All Forum Posts by: Jason Barrett

. . . cool air that is :p

Asbestos was banned in 1978. Many/most buildings built before then will have it in some area. Regardless of it coming up in an inspection, assume it is there. Lead based paint will also likely be there. That said, it is both legal and acceptable in most cases to encapsulate in which usually boils down to a couple layers of heavy paint. Sanding things is a no-no because it puts lead or asbestos dust into the air which is where it will cause a problem -assuming there won't be kids there who will be chewing on the window sills :) An abatement contractor would need to be hired to remove the contaminated materials. If you cut through things to add forced air you would probably end up with a situation where you will be disturbing the asbestos or lead.

Encapsulation is the cheapest, but it could limit what you want to accomplish. Don't take this as a scare. Everything is doable and everything is fixable. Some things cost more than others and some things may be worth more to accomplish in your mind. Older boilers and furnaces may be fine even if less efficient. Your home inspector will probably give you an indication if the unit is approaching the end of it's life, but a thorough examination by a mechanical contractor might be in order if you are concerned about it. An alternative to central air may be some fan coil units. They won't require a bunch of new ductwork so the abatement guys will have less to do. I've seen them built into a screened areas on a bookcase or below a window and you don't even know they are there except for the cool are coming out.

From my 10 second analysis using the info at the bottom of the trulia page, it looks like your house is about half the size of most of the other houses and the price is the same. The other properties that I clicked on have more than one bedroom. With only one bed you won't be able to get anyone who has a kid or anyone looking for a roommate setup which will probably narrow your field considerably. Also, I only see one picture. Can you find some other things worth showing in the listing?

My gut says you will probably have a hard time doing anything other than renting because most other will want the option to expand their family without having to move. Is renting a possibility in the area? Could you find a property manager to work with? Is there an extra room that could be converted to a bedroom? A rent to own offer might make it more attractive if you don't have any other options and want out.

Assuming you are dealing with a small, single story house that is using a pre-fab truss, the loadbearing points are the points at which the truss sits on the wall. It won't be bearing on anything in between. A rafter could, but that's a different setup. A simple gable roof on a single story "box" house is usually oriented with the loadbearing walls being the front and back of the house. Assuming gutters are in the right places, if there is a gutter along that wall it is probably carrying weight. If you peek into the attic and only see the prefab trusses you should be able to take out any wall on the interior you want.

If you have rafters on the house instead of trusses then you are only going to be able to span whatever the capability of the wood or PLAM is and you could have a structural wall in the middle somewhere, but you would probably see some indication on the roof of a step or turn.

Also, that "doorway" does not have a header in it. A truss, rafter, or joist won't be spaced any more than 24"oc and most are spaced less than that so there wouldn't be support for the load across that 3'+ opening.

It seems like it would be worth considering if you recognize that you really won't have the time to dedicate to it on a regular basis. From your post it appears you see your roll more as an investor and high-level supervisor rather than a part time GC. It will cut into your profits some, but you will have to decide how much that is worth. If you don't have the time to check on your project, let contractors in, answer questions etc then you will probably find it to be either very stressful or a disaster or both. A design/build architect may be a better idea than a GC if you are going to pay someone to look after your project for you but that also depends on the amount of renovation you need to do. Looking through the past projects of some of the successful flippers on here the greater the renovation needed the greater potential for profit.

I haven't seen a company 401k that will let you do much of anything outside of picking one of the investments on the handout they give you. . . You should be able to request the details of your 401k from the administrator.