All Forum Posts by: Andrew Korver

@William Kim I have just window shopped in other markets outside of KC and my home market of Portland, OR.  In my mind, it makes sense to consolidate at least a handful of rentals in each market to be more efficient (and provide negotiating leverage) with PM, contractors, etc.   Some of the turnkey deals in the Cleveland suburbs look like great holds, I just don't know how I feel about the long term stability of the market and the population decline.  

In terms of picking up a "great deal" I do believe it is getting harder to find those > 1% properties with solid cash flow.  I have connected with a few folks on the ground in KC lately and their message is pretty similar.  You can't just "fall out of the boat and expect to hit water" any more.  However, there are plenty of healthy TK companies and home flippers in the market, which tells me the off market deals are still out there.  

@Account Closed the Magnum line is Graco's step down from commercial units.   That's not saying that you won't get value for your money spent if you take good care of it, it just won't hold up over time when compared to a commercial pump.   

In regards to the solvent, if you have made the switch back to latex don't run any more solvent (paint thinner) through the unit.  Continue to flush the unit thoroughly with water (lukewarm if possible) after you run your waterbased paints.  I typically will flush about 2-3 gallons of water through the pump (on the prime setting) and about 2 gallons of water through the hose and gun (on spray setting) to clean my Titan pump.  After flushing the pump, I pull the manifold filter from the pump itself and clean thoroughly.  Then reinstall before I flush the 50' hose and gun.   I am on city sewer, so the approved method of disposing waste water (not full strength paint) is to flush down the toilet as it gets treated at our wastewater plant.   Your municipality may be different so double check.  

With advances made in acrylic/hybrid paint technology, there are some really fantastic products on the market with water cleanup.  Back in the day, oil based enamels were the best choice for hard films (doors, cabinets, etc), but now with hybrids you can get oil performance and clean up your tools with water.   Not being too familiar with your market, go talk to your paint dealers (not your Menards, Home Depots, Lowes, etc) and ask them about their hybrid products.  

@Kai Van Leuven  this is another example of how frustrating the "DIY" tools can be vs even the most basic light duty commercial pump.  Initially great until something starts to wear out.   Kai, I am guessing you were still into the XR9 for $400-$600 depending on the vendor?   A couple hundred more bucks and you would have picked up a Graco 390 which can be had for less than $700 if you catch them on sale.  

@Alex Nelson great question.  Initially, your X5 and X7 will do the job.  These are great examples of what Graco would produce for the homeowner crowd that are not looking for long term performance or quality in a tool.  They will spray your conventional coatings for the first few jobs no problem and be great value for dollar.  However, the internals of the unit will be the difference.  What will wear out on your airless paint sprayer will be your piston and packings.  In the "DIY" models, none of these components are designed for prolonged use and often the entire unit is scrapped once any small issue arises.  On a light duty commercial sprayer, every single piece and part is replaceable and designed for contractor abuse.  

Long story long, if this is your only project you may be better off buying the cheaper X5 or even just renting a sprayer from your local paint store or rental equipment yard.  If you plan on painting a few projects a year and looking to do this on future projects, the extra few hundred dollars for a commercial sprayer will amortize out in the long run.  For the folks that take the time to treat their equipment properly, a good sprayer can have a nearly indefinite lifespan.  

@Account Closed for a commercial sprayer, oil or latex it makes no difference.  However, alternating back and forth between the two solvent carriers is your issue.  Once you run latex through a sprayer, switching to oil and back again is a non-starter.  Often times you are replacing your pump/gun filters and having to run quite a bit of solvent through the machine to clear the piston and line of any latex debris (hello fish eyes!)  The pros will nearly always have a dedicated pump for oil and lacquers and keep the two families of paint products separate. 

@Alex Nelson finally something I am an expert on!  I am a field rep for a paint company and work with professional painting contractors for my 9-5.  I also sell Graco and Titan spray equipment as a component of my job and have painted professionally in the past.  

I would highly recommend an investment into an entry level commercial paint sprayer for anyone doing renovations on a regular/semi regular basis.  The amount of time/energy saved by masking and spraying (when approached correctly) is immense and you will justify this cost in a single interior/exterior repaint.  For example, the image below is my current rehab at my own home.  Using a 3M M3000 Hand Masker and my Titan 440 Impact, I masked and sprayed a full prime coat, and two coats of finish on this project with about 2 hours of actual labor.  This would be for multiple rooms of window, baseboard, and doors.  To accomplish this same project by hand (roller/brush) would be 5x the time and the finish would not be as appealing.  

