All Forum Posts by: Brian Wilson

lol I’m curious what you were hoping to achieve with this post?

Unless you’re an licensed Psychologist and during my post on a forum you were able to better evaluate my mental fitness than the other clinical psychologists employed by the agency I used to work for when I worked in the defense sector. Where they regularly screened us for a variety of items. One being schizophrenic tendencies as this is not a good mix with SCI access. 

If you’re joking, that’s not cool. Mental health is a serious issue in this country and many Americans let theirs go unchecked.

I can see how you would receive my post this way. I can only hear them in the walls in 3 places. They have chewed one of my dressers up pretty good at the base in one spot. That’s how I realized they were getting in my bedroom. I haven’t heard them in the ceilings so I have no indications they are up there. But I pulled all the basement insulation on both sides and it was pretty bad. 4-6 spots that were obvious nests more sections filled with droppings.

As for the floor thing, that’s why it’s so weird and doesn’t make sense. As mice by nature are skiddish. I did catch a Vol on one of my traps they had wandered in. So there’s that possibility. 

I have some family friends coming by to check on the scratching in the floor and confirm what I’m hearing. It’s possible I’m imagining it, just not likely. 

I appreciate where you are coming from. I’m pretty in touch with my mental health, these are not hallucinations. For the first time in a long time I caught a mouse this afternoon. So I thought “is this the last one?” Go and kneel in random places. Sure enough scratching/biting at where ever I’m putting the most pressure. Also these aren’t things I’m just hearing, you can feel it. The vibrations in the floors allow it to travel quite easily. I’m thinking (hoping) activity will pick up until I get them all now that all exclusion work has been completed.

So bottom line up front, I’ve placed traps. Caught 2 larger mice and 1 vol inside my property. This has been over the span of 2 months. Despite still feeling scratching anytime I kneel down on the floor. I haven’t caught anything in over a month. The tenants left a little over a week ago and they were dirty as can be.

The really weird thing is no matter what room I’m in they come and start scratching the floor any time I’m kneeling down or putting a lot of pressure in one spot. I have installed new lvp ontop of laminate and directly on sub floor. Both were clean. I pulled all the insulation in the basement (found droppings). Have had Orkin come out and do exclusion work this weekend. But not a single kill trap I bait has worked. 

I thought they might be in all the return air registers so I placed snap traps with dog food on them. Un-touched for over a week. 

I’m at my wits end here on how to get them out. I’ve put out poison balls. And bait stations. Nothing. Put out baking soda, flour and sugar mixture, nothing. 

I have not seen a mouse (other than those I’ve caught) or any droppings outside of the insulation I pulled.

Besides arson (joking) what you do at this point. 

Matthew, thanks for the feedback. I would be looking at a value add play through rehab, so that should help me get closer to my ideal +15% coc return. I have come to realize that while cash flow is essential, wealth is built from appreciation. So I would be looking at a 3-5 year horizon maybe longer if it made sense and pending market conditions. With that in mind, I think getting into any property I can house hack and then effectively turn into a a 15% rental after moving out would be ideal. If the thought is offloading properties in a 3-5 year timeline, wouldn't a SF live in renovation play make the most sense in an appreciating market? Enough CF to still turn a decent profit, and I would be able to rehab the property myself to some extent and capitalize on the "free" labor. I'd be able to repeat every 12-18 months and then hold the properties until they make more sense to sell than keep. 

My biggest concern short term is I want to stop paying rent and mitigate most if not all of my monthly living expenses, and long term leave Wisconsin with assets generating wealth for me. 

@Nathan Regina thanks for chiming in! Block by block works for most investors, however as someone who travels for work and will likely not be living in Wisconsin for more than 6 years; eventually the market will become an out of state investment for me. Block by block induces higher risk thresholds than what I find acceptable for out of state investing. Granted I may learn the area to mitigate that risk upon initial investment, but block by block strategies require updated intimate market knowledge (to protect the investment) and areas can begin to go downhill in 6-18 months which is easy to miss when you're not a hands on in market owner. 

@Jeremy Anhalt Thanks for posting! Can you provide a little context that supports that assessment? Do you invest only in Fond Du Lac or other areas and if so why those areas? I'm not looking for a deep dive, just curious for the topographical info. 

Hey BP,

I'm the final steps of accepting a new job in Wisconsin. I'm probably going to be living in the Oshkosh area due to close proximity to work. That being said I'm curious to get the input of active investors in the state and their thoughts on what city/towns they like best and why. I still plan to invest in my original home town of KCMO, but I think Wisconsin brings good opportunity for portfolio diversification.

My initial thoughts:

Madison seems like the only sure market to be a solid investment for buy and hold due to it's quality of life, demographics, and strong university presence.

Milwaukee is quite large but seems to be quite rough in the areas where investing would make sense. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Appleton also seems like an opportunity. Small city with lots of entertainment options and very family friendly. Seems like a more updated version of Oshkosh from what I can tell.

Thank you all in advance from all your inputs!

Hi BP!

I know typically lenders want verifiable employment for at least 2 years to qualify for a loan. If you lost your job, and then gain new employment at a higher salary within the same industry a few months later does that 2 year period restart?

Any insight from you all would be greatly appreciated. 

Merry Christmas everyone and thanks in advance.

As long as people are willing to "overpay" the market will follow this trend. I'm not stating that we aren't due for a correction. But eventually the prices we currently see will at some point be normal market rates. You can't time the market. While real-estate moves slower than the stock market, it's very possible to miss a correction period. Especially if you haven't ever bought a deal before. Wisdom comes from experience, and that's where money during recessions is made (along with luck). However, if you buy 1 deal a year for the next 20 years you're going to get the DCA (dollar cost averaging) effect. Just develop your criteria and stick to it. The only way you should hold off, is if your ROI's are not attainable during the current market. At which point you could look at other locations; but I digress.