All Forum Posts by: Bonnie Low

@Sharron M - I'm sorry to hear that you're dealing with a divorce as well as health issues. Kudos to you for keeping yourself focused on the future with all that's going on. I'm not sure if hard money will work for you - but it doesn't hurt to ask! I did want to comment that I would go with your gut instinct that the quote the investor gave you is way too high. We have experience doing some extensive flips in CA and I can tell you that $65k is on the relatively high end. We tend to deal in really rough homes that need serious attention. A 1200 sq ft house that eats up a budget of $65k will usually require most of the big ticket items: new roof and windows, sheetrock repairs/replacement, siding, new HVAC, water heater, interior and exterior paint, flooring, new kitchen and bath. It doesn't sound like your remodel is anywhere near that extensive so I'd say the estimate you were give is much too high. Good luck to you - in all things!

Do a google search for submeters. I can't recommend a specific brand and some are for water only - not electric. But it's worth looking into for your situation.

@Naga Avinash Raya - all investing is risky, but you can mitigate many of those risks. Do you have the money for one purchase and one purchase only? If so, buying a SFH as a buy and hold purchase may grow your wealth, but probably fairly slowly. A turnkey or newer home with little need for repairs and maintenance can be lower risk, but also slower reward. If you're looking to increase your capital for additional purchases, looking at a property to which you can add value is likely going to amplify your capital, but it comes with risk. If you go that route, you're going to want to make sure you have trusted, vetted contractors you can rely on so really do your homework to find good people to work with. Go to a local REIA and talk to other investors about who they recommend or don't recommend. And then there's the multi family house hack - sometimes a happy medium where you get a place to live, someone to help pay the rent and also a little less time pressure to flip something quickly as you're going to want to live in it for 2 years at least to get the tax benefits. There's no one perfect deal for your situation, but the great thing about REI is that you have options. But just remember, whatever you choose doesn't have to be perfect. I think a lot of us get hung up thinking it has to go right or it's an abject failure. The truth is that very few people hit a home run on the first deal. But a solid triple, double or even a base hit will get you off to a good start!

 @Gavin DeHaai this is a tough one. It's awesome that you want to be respectful of your parents. That says a lot about your upbringing. Setting boundaries with family members is really, really challenging. It's really something best done over time if you want to preserve harmony. In other words, if you consult them on everything, they're going to expect to be consulted. If you start keeping your own counsel, it becomes more natural over time. Remind them that they raised you to be smart (you just graduated from college!), hard working (it takes determination to get through college!) and that the end result of that is a man who is smart, hard working and ready to take on his own future. You might share some of the books on investing you've probably read if you're a BP investor and if you really want to try to bring them into the fold. They probably think they're trying to protect you, which is what parents usually want to do, but don't realize that their interference isn't helping, especially if it's uninformed interference. However, in my experience, most people aren't very self-reflective so don't be surprised if that backfires. You can always smile, listen to their advice and then do your own thing. Eventually, your success will speak for itself. Believe in YOU - your belief is the only one that matters. 

@Natisha Phouphayly - you should listen to the most recent Real Estate Rookie podcast on BP. I think it was episode #25. They featured an appraiser who is also an investor and asked him this exact question. His #1 advice for achieving value was to double check the square footage of every property before you make an offer because it's very common that the square footage is not accurate so you could greatly benefit if it's much higher than listed. Adding bedrooms to a house that is big but underutilized is also a big one. Like a 2/1 or 2/2 that is 1600 sq. ft - should be plenty of room for another bedroom, for example. Kitchens and bathrooms add value. But go to the podcast for much more detail. Good luck!

We're rehabbing a SFR in far northern CA (Shasta Lake City, Zone 9). It's a total gut rehab so everything about the property is new and very nice but solid middle class - nothing extravagant. We had to pull out every bit of "landscaping" that existed because it was a jungle - vines growing through the windows and weeds covering all kinds of hazards around the house. So now it's basically barren red clay dirt. Of course we want to get maximum $ from the appraisal. My question is, how much does landscaping factor into the appraised value? Since it's going to be a rental and most tenants won't keep up the landscaping, what's the balance I should be trying to achieve to positively impact the appraisal but not overwhelm a tenant with expectations they'll have a lot to keep up? Suggestions for specific types of plants and/or hardscaping ideas would be much appreciated. Very hot, dry summers. Fairly cold winters (30's with some snow days). Full sun.

@Will Fraser - what about the opposite effect on an appraisal? We had to remove most of the "landscaping" at the house we're rehabbing for a BRRR because it was an overgrown jungle and was hiding lots of garbage and other hazards. So we had to remove it so we could make the yard safe. Now it's pretty much barren red dirt. I feel like we need to do SOMETHING to it so it appraises well - this is a full gut rehab so absolutely everything else is band new and appropriately attractive for the neighborhood. Is there a rule of thumb that says appraisers expect there to be some amount of landscaping or could they care less? SFR on a decent sized lot with a detached garage. B to B- class neighborhood, other homes have "quaint" curb appeal but nothing fancy.

@Hamza Qureshi - you volunteered so I'm taking you up on your offer! We're rehabbing a house in Shasta Lake, CA (Zone 9). Very hot summers and a bit of snow most winters. We're going to BRRR the house, so I feel like we need to do some amount of landscaping to get our best appraisal value, but I know most renters don't take care of landscaping. So my question is how best to balance out these 2 factors? I want to put in enough landscaping to give it some curb appeal for the appraisal but not spend so much that it's money lost if the tenants don't take care of it. The house has a very small front yard which we plan to put a little patch of grass and short fence around. The backyard is pretty generous. There are sidewalks on both sides of the house with room for flowerbeds between the sidewalk and foundation so we have to put something there or else it will just be dirt. Can you make some specific suggestions for plants that are low maintenance, not to costly to install and/or other ideas such as mulch/gravel/hardscaping in lieu of plants? Any help will be much appreciated!

@Marcia Maynard - this is just what I was looking for! We're rehabbing a house now that we intend to BRRR and it was an overgrown jungle when we bought it. There was so much junk buried under all the growth that we had to pull everything out just to expose all the hazards so we could remove them. So now we're left with a barren lot, basically. Even though we're going to put tenants in there so we want low maintenance landscaping and not much of it, I think we really need to plant something or we'll get dinged on the appraisal. Are there specific plants/trees/hardscaping you do or don't recommend? We're in Shasta County, CA - we get very hot summers and cold winters - a bit of snow most years in this area. I'm thinking a little bit of lawn in the back yard, some shrubs and mulch in the areas between the sidewalks and foundation and a shade tree in the front yard with a small patch of lawn. Too much upkeep??

@Ed Emmons - I'm curious about the following: 

- average age of the MH's you're acquiring

- average cost of rehab is per unit

- rent per unit after bringing it up to standards

Thanks in advance for your help!