All Forum Posts by: Bill J Fay

I see you are in Colorado. Highly recommend One Clear Choice Garage Doors.

Garage Doors - One Clear Choice Denver Colorado (oneclearchoicegaragedoors.com)

Like others have said, switch to bi-monthly. Keep tabs on what you are spending and charge that back in rent. Call around to some mowers (or even handyman) in the area to see if they can beat your current price. Realistically, switching to 2 times a month will solve your problem.

What does your lease say? Very dependent on what was agreed upon. It is usually standard that you can charge back unpaid utilities with a fee. I would talk to them first and make sure they are aware that it is unpaid. Allow them a time frame to get it paid or result to necessary steps (depending on what the lease says).

I would say that's a good rule of thumb if you were looking at the property without getting inside. Every property has character, so it's impossible to get accurate numbers from a general sq ft estimate you are using. Look at the big-ticket items. From there, you can use your sq ft estimate for a quick determination on costs. Every contractor will vary in regard to how they will charge. Get detailed bids from reliable contractors. You will start to know exactly what your contractor will charge once you get a few under your belt. Good luck!

You came to the right place. The forums are a great way to get in contact with lenders, agents, and fellow investors. Every investor has to start somewhere with a blank slate. Have you looking into Hard Money Lenders? Most love to lend to first time investors if you find the right deal! You may just have to pay a slightly higher interest rate to get going. Take a look at BiggerPockets Find a Lender:  

Investment Property Loans for Real Estate (biggerpockets.com)

After you can determine if the numbers work, you really want to look at:

-Product type. Are there multiple comps with your similar style? Or are you the one funky house on the block? 

-Ease of construction. Was it built before 1940? Make sure you have a contractor that has done many projects with similar build. You don't want someone that starts taking down walls and you keep finding new areas to address. 

-TIME. After solidifying a budget, stick to your time estimate and hold your contractor to it. Does it need windows that will take months to order? Make sure you know that going into the project. Pay your contractor extra for getting the job done in time. 

Personally, I cannot speak on Property Radar. I hope someone chimes in if they have used it!

In regard to finding comps, I prefer to go straight to the source, the MLS. If you don't have access to the MLS, I highly recommend getting in touch with a few Real Estate Agents in your area. Navigating the stats with what is on the market, selling, and what isn't selling will paint the full picture. I can't count how many times estimates from other sites have pointed me in the wrong direction. If you are having trouble coming up with value, a local Agent will be a wonderful resource. They may even give you a deal when it comes to listing!

All great recommendations above. One other thing to consider, pay attention to state/local laws regarding pet fee and deposits. In Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis signed House Bill 23-1068 into law in June. This limits pet security deposits to $300, and they must be refundable. Also limits any pet fee to $35 or 1.5% of the rent, whichever is higher. Your state may vary, but I see other states following this trend.

A few options:

1) Gather the Permits of the work that was performed. Either go into your local building department or do a quick google search of your local city or county building department. If the seller's pulled permits, this is where they will have them for you to view. 

2) If they didn't pull permits, have your agent ask the listing agent for a Seller's Property Disclosure. This is where they will list every known defect of the property. 

3) Ask to see a pre-list inspection if they did one. Some flippers will do an inspection before they go on market to see what will come up when an inspection is performed in escrow. 

4) When submitting an offer, ALWAYS make sure you add an inspection objection provision to your offer. This will allow you to terminate the contract for any reason if your objection is timely filed.

Draws are designed to keep your project on track. Lenders will want to see your progress with each draw of renovation funds provided. To avoid this, you can look into Borrower funded rehab loans. This would mean you would have to pay 100% of the renovation, but you would receive a larger loan on the purchase.