All Forum Posts by: Dallas Hayden

Generally only your money will convince a city to build a road to service your property. Why would a city go out of the way and spend public dollars to build such a road? Even then you'll often have to hire your own contractors to handle the job. Suggest seeking a variance for a smaller/less expensive access lane. 

Claire, It looks like your pier and beam house has no "beam". Plus the piers appear to be sitting on old pieces of concrete. Check the crawlspace underneath the low points and you will probably discover that the piers have sunk into the ground. Settlement may be caused by undersized pier bases, water ingress into the crawlspace, expansive soil, etc. Without an exterior "beam", water may be running into the crawl space. An exterior beam would also help keep the house from shifting. Also watch for termite damage due to wood/soil contact. 

Is your house single story? I'd recommend you add a proper exterior beam and upsize any small pier bases. My single story house has 20"x20" pier bases and a 12" wide concrete grade beam sitting on compacted 1" rock. The compacted rocks under the beam rest on bedrock. Fortunately for me bedrock is 20" below grade but YMMV. 

P.S. I'd also add a vapor barrier to reduce humidity in the crawlspace. 

Good luck!

In my opinion, 40's-50's homes can be some of the most problematic. Pre-WW2 homes that are still standing were often built well or have been well cared-for. Cheaper post-WW2 homes were often constructed quickly in volume for young families, etc. Lots of innovations during this period and many of the "bugs" weren't yet worked out. Examples:

-early slab construction

-earlier-style cloth-wrapped electrical wiring without grounds

-Often some questionable sheathing practices

-Plumbing materials in transition (still mostly cast iron drains but changes to supply piping)

-Lower-grade trim used inside and out.

No knob and tube but plan for a complete electrical rewire anyway. Plan for slab problems, EOL cast iron drains, lead paint, potentially asbestos, etc. So you can get most of the drawbacks of earlier homes without some of the positives. My grandparents built a custom 3000 sq ft ranch home in 1960 and had to pay for significant upgrades to resolve many of the issues that came with the "base model" homes of the period. They paid to upgrade the foundation so it wouldn't fail early. They also paid extra for grounded electrical wiring, better plumbing, sheathing, siding, trim, etc. Many of those upgrades would be code-required or standard practice today. 

Ravi, I would talk to a local attorney before you do anything. From your description it sounds like the neighbor is a bully. Usually (at least in TX) someone can't get adverse possession just by parking a car in a neighbor's driveway occasionally. Can be very situation-specific though. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

Elena, it sounds like you're on your way here. I would just confirm the complete foundation repair cost and as Andrew said plan to budget in repairs to other building systems. You may need to repair a bunch of drywall cracks once the foundation has been repaired. Perhaps rehang a bunch of doors, replace tile, etc. I would make sure you have enough margin on this deal to cover any unexpected problems. What are the existing lease terms? Can you relocate the existing tenants for a week or two if necessary? Sometimes services need to be disconnected temporarily during foundation work. Also 6' is pretty tight if you need to replace any of the block basement walls.

Since water is involved I'd also check the mud sills above the bricks for termites and rot. Treated lumber wasn't very common in 1920. Also would you be replacing the structural bricks? Sometimes old bricks/mortar lose strength/fail. If the bricks are dusting or crumbling, watch out! As others here say, I'd have a structural engineer review the foundation and specify a fix. I'd ensure the foundation guys follow his/her fix to a T. There are many unscrupulous contractors out there. 

I'd budget in site drainage work (and perhaps gutters?) to keep water from running into the basement. Expansive clay can be tough to work with. Recommend controlling site drainage. 

Finally if you proceed with major foundation work, I'd make sure the contractor is insured and bonded. A 200,000+lb building can cause serious damage if it falls. Anyway, this is just my 2 cents- recommend confirming everything with local experts and be safe. Good luck! 

P.S. Do you know if the basement blocks are filled with concrete and rebar? If no rebar was used in the blocks and they are failing, you may wind up just having to replace the walls. 

$50k-$100k wouldn't surprise me if the building is larger, heavier, and serious foundation work is required. Where I live, lifting a pier and beam 1200 sq ft SFR and replacing its foundation runs around $30k-$40k minimum. A multistory brick 4plex with basement is a far different story.

Learn as much as possible about the renovation process and how to evaluate properties. Do your own research. See if you can apprentice with a good contractor for a couple weeks so you learn more about the various trades. Your success depends strongly on your ability to understand construction, local market forces, contractor culture, financials, and your ability to evaluate the physical conditions of properties. Lenders may be hesitant to lend if you can't demonstrate your competence in these areas. 

Some examples of items you should understand: recommended (non-treated) wood/soil separation, all common DFW residential foundation types, minimum roof slope for asphalt shingles, termite identification, etc. 

Hi Sean,

Problems you may run into now are high construction/material costs and labor shortages. In my market, the margins on new construction are pretty tight and appreciation often isn't great enough. For the most part I stick to vacant land investments (zoned everything from office to residential and industrial). The vacant land business can be brutal but rewarding. I've been held up by a guy with an AK47 while looking for a vacant parcel...

My suggestion is to avoid diving into a 4plex for the first investment property. I'd search for a quality contractor and look at rehabbing a smaller SFR. You'll learn a bunch and your losses should be relatively small if you mess something up. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Good luck!

Dallas

You may not be able to "repair" the foundation. If the basement walls are failing or collapsing, you may need to replace them! Did you get a structural engineer to check the basement walls? Based on your description (basement walls collapsing inward), only the foundation would worry me. Foundations can be relatively straightforward to fix. A single story house can often be lifted with small bottle jacks however I'd be much more worried about a 4-plex. How many stories? Is the exterior wood or brick? How deep is the basement? Clearance from the street and nearby properties?

If your intent is to buy and hold, the house has multiple stories, has brick walls, and you intend to hire a foundation repair crew, the foundation "repairs" may eat your lunch. Worst case you may need to dig out around the basement and build temporary retaining walls and building cribbing while you replace the basement walls. If you're working with limited clearance the costs may rise dramatically. Replacement may take weeks and during this time the house may be uninhabitable. 

I don't intend to scare you however I have significant foundation experience. I also don't normally say this, however I'd be VERY cautious with the foundation. You don't want a boat anchor/liability on your hands. 

I definitely wouldn't allow a tenant to run an auto repair business from a residential garage. I'd just recommend allowing the tenant to make minor repairs to his/her own cars in the garage. Of course, the tenant would need to carry insurance on the cars, dispose of any chemicals properly, etc. Of course this may vary depending on your location and average HH income. Where I live it would be tough to rent out a house with a garage at market rate while prohibiting all auto repairs. Nearly everyone here has a car and most of us wind up making minor auto repairs from time to time. 

P.S. Cleaning chemicals are an entirely different ball of wax IMO. I wouldn't allow any parts cleaning, etc. even on tenant-owned vehicles.