All Forum Posts by: Donna Smolinski

Wahooooo Johathon... WTG!
We can see you are a go-getter. Good job on getting the license so fast. And congrats & best of luck on your new "full time" venture!!!

Thanks for detailed explation Joe. Exactly what I thought, but not what I wanted to hear. So, in other words, there is no safe way I can hire experienced painters who take on side jobs. I assume I could not obtain WC Ins on them as an owner/builder, since they are not licensed?? I believe WC Ins requires use of "licensed" contractors, unless the job is very petty. FYI... this property is in NV (not sure if regulations are the same as CA).

Hey Manuel.... glad to hear there's alot of experience in the family. Makes me feel a better :). Now go find that first house & best of luck to you!

Jeff,
I'm not sure I understand your BofA comment in #6 above. Can you be more specific?

I believe that B of A usually puts a 60 day deed restriction on cash offers. In other words, you can't sell or finance within 60 days of closing. This is no biggie if you are renovating. The time needed to renovate, market and close will usually exceed the 60 day deed restriction period. Of course, FNMA & FHLMC have these deed restrictions too, but FNMA is 90 days. I've always been under the impression that they do this to try to prevent double escrows/wholesaling.

VERY true Kevin. If you are working with a buyer's agent instead of the listing agent, have your agent check out the experience and successful SS closings. The listing agt is usually the one that makes or breaks the deal. Also, have your agt ask the listing agt if the seller actually has a hardship and if there are one or two loans in the Short Sale. Alot of properties that have 2 loans (with two different lenders) don't get approved. Personally, I don't like writing on a SS unless we are working with just one lender.

LOL... see it wasn't meant to be. Now go find something a little less challenging, :)

Manuel,
I hope you understand that you are getting into something that is going to require alot of experience. This is a pretty big task for your first job! It's almost impossible to guess-timate costs on this without a GC doing a thorough walk thru on this. Are you sure the occupants haven't poured cement or acid down the drains? They seemed pretty ticked off by the looks of the place. Is there any mold? So many questions, that only a contractor might be able to evaluate.

Now, considering that everything is pretty costmetic, I think you are still going to be around $50k. I've rehabbed a few like this, and there are ALWAYS unforeseen hiccups and repairs. You don't have steady contractors that will be discounting much to you yet, so I expect you will be paying close to full cost for contractors.

I am not familiar with bldg code requirements in your region, but where I live, rehabbing this type of property requires permits. On one of our rehabs, we had a dumpster in the driveway for demo material. An Inspector drove by and slapped a "stop order" on us. We had to pull full house permits and submit full house plans, even though we weren't changing anything in the original footprint. It cost us ALOT of time and an additional $5k in permits, drawings, etc, etc. My contractor told me "don't worry about permits.... you aren't changing the footprint (only remodeling existing)". That's the last job he got from us!

Anyway, pls do yourself a favor and gert a good qualified GC to evaluate everything for you. Yes, this might be a good learning experience, but it may also discourage you from future fix-n-flips. The challenge might be overwhelming for a newbie (Just my opinion). If you decide to move forward, I wish you the best of luck. Keep us posted :)

I am re-opening this old thread because I have a question regarding this.

I have ALWAYS used licensed, insured contractors. I have a property where I am considering using experienced unlicensed painters (they work for a painting contractor but also do side jobs). I have Renovators Ins which includes liability insurance. If someone is injured, and uninsured, would my liability insurance kick in, just in case I am sued for onsite injury. Of course I will have a Liability Waiver signed, but that doesn't necessarily hold up in court. Any other thoughts or experience on this??

Essex sounds alot like Affinity Group, whom I've been using. Their specialty is for renovation properties. I'd be interested in getting quotes from Essex too. Do you broker to them? Do you know who they underwrite thru?

If you have decent equity in your personal residence, apply for a LOC (line of credit - 2nd TD). As soon as this deal closes, pay it off, but don't close it. You can continue to use your LOC over and over without paying loan fees for each transaction. Also, since the LOC is on your personal residence, rates will be MUCH less than borrowing on an investment property. Good luck.