All Forum Posts by: Laureen Youngblood

We have a very motivated seller on a Foreclosure property.  We have a settlement statement from the bank.  We want to offer less than what she owes, (obviously).  Question is, her settlement statement includes all of the late fees and interest from her not making payments for four years.  They have started the foreclosure process.  What she owes -penalties and all- is about what the property is worth as-is.  Is it feasible to still get the bank to settle on a short sale offer?  The house is not liveable and will not qualify for a conventional homeowner/loan.  We want to make the right offer and not mess this up, as it is our first truly motivated seller property and the property is exactly what we are looking for in a rehab.

Any suggestions on making this offer would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome @Keith K. 

I am in Oregon also and new to this game.  Like Genna Golden, I am very interested in coastal properties as future cash flow opportunities.  

I look forward to seeing you around.

Yeah!!!  Got it.  @Brandon Turner .  The space makes all of the difference.  Thanks.

A few more items of note on flooring.  The LVT click floors can be cut and installed just like a laminate floor @Jassem A. 

And in an addition to my earlier post - I put that LVT could last as long as 15 years - that was a very conservative estimate as some of them have a 10+ commercial warranty and can have a forklift driven over them.  Having a floor like that last 20+ years even in a rental is not beyond the realm of possibility.

@Brandon Turner  (somebody please tell me how to do the @ thing)

A good flooring store will not charge extra for tack strip, they include that as part of doing business.  Stairs and specialty wraps will always cost extra.  Be careful with square foot costs and look at your bottom line.  I underbid big box stores all day long with better quality carpet.  

Rocky Vasquez has the right idea.  Hard surface Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) is definitely the way to go for low/no maintenance long lasting floors in a rental.  I suggest not letting them talk you into the less expensive glue down or glue together - the adhesives start to deteriorate.  The great advantage of LVT click floors is that you can pull it up replaced damaged underlayment and sub floor as needed and put it right back down.  The other upside is that you can replace a few damaged planks without replacing the entire floor.  Upfront costs can range from $5-8 sf.  A little more spendy than carpet, but ....it should last 15 years -even in a rental.

Truth be told - carpet gets bought, sold and installed by the square yard.  Layout in a room means everything!  a 12' wide carpet is 12' wide all day long - so if you have a room that is 13 x 14, you are paying for 26 lf of 12' wide carpet (312 sf) - not the 196 sf that is the size of the room.

That being said $15 sy carpet ($1500 for 900 sf)) is about right for a very inexpensive carpet and pad - much less than that is pretty close to impossible.  If you want to get a better quality carpet at an even better price talk with your local flooring store.  they get overstock - discontinued carpet lists every day from their manufacturers that can get you a $25 sy ($2.77 sf) carpet at that lower $6-8 sy price.  All other things being equal -That is a GREAT deal for very little effort.  Many of them will sell material only, if you want to install or have your own installer.

Carpet pad is another story.  Depends on what you are after long term....more replacements at $1500 a pop, or a carpet that will hold up past two or three normal replacements.  Spend $1800-2200 now and not another $3000-4500 over the next two or three turn overs.

Wow...the things I don't know.  I feel so new and uninformed.  thank you all for the insightful information.  Got me thinking now.

@Nichole Wall

I would love to hear how this turns out, as one of my thoughts is to invest in a KOA type campground in the future.  Keep us in the loop please and good luck.

I would add that an inspector will be helpful in reporting many unseen (and seen) repairs that need to be done.  An inspector does not give estimates on the repairs, however.  If you have the funds to pay the inspector, a good combination is to have the inspection then provide that report to the contractor that you have estimate the repairs.  

Side note, this can get expensive if you are not going to offer on the property. - shoot even if you are going to offer on the property.  So, compensating a contractor to walk the property with you and explain all of the repairs and associated costs is a great way to get familiar with your local rehab costs.

Good hunting!

@TylorB

The believe the previous post by Matt Devincenzo is very sound.  I would only add that your local building department will have the final say in most cases.  Local state, county and city codes, land use, city planners and finally the inspectors are what will make or brake the ability of the final product to be used.  

My suggestion would be, in addition to the above, to go to the local building department where you plan to try this.  Get to know the people in planning, start to find out which ones think in a progressive, sustainable manner.  Ask them lots of questions.  The more you know those people and the more conversations you have with them, the better prepared you and they will be to go through the process.

Also, I would check with LEED and other like organizations to see if they have already done the footwork to get your specific materials approved and where they have done that.  It could save you much work up-front.

Good Luck! and keep us in the loop.  I would love to hear how it all works out.  Here in western Oregon we love sustainable, in-expensive building materials.

Way to go!  I hope to be there soon.