All Forum Posts by: Juan Cristales

Man!!!! We finally got the meters installed and the rain has stopped so that the machinery doesn't just SINK in the MUD! 

This small item of getting the meters installed has meant SIGNIFICANT progress since now we can have clean water. Post inspection, we will be able to do the driveway forms and get that inspected. Then we'll pour the concrete for the driveway and finish the sod. Once that's complete, we'll paint and get all the minor items finished so we can get the Certificate of Occupancy (COO) from the city.

Sat progress is good progress!

Juan-

 Yeah man.. it's tough at the beginning to learn how to assess rehabs without having some level of experience in either doing it yourself or hiring people out. 

Juan-

 Too true.. once you go through the process, you get an appreciation for the work and you quickly realize that our time is better spent elsewhere. Appreciate you being transparent about it!

Juan-

 You're right about the inspectors being generous, especially if you're upfront that you're a newbie and could use some guidance. They WANT investors like us to learn how to do it right. 

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Juan-

Not to be cliche about it but you do have to start with the "end in mind." I commend you on planning it out first. Too many just dive right in without counting the cost, heck I've done that. 

Always start with the systems first: For the soffit, you may or may not impact the roofing system as this may require fascia to be replaced. If so, then the drip-edge on the roof will not survive the replacement (at least, this has been my experience). 

For the bathrooms, you'll need to figure out if you're keeping the original layout and will be changing out valves or if you're planning on changing out the water lines. If you go with Matte Black finishes, the plumber will need to know that upfront vs Brushed Nickel stuff.

Lastly, if you haven't done a bunch of remodeling I would ask my local group of investors for recommendations for contractors and ask them why. 

When I first started I got quotes for foundation repairs that ran the gauntlet of pricing. $4,500. $9K and $18K. I was SO confused and didn't know what to do. So I asked a friend who had done a ton more rehabs than me and he laughed at me. I didn't see what was funny. 

He told me that both the $9k and $18k guy were going to hire the $4,500 guy to do the work. So, frustrated I said... so just use the $4,500 guy?! 

He said, "NO!" 

Get a structural engineer to draw the house and show you where you need piers. He costs $450 and isn't trying to sell you foundation services. Take that report to a foundation company and ask them to bid you on the number of piers shown on the report by the structural engineer! I had no idea. 

Moral of the story... make friends with local investors in your area who have more deals under their belt than you. Some are jerks. Some are not. 

We started a WhatsApp group of local investors (just 9 of us) and we share EVERYTHING. Good contractors. Bad contractors. Best practices. We all do something a little differently.. and sometimes you just need to vent. It's a free group by the way.

Best of luck!

 This is awesome! 

For sure... Good on you as the home owner for your compassion but allowing this to continue indefinitely is doing everyone a bit of a disservice. You, for obvious reasons. The tenant is unfortunately living outside of reality and may not know or understand it. This is tough. Would like to hear how it pans out for you. I think you can definitely find a middle ground.

 I feel your pain! It's like you're telling my story. People call me a control freak, I like to call myself a "control enthusiast." (talking about me personally by the way...) All jokes aside, mastery in this field requires that you get into the weeds of it because it's only then that you know what good looks like. I'm sure you can probably do a rehab in your sleep and hitting HARD timelines in my opinion is good for my mental health and budget. 

I've always found that City Engineers know more about what going on as a whole than planning commissions and even entire departments inside the local jurisdiction. They're alway busy of course but meeting with them for a focused, rapid fire shot of ideas has worked for me. I've learned so much about the "future plans" for the local areas and adjacent areas, MAJOR infrastructure concerns that sometimes the public isn't even aware of. Good topic! I'd love to learn more about it. 

Hey David! Congrats on making the moves and the eagerness to find out as much as you can. Thanks for your service! If you work with a mortgage broker, they typically do their best to find you the most competitive rates as they aren't tied to any one lender. There are always fees and yes, the VA Loan is a great way of getting started. Here's a few items I wished I had done a better job on from my very first house:

1. Moving to a new duty station means increase in insurance and and property management. Don't let it be a deal killer, it's part of the business and you'll make out fine if you can hang on to this property long-term.

2. Collecting local trusted contractors. I totally failed in this regard. Bought a new house so it didn't need much maintenance. Then when I left and the house needed maintenance, I had to rely on the property manager for contractors... it didn't work out well for me. It might be totally different for you.

3. I went through SEVERAL property managers unfortunately. Since you're going to be the "property manager" while you are there, I recommend putting together some sort of SOP or some sort of guide-sheet you can hand a property manager. I didn't do this and my expectations vs what I got just didn't line up and it was very frustrating for me. I'm sure it was no cake-walk for the property manager either. 

4. Summer movers in the military. This is a BIG one I had no real idea about. Try your best to coincide the end of tenant leases during the summer months and start marketing the rental early enough. You get some people that are like you and like to plan early. If you wait too long and your rental gets stuck in the fall and winter months, it may take a little longer to lease. 

5. Stay away from young military couples who have such a short amount of time being in the military and are already married. They're not all bad but for many of them, it's their first time away from home with big responsibilities and they are still trying to figure it all out. They may make the money but they don't know/understand basic things like changing out air-filters for the HVAC or simple items like cleaning up after themselves. They think because you have a rental, you're somehow Mr. Moneybags. LOL!

Ok.. made this post too long.. Best of luck! You got this! 

12k sf lot is a good sized lot in Houston. Most engineers and architects (who build and draw there) will offer a free consultation for something like this. They would be able to help guide you as to the density (or number of total units) that would be allowed on this lot. You do have some DOT (dept of transportation) considerations along with Emergency Service access. All that means is that if you decide to do a row of duplexes, quads, etc... to one side or the other of the lot, firetrucks and ambulances would need to have enough room to be able to turnaround.

On road frontage, it is always desirable to have all the front-doors to the units facing the street. Since your lot looks to be a little more narrow on the street side, get with an architect/engineer that can quickly answer that and give you feedback. 

Do the research on that first. Decide on what is going to be the highest and best use for the land. This way you'll have an idea of the scale of the project. Once you've determined that you can determine how you will fund this endeavor. 

Always be talking to private lenders about their appetite for something like this. 

Juan-