A decent light duty commercial airless sprayer will run you between $800-$1000.  I would recommend staying away from the big box or DIY sprayers (plastic body housings) as they are not meant to be used professionally and often cannot be repaired.  Take a look at the Titan 440 Impact or the Graco 390/395 to start.  

For the folks in the thread above saying that they made a mess of things when using a sprayer, its all about the prep!  Use drops, masking paper, and adjust the pressure settings on your pump.  Use the recommended tip for the paint you are spraying and don’t try and be a hero on a “one heavy coat” application.  

I also recommend the Graco Ultimate 2 Handheld for those small projects.  Sprays with the efficiency of a true airless pump and is infinitely repairable.  Cordless and Battery powered for those projects where only a small amount of paint is needed and power supply is an issue.  

@Jacob Fotu great question and happy to elaborate.   I would imagine that you and I would have different perspectives on what would construct a "great deal" depending on our financial goals.  For me personally, another Turnkey purchase would be a blend of great cashflow and a property that I am comfortable with (location, layout, etc).   My goal is to invest in cash flow to take pressure off my 9-5 income.  While I have the funding for more conventional loan down payments, I am also in the middle of a cost-intensive remodel here in my home state.  That being said, if the "right deal" came along from a Turnkey provider that had great cashflow, I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up.  

After a year with a few turnkeys, I would be looking to be more conservative with my assumption numbers (capex, repair, vacancy, PM, taxes, insurance, etc) and be looking to clear $100-$200 after those built in costs.  Anything below that and I may have more creative uses for my cash at the moment.   I haven't seen anything lately from the local providers that I am connected with that meets that benchmark, so for now I am in a holding/saving pattern.   That doesn't mean that the local KC providers aren't supplying quality turnkeys, it just means that at this specific point in time I am being more conservative. 

I hope this helps and feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.  What criteria are you using to consider a "good deal"?

@Nathan McQueen tenants were screened and placed via 3rd party property management  and have been great.  While there is incentive for Turnkey providers to place a tenant quickly to reduce carrying costs, many will have a fairly decent warranty (repair, workmanship, vacancy, etc) into the first year of management.  As such, they would be acting against their own interests to place a bad tenant.  

Yes, I would certainly buy another property from Bridge if the right deal came along.  

@Tyler Barker the "hiccups" surrounded a transition from internal PM to external PM at Bridge.  I believe that my property got caught somewhere in the transition period and their initial PM recommendation had the property for 3+ months without placing a tenant.  After giving the external PM many "second chances" we got the property transferred over to Voepel and a tenant was placed in less than 3 weeks.  

To answer your real question, @Nathan Brooks and his Bridge team were a constant partner through this process.  They took ownership, communicated well, and made me 100% whole once the dust settled.   

@Erran Brown what you have here is a simple math equation.  Most conventional paints cover between 300-350 square ft per gallon if rolled without significant waste.  If you are using airless spray equipment, expect around 20% reduction in coverage.   Keep in mind, this is "wall square footage" and not floorplan.   Once you know your room by room dimensions and ceiling height, just run the numbers divided by your coverage per gallon.  

@Wei Jie Yang I have two properties being managed by Voepel and purchased one property through Nathan and his team at Bridge last year.  Just passing the 12 month mark with Voepel, but I have been pleased with their professionalism and communication/reporting.  They have been very pro-active through the process of lease renewal as well.  So far so good, but my experience is limited to one lease cycle and haven't been through any turnover.  

In regards to Bridge, I have been happy thus far with my purchase.  Don't trust ProForma numbers provided by anyone, do your best due diligence and if the numbers make sense for your goals, pull the trigger.  Call a local insurance agent or two and get estimates for the properties listed by Bridge (or anyone for that matter).  I wasn't able to find any landlord policies with broad perils coverage for the ProForma estimates.  Pull the assessor's parcel map for the property and "trust but verify" that the taxes are correct.  

Long story long, I would give both companies a favorable referral.  Feel free to shoot over any additional questions you may have.  Happy to share.