and one near Eagle Crest, near 595 and 5th Ave. I think for now I'll sty above Central Ave. I've been using city-data dot com, spotcrime (which, honestly, is kind of hard for me to interpret) and neighborhood scout.  But there's nothing like advice from people who know the area!

Good information! Thanks so much for the quick replies and detailed advice. This is exactly what I was hoping for I'm going to put this to good use.

Looking around on line at various areas of the nation over the last several weeks, it seems that we are likely to find properties that meet our criteria in and around St. Petersburg and Clearwater FL. However the crime rate in St. Pete concerns me for all the obvious reasons like future property values, increased costs, and whether I'll become a statistic while I'm down there doing business to name just a few. 

I think there's parts of the town that I would not consider, and there's also areas that are somewhat up-scale but not in our disred price range. We're looking for C or better neighborhoods. 

 My questions are, is the crime pretty much confined to certain areas and neighborhoods or is it more pervasive? Is it possible to find a good, safe St. Pete neighborhood where rent/value is good? What's the local take on St. Pete? Nice place to live or not? What about Clearwater? The crime rate seems significantly lower there than St. Pete.

I just learned something here! I've loaned hard money over the past few years, maybe half a dozen times, and I never new hard money lenders were getting points! No wonder this one flipper keeps coming back to me! Who knew (apparently lots of people but not me).

Maybe I should share a bit more on my thought process. As far as the foundation wall, I've seen various methods like wall anchors etc. and I haven't yet seen any system that I would say is satisfactory. What I've seen is that they fail to hold the wall where it is (let alone straighten it) and they will move right along with the failing wall. I think that wall will have to be dug from the outside and replaced, and the outside pressure from the soil minimized by eliminating water (footer tile) and back filling with gravel. 

Also I think that water in the picture is coming up from the joint between the floor and the wall. This will require a perimeter tile inside the foundation walls at the footer, probably draining into the sump. Meaning the floor will have to be cut and partially removed and a trench dug all around the basement on the inside to install the drain tile. This in addition to a drain tile outside the foundation walls at the footer. 

I think this is the only way to address these issues and be sure there will not still be problems. Of course all of what I'm saying will be costly to do.

Now, I keep saying things like "I think" and "in my opinion" because I'm not an expert by any stretch and it is possible there are more cost effective ways to successfully solve these issues. But I've dealt with such things several times over the years and that's where my advice comes from.

James, I'm certainly not the most experienced investor here but I think I would pass on that house. In my experience that basement problem is serious just based on what I see here, especially if you want to resell that house. A tenant may or may not be willing to accept a wet basement with a cracked wall but it sure won't help you get a higher rent. I think your offer should be around 45k. If you're relatively certain that wouldn't be accepted, I think you should look for a better deal.

These days I will not make an offer on any house that has foundation issues. Despite the fact that I've had contractors tell me that such issues can be fixed easily and economically, my experience has been it always entails more than you originally thought.