All Forum Posts by: Adam Abdel-Hafez

As Nick Colamarino stated, pay a contractor for their time to get a quote. While you meet with the contractor, ask questions while you walk the house. You will learn more doing this. You will not know how much materials cost because you won't even know what materials you need unless it's finishes.

Joseph Gaston I agree with others, a new investor should not invest in war zones. Sure, war zones cash flow better...that is when you actually have tenants in them paying you and no theft. You will have more evictions, more theft, more problems with tenants, etc. So before you jump into war zones really be prepared for what you are doing.

Steven Mitchell did you have a cage? I've never had a unit stolen that is inside a cage as long as the lock is not easily cut. Typically thieves go for the quick and easy, so if there is any type of security they will typically pass. As Michaela G. Mentioned also, if it's in a bad area I will add an alarm system along with wrapping the outside unit to always be on with a loud exterior siren if ever disturbed.

Brad Smith yes you need them. Without them you will probably have water intrusion in your basement/crawlspace and a lot of water around your house effecting the foundation and soil among other things. Unless you have a large roof overhand and the land slopes away from the house then I would get gutters without a question.

Michael P. I would make sure first that your gutters are working properly. Make sure all gutters are sloped properly, all downspouts have elbows and drain pipes connected to it moving water away from property. Once that is done see how things work out. Unfortunately, basement issues are a trial and error type situation.

I would just runs fans, etc. for now. The smell will go away soon, but in the meantime that is a terrible smell.

Charles Cline you will always be able to get it done cheaper if you do it. In your example, the contractor was high for the fence though but that is in Atlanta. I know prices in California are higher so it probably is not high. Also, $15/hr is what I pay in Atlanta so I don't see you getting that in California either. If you are then consider yourself lucky. Doesn't seem like you will be happy with hiring out jobs since everything seems high to you when it's industry standards so I would suggest doing it yourself.

Thanks John Dykes I will look into those.

Samantha Soto no, you should never have standing water in your crawlspace. I would first make sure all gutters,downspouts,drain pipes, etc are working properly and moving water away from the home. Then I would look at the terrain, does a lot of water come to the house from the terrain being sloped to the house? If so, you may need to backfill against the house to prevent wanted running into the crawlspace. Other options are pumps and waterproofing and wrapping the foundation, but those get pretty costly

Scott Morton and Kiet N. I thought about pressure washing, but wasn't sure if that would be able to completely removes the mortar. It's built up is some spots pretty bad. I didn't think about grinding, that could be another option I will look into. Yea, I know sandblasting would be messy, probably would not go over well with the neighbors as stated.