All Forum Posts by: Doc Godfrey

@Nathan G. - I appreciate the advice very much.

I hired a handyman/contractor to fix some drywall for me in a master bath that I am fixing up as a rental. We had a fixed price of $1,300 for this portion of the work.

While he was doing the drywall repairs, he said he would do some other small jobs at $50/hr, which I agreed to. I had him do a number of smaller jobs like hanging a light, installing a sink/disposal and handful of other small plumbing items. There was another drywall repair above a shower that did some some additional time.

I should have gotten a fixed price for the projects but unfortunately I didn’t. I just received a finally invoice for just over $7,000.

Based on how long projects typically take and even putting in a large buffer, I was estimating $4,000 would be on the very high end.

I’ve spoken to the contractor about how I believe this is extremely high and he just said things take time to complete. I’ve asked him for a break down of the project cost but he cannot provide.

Just curious how you would handle as I believe I’m being taken advantage of.

Thanks

I've got a 3 bedroom / 2 bedroom fixer upper under contract right now for $134k located in Greenville SC. Renovation budget is $30 -$35k which I plan on doing the work mostly myself (besides the roof and Hvac). The timeframe for turning this around is 4 to 5 months as I'll be doing the work at nights after work. The ARV will be $200k.

The property will rent between $1,500 - $1,600 a month.

When I run the numbers, using 5% for repairs and 1 month of vacancy, I have cash on cash return at 11.4%. This is based on me refinancing after 6 months and getting the property reappraised.

Just curious on thoughts on this return? I appreciate any feedback.

I have completed 2 FSBO transactions. Both were very easy and straight forward. I negotiated with the seller verbally and once we agreed on a price I completed a full contract which I found online for free. Once the contract was signed I sent it my real estate attorney. All I had to do after that was finalize financing and set up an inspection.

Hey Clair. I closed a HELOC last week with an interest rate of prime plus 0% for ten years. The bank, running a special, paid the attorney fees. I would have had to pay for the appraisal but they were able to use an appraisal from 6 months ago. So I didn't have to pay anything at all to set this up. At the end of the ten years you either pay it off or get another HELOC. Some banks have the option to amortize the balance at the end of the ten years.