All Forum Posts by: Carlos O.

I agree with @Alexander Felice, don't be too hasty to sell the house. Is it possible to turn it into a cashflowing rental? Depending on the numbers you may be able to do a cash out refi and still rent it for cashflow + all the other benefits of depreciation and taxes.

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of getting an RE license in CA, mostly to gain access to MLS, but also to learn about different options in RE in case I decide to birddog or wholesale. Can any CA realtors share the fees they have to pay to maintain their license and have access to MLS? I'm curious about these costs.

Thanks,

Birddogging is when you go looking for deals to provide to an investor(s). From my understanding, it's typically a position taken under a mentor who will be your buyer. He/she tells you what they are looking for and you go looking for it then bring the deal back to the investor. With birddogging, you typically don't deal with contracts. Wholesaling is birddogging on steroids. You not only have to look for the property, but also have to get it under contract and spend the $$$ for marketing. You also are not working directly under any one investor. Some people start off with birddogging as a way to learn what rehabbers/flippers are looking for and then they "graduate" up to wholesalers, where they run their own business.

Don't forget to look at deferred maintenance on a property. You may run in a property that looks good now, but then find that you may need to replace certain expensive items in a few years. Then the property doesn't look so good after all.

@Jerry W.

I like the fact that titanium wrap is waterproof. I'd have to look more closely into it, but in theory, you could use it to defer roof replacement since water won't be able to get in even after the roof has gone bad. Of course, this is an investment that would take 20+ years to see any return on. 

Thanks everyone for contributing your thoughts and experiences. If come across any flooring needs, I'll likely get the Allure Ultra or Smartcore since they seems to offer the best long run solution to flooring.

@Jerry W.

Where are your rentals located? What's titanium wrap and what are the alternatives to it?

Hello BP,

Learning about real estate never seems to stop. Today, I am thinking about roofs. I'm planning on being an out of state long term buy and hold investor. I'm currently looking at Kansas City and I have a few questions, especially for those that live there. In looking at roofs, I see that there are several types, but essentially (for the purposes of most landlords) it boils down to to 3 tab or architectural shingles. To add another dimension to that, if the home is in an area where it hails or has really strong winds, the shingles can also come with impact resistance. 

So I have a lot of questions about this and am seeking to learn from those that have experience with this. If you currently own property in an area where it hails, does your roof have impact resistance or not? If you needed to change the roof, would you go with IR shingles or not?

There's always the cost tradeoff, but I would like to do the right thing for the long run. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this BP'ers.

@Bryan N. 

Do you self manage all your properties? If so, how do you currently handle maintenance issues?

Thanks everyone, I will be sure to check out the traffic master and compare the costs/pros/cons vs the other types.