All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

@Matt Stricklen - funny you mention vegetable gardening during COVID. We are finishing up a BRRR and decided that a few raised bed garden boxes in the backyard would not only be cheap landscaping, but would really appeal to folks as everyone seems to be interested in raising their own food these days. I found someone on facebook market place that makes them out of reclaimed lumber and had them build me two 3' x 6' boxes for $40 each. That's probably the cheapest landscaping we've ever done, LOL!

We're getting ready to rent out our 3/2 1250 sq ft recently flipped home with a small front yard and generous backyard. As pet owners ourselves, we're willing to allow our tenants to have a family pet, but realize both cats and dogs can potentially do damage. Landlords seem to be fairly evenly split between the NO pets camp and the Pets are ok and that's what a deposit is for camp. We tend to fall into the latter as our property is in a neighborhood likely to attract a family and families often have pets. So I'm wondering how you handle this? What do you allow: cats, dogs, numbers of each, size or breed restrictions and what kind of deposit? Any input would be much appreciated!

If you're able to get the rents up to where you want them and keep her in it, I'd do that. She's already done damage to the place it sounds like. It wouldn't make any sense to sink the $ into cleaning up the cat damage and then rent it right back to her or to someone else. She obviously doesn't care or doesn't notice the smell so I'd just kick the can down the road until she moves out. But I would insist on a semi-annual inspection by your property manager to make sure she hasn't moved more cats in or done additional damage. Cat smells can be very, very hard to get rid of. We've been in houses that need the subflooring replaced because the urine seeps through the carpet, the padding and into the subfloor. Same goes for walls and baseboards with cats that spray.

Hey @George Rodriguez congratulations on being ready to get started! We flip homes in California. To give you an example, we probably looked at 50-75 properties, offered on 20ish, and got 2 under contract. That's not at all uncommon. Given those numbers, it is VERY, VERY hard and inefficient to have a GC go with you to give you a repair estimate each time. Unless your real estate partner happens to be a GC, you'll burn your bridges real quick. Instead, I recommend you educate yourself as much as possible on estimating repair costs. BP published a book on estimating repair costs - it's a bit dated now but still gives some really solid information. You can also call around your area to get an idea of big ticket costs, like replacing an HVAC system, windows, interior and exterior painting and a new roof. All of those are very common repairs/replacements. Knowing some of the major costs should allow you to run your numbers and see if the deal makes sense. If it does and you're able to get into contract, make sure you have an inspection contingency and during that time period, get your GC to look at it and give you an actual repair estimate. Hopefully, you were in the ball park and the numbers still make sense. I wouldn't waste my GC's time on anything I'm not in contract in. Where we live, they're just too busy and we want them to know that we're serious customers, not just tire kickers.

If the comps are $215-$225k, it seems very unlikely you're going to be able to get it appraised for the 240k that you want. The appraiser might reconsider if you can bring comps that show the price range you're looking for. If you really want to hold out for $240k, you might have to move on to a different buyer who can bring more closing cash to the table. This isn't uncommon in a multiple offer scenario. 

@George Rodriguez - I'm not sure there's going to be a big wave of foreclosures in the beginning of the year. The current economic crisis (as well as the underpinnings of our economy pre-COVID) make it pretty unpredictable. That said, I CAN tell you that we are seeing both material and labor costs increase dramatically due to COVID as well as supply chain shortages on building materials. Both of these things directly impact fix and flips. There is still a nationwide shortage in housing stock so, in most areas, the trades are extremely busy - which also makes it challenging to get workers to your site, especially for one-off projects. All of these things impact the length of your project and therefore holding costs if you finance any part of the purchase or repairs. You have to plan on a much larger contingency budget, plan for increased costs pretty much across the board and plan on holding it longer while you complete the repairs. As long as you can factor all of those things in and the numbers still make sense, I would do it. At least where I'm at, you still have great exit strategies because homes are selling AND rents continue to increase. It's kind of crazy, but it is.

I see a few options, although I'm sure there are more:  1) tap into the equity in your current home to use as a down payment on a rental property. 2) rent out a room or two in your existing home (this could also be in combination w/ scenario 1) to help with your finances while you leave the job you hate. 3) use your equity to buy a house to flip for additional income 4) use the equity to buy something you can either house hack or do a live in flip while you rent out your existing home.

@Troy McElhaney surfing with your daughter sounds awesome! As for the ice cream, well, it all depends on your specific situation. Nutritional Therapists work with people at the individual level in a holistic manner. In other words, what are the individual's specific health concerns? For me, it is avoiding Alzheimer's because there is a strong family history. For you, it could be heart disease, diabetes or autoimmune conditions. Someone else might just want to lose weight or improve their sports performance or cognitive performance. We look not only at diet, but other factors that impact all of those things like sleep, stress and hormones. It's different for everyone - there's no one size fits all solutions - which is why I find it so fascinating! BTW - are you a Banana Slug, LOL? I noticed your t-shirt in your profile picture. My corporate office is in Santa Cruz, although I work from home mainly.

@Orane Jacobs I would not put in washers and dryers at all. Let the tenants supply their own or use the laundromat. They are much more likely to take care of them if they own them. I say this because my parents used to own a laundromat when I was a kid and I had the (disgusting!) job of cleaning the machines. You WOULD NOT BELIEVE what people put in washing machines they don't own themselves! They absolutely trash them and the coin boxes are easy targets for jimmying open and stealing the change or rigging them to bypass. They are so hard on washers and dryers that you're constantly replacing them or fixing blockages or cleaning up overflows that create water damage. It's just not worth it in my opinion.

I am a Nutritional Therapist so I love to work with people to help them get healthy whether they're dealing with chronic conditions like Diabetes or Autoimmune conditions or just trying to lose weight. As much as I love real estate, helping people become healthy is my true passion! Like a lot of investors, I have multiple income streams, and health coaching is one of them. I also am a trail runner, mountain biker, I love stand up paddle boarding with my dog, we have a small farm and raise our own meats and I have 2 grandsons that keep me busy!