All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I am sure flat roof can be done correctly the problem is that the skilled labor pool does not allow it to be accomplished for most jobs.  I had a flat roof at my office that needed to be worked on every 4-5 years even after the promise of the installation of magic rubber membranes and all kinds of other crap.  It is not worth it.  Water is too damaging to be allowed inside.  Pitch the roof, get the water away from the structure and use windows for views.

As an aside, most of the shower pan installs are faulty too.  I have a buddy who is a shower enclosure salesman.  He has lots of incorrect plumber install stories.  Happens everyday on big multi unit renovations.  

Hey Folks,

So I have done two renovations and in both cases they have exceeded what I think they should have and it was probably me trying to make them more than they are.  Any advice in containing costs  and maybe estimating costs before buying the property?

1st one was a 1500 sq ft house built in 1999 and all it really needed was paint and flooring and appliances - $1200 for appliances, $1800 for paint (whole house inside), $5000 for flooring (whole house - removed pink carpet ugh!) and $2000 for other stuff (gutter guard, landscaping, etc) So about 10K all in.

2nd one was 1100 sq ft house built in 1934 and it needed lots of work - $1200 appliances, 2800 paint (every surface including ceilings), $5600 new windows (18 windows), $1000 gutters, $2800 refinish floors, $500 for kitchen flooring, $2500 redo kitchen and another 4000 in general crawl space and attic and generic repairs.  So about 21K all in.

I think this is my weakest area since any house I would buy would not be renter ready.  The price offered for a house needs to take into account these anticipated repairs but you don't know how good a deal is until you have already done the reno and have it rented.   My goal has been trying to get at least 1% of the cost of home in rent.

I think my take away so far is that maybe I need to get more estimates but that also slows the project down and the goal is to get it rented quickly.  Any thoughts or wise words?

david

From my limited experience - never never never build a flat roof.

@Kenneth Garrett

it;s good to hear that it doesn't have to jack up the rates. maybe I need to be looking at a different insurance agent / company. There is no reason why it should be higher for an LLC versus being in your name. they are insuring the property and not the company.

@Mark Vandzura 

I am in the same place as you pretty much.  Just rented #1 and hope to rent #2 in a few weeks after renovations.  Grab you some books from the book store and just start taking ideas and making it your own business.  It's a pain but nothing worthwhile happens without work,

The advantage is you are projecting a business attitude for the IRS.  It helps create separation between your personal finances and the business.  

The only down side I have found is a little extra expense in accounting and trying to get property insurance in the name of business jacks the rates up. When I initially asked about insurance it was going to cost $500 or so per property, but when the quote came back it was $1300 since I have the property titled as an LLC. Still trying to figure the last little bit out since like you, I am new to property ownership and management and I have two rentals. Agent is supposed to be getting back to me on that. Not sure what the legal issues would be if you had the insurance in your name and the property in the LLC and needed to file a claim.

I had a contractor work up a price for a 2000 sq ft duplex from plans I found on the internet.  He basically said $200K before land.  It is not financially feasible in my area to do this as rent would be maybe $1400 for the unit.  Not sure if that helps you but I was pretty disappointed.  I was thinking more like $70 a sq ft. to build

Never enter a partnership unless you control the money.  I learned that the hard way too.  :-(  Better yet, don't enter partnerships.

Sorry for the newbie questions but I have been reading a bunch of books and have an offer to buy my first single family home.  I have a home inspection next week and it will probably be OK and I'll take possession in mid February.  Starting to get my forms ready - renter application, etc  I want to have a system in place for this place and future investments.

My question is what is the best background and credit report site?

I've looked at tenant screening, mysmartmove, turbotenant, rentprep.

It's all a bit overwhelming - I think I want it all - credit, background, eviction, and criminal.  There are some sites that do not give you a credit score, some that don't give you evictions.  Hard to compare them all.

Next issue will be getting them to mail a check or try some online payment center or app

Anyone with some thoughts would be most welcomed to my overwhelmed brain.

I'd like to keep it simple and as automatic as possible