All Forum Posts by: Charles Whitaker

Matty,

I am currently having to go through this situation on one of my rehabs. I will probably take the route of replacing the first outlet in the circuit with a gfci so that the other outlets that it feeds is gfci protected with no ground.

FYI, in the master bedroom, the two wire outlet is a "end of the line" outlet meaning that others are wired in the circuit before that one. The six wire outlet is most likely one source wire(one wire meaning black and white combined) and two feeds out to other outlets. The five wire outlet can be checked to make sure the ground is actually functional. Use a multimeter and test for line voltage between black and ground, if voltage is present then check for voltage difference between white and ground. Should be zero if not really close to zero. Lastly, you can check for continuity between white and ground, these two wires should have continuity since they terminate at the same place in the breaker panel. (actually, they terminate at different places within the panel according to the new code, but electrically they are the same.)

Hope I didn't add to your misery!

Ofgift,

I would try wetting the soil around the crevice that you are trying to fill. Let the mud trickle into the cavity and then repeat with more dirt and more water until it is filled. of course, packing the mud into the crevice would need to be done.

Good luck

the 2005 NEC code book (sorry, don't have the updated version) states in 406.3(D) Replacements of Non-grounding-Type Receptacles. The installation shall comply with the following:

(a) A non-grounding type receptacle shall be permitted to be replaced with another non-grounding type receptacle
(b) a non-grounding type receptacle shall be permitted to be replaced with a ground-fault circuit interrupter type of receptacle. These shall be marked "no equipment ground". An equipment ground conductor shall not be connected from the GFCI receptacle to any outlet supplied from the GFCI receptacle.
(c) A non-grounding type receptacle shall be permitted to be replaced with a grounding type receptacle where supplied through a GFCI. Grounding type receptacles supplied through the GFCI shall be marked "GFCI Protected" and "No Equipment ground". An equipment grounding conductor shall not be connected between the grounding type receptacles.

Hopefully this clears the cloud of confusion.

Out of curiosity, what is on your investor profile forms that you leave at the local REI meetings? You may be lacking the results that you desire with this method due to the lack of great deals. If you have truly great deals then they will basically sell themselves. And yes, a great deal is considered a rare gem; hard to find but well worth the effort.

When you are a newbie to the business the deals are harder to find and you usually realize softer profits. As you progress, though, deals will come easier and you learn how to control the profits in a way that you never thought possible. Experience is pricy; with a lack of funds I wouldn't jump on the wrong deal without a few solid backups if needed.
"It's better to pass on a good deal than to buy a bad deal."

As for the follow-ups,
1. Great deals sell themselves. For all those other minimal deals (which you will find a lot of), advertise in local paper, in the thrifty-nickel ads, your own website, other investors' websites, wholesalers, rehabbers, landlords, mls, FSBO ads, signs, local REI meetings, craigslist, and so on. Any place that you could advertise that may draw a buyer out.

2. On our local mls, their is a searchable parameter called private remarks and public remarks. You can then enter a list of words pertinent to your search such as: remodeled, updated, everything new, etc. Any word typed in by the listing realtor is searchable and it comes in quite handy. Creativity is key to finding anything of value, use your time wisely. Also, this information cannot be found an any public real estate site.

Actually, a lot of times the listing agent will put something about being remodeled into the general information section for the house, if so, then you can pick these buyers out of the paper or any other listing service. You then may cross reference these names with your local tax assessors office or the county clerk to find out if they have a history of buying and selling homes. Wham, got a buyer.

Good luck

As of recently I found a cat inside of the dishwasher (alive), I found another cat at a different property in a bag under the back porch (dead). I have collected new lawn mowers, weed eaters, power tools, bicycles, etc.

These bonuses are great! (except for the cats)

read this thread to find out why wholesaling to a retail client is not usually feasable.

http://biggerpockets.com/forums/93/topics/26699-selling-to-an-realestate-agent?

Originally posted by Shi'mere Andrus:

1. I can't find buyers.

Get great deals under contract and buyers will literally line up. Use the mls to look up owners that have sold completely remodeled homes, REI club, advertisements.

This is the time to stick with it, wanting to get somewhere with no money is hard, very hard. Get creative, follow obituaries, divorces, high equity homes with withering people inside(sorry, not funny). There is plenty of low cost advertisements that you can employ, just don't stop hacking towards another deal.

May have to try another, smaller, more cost effective market to play in.

Inventory, yes. Great deals in the inventory, not likely. The best deals still come directly from homeowners and investors still need deals, they are just paying less for them now. Investors can still get financing but now with more restrictions, guidelines, and hightened FICO scores. Homebuyers are still out there, a few come out of the brush everyday. I expect that more will follow as income tax is dispersed and the economy plays out.


Success will never come to those who give up, keep plugging away. Others that work around me have since given up on themselves and their own visions. I have yet to succumb, never will. The blood, sweat, and tears from this business is awesome, nothing quite matches having a deal go through after tearing your heart out. You must find your big why - why am I doing this. Monetary gain is not a big why

Even with using a HML, our closings are usually no longer than 5 days. A few minutes to research the comps or look over the averages for the area, run and look at the house and make an offer. Don't leave home without a contract.
It's funny, though. Seems like all of the local investors flock to the same deals daily, like following bread crumbs.

Mr. Webber here had a house that he offered at the local REI meeting. The meeting ended around 9:00 p.m., dark outside, of course. I ran some quick numbers, drove by the house and decided that it was a great deal. I knew other investors would be itchy for it so I sent Ryan a text at 2 in the morning saying that I would buy it sight unseen.
I did buy it, turned out to be the easiest and one of the most profitable rehabs that I have done. Thanks Ryan

Somewhat odd but I have a few tiles that I am trying to match. The old tile has a flat finish and the closest tile that I found has a gloss finish. Can I remove the glaze or dull the tile to match?
Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks

Fred,

Do not contact the installer for this, condensation on the window (not between) is from high humidity within the home. If the roof don't leak, if the window is not drafty, if nothing is out of the ordinary then your culprit is humidity. Oftentimes humidity builds the "tighter" a home becomes, thus causing condensation where there used to be none.

Best of luck