All Forum Posts by: Dallas Hayden

Commercial building just for auto repairs?! I respectfully disagree. I would allow tenants to make minor auto repairs to their cars like oil changes (if used oil is properly disposed), air filter changes, tire rotations, etc. If you prohibit any repairs, where do you draw the line? What if the tenant needs to fill a low tire? 

I would permit the tenants to perform minor auto repairs on their own vehicles. Perhaps come up with a list of allowed minor repairs? Definitely prohibit the home auto repair business. I personally wouldn't rent a home/garage if I couldn't change an air filter on my car, etc. though. This may just be a "guy thing". 

P.S. In my experience garages should be fire caulked so I recommend you check into this just for the future. The CO may just be a symptom of bad fire caulking/sealing in the garage. 

Yes, technically. Hahaha 

Exactly. The problem is IMO that you may not understand all of the risks if you don't visit a property in person. RE is so much more complex than crypto, stocks, bonds, gold, etc. and should be taken seriously. You may lose lots of money in bad crypto investments, however you can be injured or worse if you make a major RE mistake. I was held up at gunpoint while researching one deal. Glad I didn't invest there! 

I agree 100%. Trust no one (except family, maybe lol!) and always verify. I've avoided many rotten deals by visiting the sites in person. One vacant site looked fantastic from the air/maps but turned out to be within a confluence of seasonal streams. Turns out the owner purchased the property site-unseen on Ebay and had never visited the property himself. Another had been used for the disposal of hundreds of old creosote railroad ties. Yet another was actually the center of a local drainage wash (not noted on the latest topo). Many more examples. Vacant land can be trickier than improved. Still there are many potential issues with improved property the untrained eye may miss. 

In today's hot market, missing some issues may not be a problem. If the market corrects however, you could be left holding the bag!

Kristina, perhaps start out with smaller deals and work your way up to something like this? I recommend not getting too focused on one specific property. Remember there is always another great deal out there! And to borrow a golf adage, "swing small, miss small". 

Jennifer, I always, always, always personally inspect properties before buying them! I'll drive 300 miles in a day just to inspect a property personally. There are some things that a virtual inspection may not uncover.  Here are some examples/thoughts:

-Does your RE agent on the ground understand how to identify environmental waste, illegal dumping, etc.? I know a local investor who spent tens of thousands of dollars remediating a site he purchased unseen after he discovered the neighbor had been using it as a dump for his used engine oil. The only signs initially were a faint oil smell and a few spots of dead grass.

-Many people hate inspecting crawl spaces. I bring a tyvec suit, gloves, headlamp, and check them out myself. In many cases houses that look pristine have major foundation issues. Always check out the slab/basement/crawl space as long as it's safe to do so.

-Will your agent diligently check out the attic? Often attics hide major problems under feet of blown-in insulation. 

-What about the condition of the sewer pipe and water line? 

Have you considered taking a week trip to the region you'd like to invest in? Get in touch with a local RE agent and line up multiple properties to visit. If this is for investment purposes, I imagine you're focused on ROI.

If there is extensive termite damage in the attic, you may be in trouble. The damage is usually worst in the crawl space/near the ground. Termites usually don't damage a pier and beam house seriously unless there is wood/soil contact. Put on a tyvec suit and carefully check out the crawl space yourself. Take some pictures of the crawl space and upload them here. Be on the lookout for termite-damaged wood. 

If the house has sunk into the ground, replacing the existing damaged wood may not be sufficient. You may need to raise the house off the ground to reduce soil/wood contact and fix the source of the damage. You may discover that many of the floor joists, beams, etc. need to be replaced before the house can be lifted. If the joist ends are bad and aren't repaired first the house may not survive lifting. 

TL,DR- Termite damage may be minor or severe. You need to get a better handle on the repair scope before producing a repair estimate. Don't just rely on a local contractor's opinion. 

P.S. Roof lines may sag for many reasons. Your roof rafters may be undersized or your house may have 4 layers of shingles.... A sagging roof does not necessarily mean long-term severe termite damage. 

At least in TX, never ever use a quit claim deed if you can avoid it! They are not "quick claim" deeds and are no faster than SWDs or GWDs. You can always FSBO. If you are selling vacant land, you can list on specialty sites.

IMO it's important to be aware of the property value. Know that if you list too high, your property will probably languish for months or years. I just spoke with a woman who is FSBO listing her vacant heavily-treed lot without street access for $25k. In this area, good flat lots with a few trees and street access typically sell for $15k. She laughed at me when I told her I would buy at somewhere under $10k since I'd need to pay to extend the 24' wide street 40' and clear the trees.

While checking the deed record I discovered she's been holding onto the vacant lot for 10 years. No wonder why! 

I've never used an agent and do not follow any official RE investing "process". I've been burned before but have never made any serious personal mistakes in RE (aside from occasionally working with bad consultants). 96% of my problems have been caused by other parties. Yes, I've learned to occasionally change approaches and take more precautions in certain areas. It's definitely a learning process!

Estate-owned properties are tough/often a can of worms! Depending on the state any number of things could happen. In some states, the property may actually become state-owned if no relatives survive the deceased and he/she died intestate. I've seen cases where ~40 great grandkids hold small undivided interests. 

In my state any significant property typically needs to be probated unless it's owned by a trust or surviving family member. Doesn't matter if the deceased had a will and I've never heard of a local law affecting things. Then you will need to worry about various liens, etc. If no one is caring for the estate liens will usually pile up and the property may be foreclosed by the county, IRS, bank, etc. In my state there are a couple other avenues to settle an estate, however they all come with limitations (estate value, etc.). Then you'll need to worry about whether you'll even have marketable title at the end of the road. 

I've been dealing with estate-owned properties for years but would never recommend investing without serious research. The "seller" may not even be able to sell the property!