All Forum Posts by: Blair Poelman

Before you jump into that deal you might want to check your state's disclosure and stigma laws so you know what you have to disclose when you sell the property. 

If the place has been sitting for a while and the damages have been left unchecked there's a decent chance you will be looking at a substantial renovation negating all the room for potential. 

Using OPM is a great way to get started, but be prepared to have less control of your deals when you're playing with somebody else's cash.  Using your own cash will give you a whole lot more control, and cost you a lot less. 

Keep in mind when using a "no money down" technique, you are still paying, just in other ways like with your time, effort, blood, sweat, first born...

I know a bunch of guys that are doing a lot of deals, and most of them are not really killing it.  

The guys who are walking away with decent profits are the guys that are using their own cash to do the deals.  Cash is king, and he with the gold rules.

Keeping the home and renting it out is probably a decent option, depending on where the home is - however regardless where the place is in Utah County, rents are pretty ridiculously high.    You will most likely pay substantially more than $802.57 to rent right now - unless you are living in a 1 bed 1 bath studio...

I made the mistake of selling my first house when I upgraded to the next - Had I not made that mistake I would have owned it outright by now... Keep it if you can.

@Ryan Johnston  at this point it's probably not a bad idea to call your agent and go walk through the active comps looking at fit, finish, styles, etc of the rehab.  Walking through sold comps is a challenge, but take a closer look at the entire spectrum of sold comps.  When you examine all the sold comps and compare each of them you will likely see some commonalities within the individual price ranges.  This will also help you make the right decisions on your rehab scope of work.

Hopefully you don't get cracked on the 2nd house you bought with an FHA loan that you are not occupying.

I've done lots of houses with pools (at least 30 in the past 10 years). Most have been rentals, some flips. In many cases, the pool has been a defining factor in rentability and salability.  A couple things come to my mind:

1. Seems to me that an empty pool is just as much a liability as a fully operating pool. 
2. If it hasn't been used in 20 years there is likely a substantial amount of updating to get it up and running.  
3. Somebody is going to have to deal with either fixing it, covering it, or filling it in.
4. If you choose to fill it in, you might have to actually take it out - meaning bust up the walls and haul it to the dump.  CA isn't exactly the most relaxed construction / demolition atmosphere.
5. Consider the cost to fix vs. the increased value you will have with an operating pool. 
6. Consider the local rental market - will a functioning pool allow you to get higher rent, or a better tenant?

I know I've not really provided any specific answers for you here, but these are things that I consider when it comes to old pools. 

@Peter Ceo

Yes you should be concerned, but without knowing the whole story I can't say much about what level of patience you should employ.

There's a chance your PM is fine and just got a bad tenant - it happens to the best of us.  There's also a chance the PM sucks and you either need to part ways according to what the PM agreement allows, or become substantially more involved in the relationship with the manager - essentially becoming the "squeaky wheel" who will get the grease.

Keep in mind the RE industry has a very small barrier to entry, which allows a lot of seemingly unable people to get involved.  Having a license and operating as a "professional" property management company does not mean the clients will have a professional or quality experience. 

Consider the options that sit in front of a "guru":

A. Fight for deals, deal with idiot agents and unrealistic buyers & sellers, chase down contractors, battle with inspections and junky old houses, and then deal with squatters, vandals, tenants & toilets.

--OR--

B. Show up for a couple-hours speaking gig a few times a month and make the equivalent profit of multiple home-run deals without ever having to freeze or sweat your butt off in crusty old houses with no heat or AC.

We all (well, most of us) do what we do in order to get paid.  If we all had options A or B, I'd be willing to bet $1 that most of us would take option B.  I know I would.

I personally know several "gurus" and I've done more many deals with multiple gurus across 10 states and have done well with some, not so much with others. Some of these gurus know what they're doing, and they are very good at what they do. Others are just marketable people and are good at speaking to a crowd and motivating people to do something - like spend money.

@Collin Baumann  dealing with lead paint is not exactly complicated, but does require attention to detail and some safety precautions.  I'm not a painter or a lead remediation specialist, so I'm not the guy to give you the step by step instruction.  There are plenty of resources online that will point you in the right direction but the best way is to consult with a specialist on your specific situation.

@Jerel Ehlert  @James Miller  Several very good points, Gentlemen. 

I would only argue that... 

wait, I'm not going to argue with attorneys  :)