All Forum Posts by: Bruce C.

@Stanley Ezeadi how did things go with roommates during lockdowns and wfh over the past year?  Did any of your roommates still have to go in to work? Y’all have any quarantines in your shared home?

Not really a great time for sellers to use wholesalers. Hot market. Why use a wholesaler when you can get 10-20 offers on your house in 24 hours offering to close in a week with cash?  

@Account Closed I sent you a message. Give me a call or message me back and maybe I can help you out. 

Thanks Sam. Spring break turned out pretty good on the vacation rentals. How are things going with you?

I had a set back with the wind insurance. Last year they only wanted us to redo the flat roof. We had insurance lined up and I had my old canceled, and I got a call from my agent saying now they want the whole roof redone and certified. To do the other part it will be ~3500, and it will only have been about $7k total, but it would have been nice when I asked if they had told me last year. 

We have our 4th property, but it’s a a LONG time table. We purchased a 4th row lot on Bolivar from the tax sale auction today! Current plan is to build an elevated deck with a roof that is engineered/designed to one day be finished out as a 3 or 4 bedroom house. In the meantime, we’ll set up for 2 RV connections and spots, buy one RV to leave there, and rent out the RV and/or RV spot for people bringing their own. We’ll see how the the plan evolves. Our long term goal is to retire to the beach (15-20’years). We’d prefer Galveston, but this may be our spot depending on how things work out. 

Our current inspiration for deck design a few blocks away:

Sorry to hijack the thread, or at least detour it a little, but I had a question about windstorm insurance providers in Galveston. This thread had more of the locals, and was the best I could find with BPs search engine. 

Does anyone know any local non TWIA windstorm providers?  Quick run down, we had our TWIA policy not renewed about 18 months ago. After discussions with them, they said a partial RE-roof in 2010 wasn’t certified. We paid and got that 1/3 of the roof replaced and certified. My insurance agent had new coverage lined up with TWIA but they called him and are now requiring the rest of the roof be certified. So we’re going to have to go back with our expensive insurance if we can’t find another insurer. 

Thanks for your time 

I don’t know if this was the ONLY option you had available, but don’t discount your time spent driving. You are waisting 2.5 hours a day of your life. Easily $1000 if you tack a $/hr cost to your time plus gas. Maybe an extra 2.5 hours a day gives you the time to find a great deal. And it’s not all about the money. Maybe just you live a happier healthier life because you aren’t in the car all the time. 

Figure out what your priorities are first and go from there. I hate commuting so much that I would consider moving in your circumstances   saving my life.  That is worth not hitting a home run. Hell, you’re still doing better than most getting half your monthly mortgage paid. 

The website was terrible. I got was almost done filling everything out from the the landlord side of it when it asked if the tenant received any other housing assistance. Mine are section 8. So all that for nothing, and section 8 was only picking up 70% of their bill until November (and not included water or lawn), so that’s ~$4k we will never see from this tenant. If section 8 drops back below %100 rent coverage I think we will be evicting. 

With the market right now, did you not have 10 other buyers lined up? Odds are likely you can't get any of the earnest money because they can say they were unable to get lending, but I haven't seen your contract. The EMD is kind of the forest for the trees at this point. Tell them you're not extending unless they drop ALL of the credits at close. And add in that if you do extend and they can't close on time you get all the EMD (you'll probably want a lawyer to word that). If they say no it is time to move on.

 I will check that out, thank you!

We are looking at putting up a nice deck on Bolivar, just across from Galveston, and putting an rv on it for people to rent out, as well as having a parking spot for someone bringing their own RV. Problem is, I’m not sure where to advertise. I know people do it, because I’ve driven it and seen them. Airbnb and VRBO only have a handful of listings. I quickly checked outdoorsy and they seemed to be more in to rentals that you drive/tow. 

Anyone have any good ideas?