All Forum Posts by: Chris Merchant

There is also a HUGE possibility that should something God forbid go wrong and your house burns down, collapses, someone gets electrocuted or it floods and the insurance company finds out you had work done yet never got it inspected or had a permit they can and most likely will say, "well we are sorry but you had illegal work done which caused this damage therefore we are not liable to cover the damages, have a wonderful day".  Insurance companies try their hardest to dig up any little thing to weasel out of paying things they know they are liable to pay so don't think for a second that if there is something they have a legitimate leg to stand on to get out of writing you a check they won't exploit it.

Best bet is tell the GC that you demand a permit be pulled and it is their job to pull it so if they don't wish to do things the right way in all aspects of the job than thank them for their time and move onto another GC.  One of the major duties of a GC is to pull permits and deal with the inspectors and paperwork, that is what they are paid to do.  They have the right to argue and tell you that you/they don't need a permit and it is also your right to hire someone else who will do the job the right way which includes the permits.  When we bid a job where I work we include the time and money spent on pulling permits and meeting with the inspectors, it is all figured into the bid price.  

Dangerous breeds typically consist of: Doberman Pinscher, Pit Bull, Rottweiler, German Shepard and more but those are the common ones. 

You can always charge a pet fee and increase the rent a small amount monthly as Nathan said.  As for which breeds though some breeds have stereotypes of certain behaviors it is ultimately the animals environment and upbringing/training.  Though you may want to check with your insurance company/agent as they can/have dropped people over certain breeds or they could require you get certain riders/add-ons with certain breeds.  They could also exclude liability coverage for the animal(s) they deem a "dangerous breed" which that you do not want because then should something tragic happen you being the property owner would be liable out of pocket.  Now I am not sure if to cover yourself in that scenario if you could in the lease somehow make the tenant get their own liability coverage for the animal you would need to check with an insurance agent and attorney on the legality of that.  I am not even sure if insurance companies offer such policies to cover only the dog, and if they do if it is something that would release you from any liability of the animal should something happen.

It appears that most insurance companies will raise the rate 1% on "dangerous breeds".

My homeowners made me purchase a canine liability or threatened they would drop me due to the fact I have a pit bull even though he is big baby they consider him a "risk" and a "dangerous breed" though my lab they have no issues with.

No matter what you do though I would add in the lease that no pets are allowed to be on the property without prior written approval of management.  That way you at least know what kinds of pets are on your property ahead of time, and it lowers the chance of putting you in a bad position of finding out a family got their children a cute puppy that they love and you come in and tell them the dog has to go.  Trust me that will be hard, though its the right thing to do it will be hard.

I allow pets but require tenants to get written permission first and the animals approved to be on the property are listed in their file.  I also have had MORE issues with cats over dogs, cats leave an odor and no matter what it seems every cat enjoys urinating in every room of the house, dogs for the most part go outside and the owners know it is their responsibility to clean up after their dogs even outside. 

Hello BP community, I have a potential lead on a 3 bed 2 bath SFH single story house in Milton Florida end of a cul-de-sac. Pool, attached car port, dethatched garage, covered side porch and rear deck, 5 acres (1.5 acres mowed), 1.8 miles from I-10. Front left corner of the roof has damage from a tree limb (above a bedroom). Trying to get more details.

The neighbor to the house has offered $50,000.00 and the seller hasn't placed it on the market yet and already has another house so would probably be willing to creatively finance. 

Does anyone know the area?  What is the current market like?  If anyone is interested in possible purchase PM me and I will put them in touch with the seller.

 If I had to guess I'd say he is paying more than its worth due to the fact the seller is financing with 0% interest, $700,000 for a $625,000 property is not bad considering if he were to get a traditional loan and put 20% down he is gonna finance $500,000 and at 7.282% his payments would be roughly $3422.00 a month for 30 years so that route he would be paying $1,231,920.00 over the life of the loan.  So by paying the seller $75,000 to finance the deal he is saving himself $500,000

@Shaun Weekes do you have knowledge on this type of thing?

It would be considered advertising unless you did so in like face to face conversation.

My advice would be you as the owner/landlord pay the water, as being a municipal utility if it goes unpaid the municipality can place a lien on the property.  Other than that unless the other utilities are subject to the same types of liens you should have the tenant pay them.  But you do not want your tenant to not pay the water and have the city slap a lien on your property.

It almost sounds that the GC may not be licensed to perform the work needing to be done or is "blackballed" in the county for previous issues with the building department but they don't want to lose the bid/job.

I look at the $75,000.00 over value as the interest, as I'm sure the seller is adding that extra amount in return for the seller financing.

@Bruce Woodruff can you offer some insight on this.

I would say pull the permit, if somehow the county finds out you did unpermitted work there is a chance (they do around here in certain cities) they make you rip out the work or "open" it so they can go through and inspect at the various stages as they would have if permitted plus they will make you pay the permit fee and most likely slap you with a hefty fine.  Being an investor and not a homeowner they will probably be a little more harsh on you.