All Forum Posts by: Becky Davis

To Evans Marcie's point, keep some on hand for repairs. We are trying to replace some damaged planks in another property and the biggest headache is matching.

We got some clearance locking laminate from Lowes and it looks fantastic. Install was fine once we got the hang of it. A year later with renters with a dog and baby and they still look great.

For what it's worth, I used a similar technique with a sell who was trying to close asap since she was moving out of state. She was worried I'd back out of the contract if the appraisal didn't justify the price increase from seller paid closing costs so we did a higher DD and a very short time period. In theory the DD period would have been over before the appraiser could get out to the house. (Actually she got there way faster than expected.)

The DD fee made her feel a lot better about having it under contract with me.

Definitely interested. Please let me know!

Welcome to BP!

Hello and welcome to Raleigh!

I haven't found greed, intelligence, or hard work to be a trait of any one economic class. I have met many people living on welfare with no interest in getting off, trading food stamps for money to purchase cigarettes. I have met wealthy individuals that, when they go through a down turn, get their hair done on credit. I have also met hard working people who are poor and others who are wealthy and many in between.

What I have found to be more common to the wealthy, is financial education. As this is not taught in grade school, it most often comes from parents. I grew up hearing my parents talk about their mortgage, their rental properties, and investments. Many people do not have that advantage. They can learn, yes, but having the foundation is a huge leap ahead.

Read The Seven Sins of Wall Street for a good look at what the financial system can do to hard working individuals without that understanding.

Side note: someone mentioned Naked Economics. The End of Normal is an absolute must-read.

Welcome to BP! Definitely connecting with people in the area would help. It's not too big so most natives can give you a jumping off point for learning the market :)

Not positive, but I did it and the person signing the lease was an attorney with a real estate background so I'm pretty sure it was fine. Of course, the start of the lease term was after the closing date.
She and my agent said that if I didn't get the property the lease would just be void. You could also put a clause in to that effect. Key is to let her know what's going on.

Rainbow vacuums are a great investment. You can also detach their well and leave it running to deodorize the air.