All Forum Posts by: Darwin Crawford

@Daniel Thomas - for what its worth, I've found that no, money doesn't find you, even with smoking deals. I threw a lot of deals in front of my lender, and I knew I had a solid one when they came back quickly and said "no problem, we can close". Most commercial lenders are pretty strict on DSCR and LTV ratios right now, and when they are OK with a deal, then you've got a live one.

They also have seen about a million cases of newbies getting in over their heads on older properties with deferred maintenance.  Rehab costs and keeping a place running are no joke.  I've got 15 years in the trades and I still get my butt kicked with older buildings.  Can spiral out of control pretty fast.  

Morning BP!

Been a bit, I had to get covered in paint and goo for awhile at the building.  The upside is that its now done, and has a fresh new look.  The downside is that I had to paint the **** place.  Oh well.  

6 of 8 head units are in, and as soon as my last few parts are here for AC's, they will be going online.  Couple things I've learned about mini-split wiring, if you care:  1 - breakers for these on 220v/1PH are kind of hard to find.  They are 220v/15A double-pole breakers, which is just a weird size here in the states.  2 - the local codes sometimes want you to have an AC disconnect box at each unit, but sometimes this is based on current draw.  Not a ton of inspectors know these types of units yet, so when in doubt, spend the $15 on the disconnect just to shut them up.  Not worth an argument over $15...

The other part of this project, which is an ancillary bonus, although logical I guess, is that the psychological value of my tenants seeing improvement on a building which was neglected has been HUGE.  Attitudes have shifted, and all but one of my drama-laden tenants have calmed down, and even explained to me that they now understand why rents have risen, and are happy to have a nicer place for their clients to come see them.  Nice bonus, which I referenced here at one point: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/481...

I'll be posting my vacant suites up for lease in the next week, which should be interesting, to see response from the tenant pool at the moment.  From what I understand, demand is through the roof, but as we all know, everyone a badass until they have to write a check....

Happy Investing!

 - Darwin

@Bill S. - oh yes, quite familiar with the rotaries.  On this install though, I need nice clean holes, and my big Hitachi just blows through block like butter....so I had to core drill.  Slower, but leaves an immaculate hole with no rough spots that can snag/puncture my precious AC lines.  

On anything else though, heck yeah, a spline hammer and a carbide bit and let 'er rip!  

If you're wondering how valuable that tree really is, see here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTgQHWQoatg

Spent 7 years in the lumber business, had this conversation a lot.  

@Mark Walker - thanks for reading!  I find myself coming back to this post sometimes when my tenants give me headaches.  Gotta remember to take my own advise sometimes.  

Also  - when did the word police here at BP decide that we have to star out the word "a s s"?  Did I miss something in the rules?  If so, sorry I'm not sorry....

Hi Gang,

Just wanted to update this thread, its been while.  As with every construction project since the Great Pyramids, this one refuses to run on time.  

Had to $hit-Can the contractor I hired to do the dirty work (roof coating, painting, etc) and get out the tools to cover the shortage.  Nothing like leaving a job at an investment startup firm to frame out roofs and paint buildings....

Quick side note - here in the southwest, construction labor has gotten really scarce, and prices are through the roof, just in case you're wondering.  

Anyway, I ended up having to re-frame the soffits of the building, due to the contractor tearing them off without permission... (another story, that I could write a book about, is The Field Guide to Slobbering Moron Contractors Who Don't Listen to Anyone), and had to divert some cash to that.  

The Mini-Splits arrived safe and sound, and I can tell you that having a pack of your weirdo, type-A crossfit buddies makes short work of a couple thousand pounds.  Weapons-Grade humans, all of them.  

Compressors are on the roof, and head units are being installed as I can get to them.  Core-drilling 2.5" holes in solid block is slow work.  I've made the call that I will toss a buddy (who is an HVAC tech) some cash to come solder in all reefer lines and vacuum them.  He's faster than I am.   (BTW - "reefer" is refrigeration, not the state crop of Colorado, just for the record).  I have also decided to make small shade structures for each compressor unit to shield them from the sun.  

On the solar hot water setup, I have elected to do the following:  the rooftop unit, (4'x10' panel) will be fed from the water main, and will then go to supply electric heaters on the ground in the building.  I am doing this for 2 reasons - 1 is that it will provide some "grid-tie backup" to the system, avoiding the situation I have now dubbed "The Hysterically Butt-Hurt Hairdresser Who Unfortunately Has My Phone Number", and it will drastically take down the demand load on the electric heaters, which can be in turn powered in part by the solar PV array.  

For example - lets say right now, in the mornings, the water comes into the heater @ 60F, and needs to leave @ 120F.  That is a 60F delta in temps.  With a little luck, the solar part of this should be getting to 110F easy, leaving me only the 10F delta to put in as electric heat.  

Anyway, I'll put more up as I can, leaving in a day and a half to hike to Machu Picchu, and take some time away from work.  

Happy Investing!

 - Darwin

@Johann Jells - AZ is a lovely state to be a real estate investor.  They are pretty kind to us with the legal stuff, the flip side of that being the fact that it is very much a boom and bust state.  Lots of people here have won and lost big.  

Scottsdale in particular is nice to you when you're doing the "green" thing, lots of local political push/pull over solar and its cost/benefit, but if you can make it work, its a nice thing to have. 

@Johann Jells - in AZ you can do electric/plumbing as an owner, just has to be inspected by city/power company.  I've done a lot of wiring, never had much trouble passing inspection, I tend to build things a little overboard.  the NEC is pretty easy to follow on most projects that aren't 3PH.  

I do sub out plumbing though, good friend is a licensed plumber.  I pay a little more for it, but warranties are a beautiful thing.  

@Tanya F. - depends a lot on the area. we have a lot of HOA controlled neighborhoods around scottsdale/phoenix, and not everyone loves the look of a white roof.

It is much more common in areas where the roof of a building might not be visible from the street - commercial buildings, Mansard-style roofs, and the more modern homes with flat roofs.  

As you get out in the more rural areas, or those without HOA's, it is more common, as it can be used as a stop-gap for waterproofing.

But in your everyday neighborhood with hipped roof houses, its easier to put solar panels up than listen to your neighbors whine about the color of the roof.  

@Roger S. - appreciate the read!  I hope it helped, definitely made a few slip-ups as a landlord.  

@Nick Castrilla - thank you for reading it!  I've heard great things about the Ohio market, its apparently very good for cash-flow.  

@Sean Lunny - the AZ oceanfront is a smoking deal, let me tell you, but I'll need a bag of cash for the downpayment.....appreciate you reading, and yes, I got the sugar coated version when I started, and that wore off pretty damn fast.