All Forum Posts by: AJ P.

Hi everyone, I had a plumber come over, walked him through everything I wanted done, and he told me he would be done before Thanksgiving. He wanted 1/3 payment up front in cash and I paid him. He's done everything on my list but adding the bathroom in my basement. My contractor has gotten impatient waiting for him and has started taking matters into his own hands (he did the jack hammering of the floors which my plumber said had "complications" and would "take forever to get through"). He's told me over the last 4 days that he would be there to finish up but each day had another excuse why he couldn't come and it is very delayed at this point. Well, last night he must've gone over (without telling me) grabbed his tools and left. I've tried getting in touch with him today but he blocked my phone number (my texts don't deliver and my call goes right to voicemail. I called from another number and it went through so I know his phone isn't messed up or something). He left a lot PVC over there that I assume he intended to use, but I am unsure what to do now. I'm reaching out to other plumbers to be safe, but are those supplies mine to use now for the next plumber? My contractor mentioned he might've left them since he felt bad about up and leaving the job. I'm fine with what I paid him for the work he's already completed, but would just like to hear from him that he's done with the job or what the situation is. I wasn't sure if him blocking my phone number is grounds for me to be able to move forward with someone else (I intended to do so if he wasn't done by this weekend anyways) or how to really handle the situation. I'd greatly appreciate any advice and more than happy to share additional information if needed. Thank you!

Hi everyone, I recently purchased a house and have no idea how I renovate this bathroom. It’s so small and the only bath in the house so I want to leave the tub. I plan to tile the walls in the shower, but outside of that I’m stumped. The door leaves 0 room next to the vanity and to the right when you walk in is a toilet with a cabinet above. I plan to hire someone to do the renovation, but I planned on coming up with some sort of vision for them to go off of. But I have none! Please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions. Thank you so much!

Hey everyone, I’m getting new garage doors and windows on my duplex property. They’re both going to be a plain white. I wanted to refresh the paint on the front doors and shutters as well. Does anyone have a color suggestions? I was thinking about staying with a similar red or changing it up with a navy. Thank you!

Wow, 1800 rent for a 120k property is great Where is this property?

Hey everyone, as I'm sure you all know, it's hard to find properties that cash flow (or really even come close to 0) with the traditional 20% down and 7% interest rate that we currently have. The only way real estate investing seems to make sense in my mind now is to use as little debt as possible and then hope in a couple years that rates are down and then you can refinance to get your equity back for additional properties. I'm very intrigued by a property that is in a great neighborhood and will appreciate very strongly, but using any sort of financing on it the cash flow return is deep in the negatives for a couple years even though the ask price looks like a good deal compared to other houses around. Does anyone have any advice or thoughts on what I've shared? Not sure how accurate my mindset is and if I need to be thinking about things differently here. Thank you!

I'm so intrigued by the idea of house hacking and want to take advantage of being able to use such little capital in order to get more and more properties under my belt, but I was wondering if anyone is out there having success given the current state of the market? I've seen many posts that opportunities really vary depending on location, but I just don't know how you can find something that cash flows or even comes close given rates. It seems as though the only way to get a return right now is to buy something in full and then refinance in a couple years when hopefully rates are lower and you can redeploy that equity again. I know investing is a marathon and not a sprint, but with house hacking in particular you get locked into one year windows. I want to start that window ASAP and continue to repeat as much as I can. I really appreciate any insight anyone might have to share!

Hey everyone, I should’ve included a photo in my original post. Here’s what they look like now

Hi everyone, I recently purchased a very outdated duplex and am renovating pretty much the whole thing. I'm going to be painting the walls and ceilings next, but I am unsure what to do with the trim and doors. They are both a stained brown it seems and have held up fairly well over the last 30 or 40 years I'd say. I think white would look much better, but I am worried that's going to be a lot more work and I also fear how well the white paint would hold up over time (they are rental units I know they'll take a beating and potentially chip/ scratch). Does anyone have any advice on what I should do here? Thanks!

There’s a house that need some major renovations that interested me and I was hoping for some insight as to how I should go about financing (once I’ve finished the project that I plan on buying and rehabbing in cash). I’ll explain an example scenario:

The house is listed at $75,000 and my estimate is that the property needs roughly the same amount for the rehab. All-in-all my equity value in the house would then be roughly around $150,000.

Based off comparisons in the neighborhood, the house should be worth anywhere between $175,000 and $215,000. Let’s say it appraises at $185,000 and I then want to pull my equity out of the house. 20% down would leave $37,000 in the house and in exchange only $2,000 out of my pocket ($185,000 appraisal value – $150,000 my previous equity value= $35,000 for the down payment with the $2,000 coming from my pocket).

In a perfect world, I would be able to command a rent high enough to at least earn 0% on the house to pay down the mortgage. But, if my rent isn’t high enough to pay the mortgage and I’m paying out of pocket, is this a situation I should fix and flip the house? Or do I put enough equity into the house, so I’m not getting a negative return? Should the strategy be to try and find houses at prices and rehabs that give a value that you can get in cheap enough that your rent covers the mortgage?

I guess in this situation it’s a matter of trying to build as much equity in a house vs being able to cash flow the property afterwards when I go to refinance. I’m not sure if this is something that varies on personal strategies or if there is a general role of thumb. I don’t mind having equity in my properties, but I would like to keep the equity values as low as I can so I can deplore more capital into other projects. Please feel free to share any advice or ask questions if you need any clarification! Thank you so much

Hey everyone, I’m super lucky and excited that I have my first property under contract. It’s a nice duplex that needs some renovations, but nothing more than new floors, paint, kitchens, and bathrooms. Since everyone here has so much experience, I was just wondering if anyone had any general advice for me as I go through this process? I have a fairly detailed budget and I’m working with a family friend contractor that’s helping me with everything. I'm going to sand and paint the current kitchen cabinets because they are in great shape and could save a lot on my budget by preserving the current ones. I plan on doing a neutral paint color like beige on all the walls, white trim & ceilings, and LVT everywhere on the main floor (except the living room). I was thinking I'd do carpet upstairs for the tenants comfort. My contractor advised against doing LVT on the stairs (said it just always looks bad) so it seems like I’ll put carpet there (didn't want to do this but there's no hardwood underneath the current carpet). The showers/bathtubs are a really odd blue color, but are in really good shape so I was leaning towards leaving them. I think a walk in shower would look much better, but obviously it would be a lot more expensive and it’s the only shower/ tub in the house so I’m not sure if tenants would want or need a tub in the house (especially if they have little kids). I plan on gutting the rest of the bathrooms and making them more modern than what's currently there. Any advice on these items or any other general advice as I renovate here I greatly appreciate!