All Forum Posts by: Dustin Lavender

I always get money in advance in a deal like this and a signed long lease. If you want to rent it to them now, I would require deposit and at least first months rent now so they do not flake on you next month just before moving in.

I actually do this all the time with low end properties. The "pigs" as they are called on here. A typical "pig" here that sells for 25-30k appraises at 50-60k. 

I would pay to have an official appraisal done on the condo.

I work with a local bank that does portfolio lending. They will lend 80% LTV.

If you could find that close to you, you could be looking at:

80*.8= 64k-50=14k usable equity

When I purchase a new property I let the bank know in advance that I want to use equity from another property to pay down payment financing and closing costs, and they roll it all into one new loan, sometimes I walk away with cash in hand sometimes I do not, but you have to make sure you are buying the new deal at a price that can support the 14k add on to the price. 

Good luck, this is definitely do able I have gotten into most of my properties this way and you end up with no cash out of pocket for the new property.

@Greg H. this is true for your personal residence. Not true when you are doing it for rental property, at least not in Arkansas. 

@Kent Harris you are spouting a lot of numbers and crap that mean nothing. What are you even talking about? 

Just because you have gotten away with it before doesn't mean you can get away with it in the future and it certainly doesn't make it legal or safe.

Speaking from experience, all it takes is one inspector deciding he wants it done by an electrician and then he can start looking at all kinds of work you have done yourself and want it looked at by a pro as well. 

I wasn't talking about soldering water pipe I was talking about hvac. Pipe is almost never in a spot where it can't be soldered properly. I would have fixed that myself as well, but Pros use fire board between pipe and wood. Good luck getting a snap fitting to work on hvac. Lol 

Also, wasn't talking about having power turned off, was talking about having the line dropped, to update properly. You typically would upgrade the lead into your panel as well to handle the extra load that a typical 200amp panel would draw. 

I wouldn't worry about it though, you obviously weren't asking for opinions in you OP but rather gloating about how you have stuck it to the pros and looking to argue with anyone who thinks you are a dork for trying this project on your own.

This all sounds shady, Kent.Where I am at you have to have a licensed professional do these things. It cost way more than 4K in labor to have a licensed pro re-do it once code enforcement catches you. Can you solder copper pipe together and replace electrical to code? On top of that no matter where you purchase the hvac, you will likely not have a warranty unless a professional installs it. In Arkansas if you disconnect power to a house to replace a panel, it has to be brought to code and the power company requires a permit to be pulled by a licensed contractor before they will reconnect. I can pull permits and do all the work on my own residence I want here, but I can do almost no electrical, hvac, or plumbing on a rental unit myself.

I would double check that you can legally do this work. That is honestly a reasonable price for the hvac 

I have sent letters to the addresses on tax websites and gotten responses. I bought two houses a while back from a guy by getting his number from someone who was mowing his lawn. 

I just walk up or call and say hey saw the house, wanted to know if it was for sell!?!

@Account Closed having a difficult time finding that where i am at.

No legal advice

As I see it, you no longer have recourse against seller or the previous plumber  and here is why.

Before closing you were given the opportunity to inspect and have inspected anything you felt necessary before you closed. At closing it all became your problem. Proving nondisclosure is not likely.

In my area and others, a permit to do work is legally supposed to be pulled before work begins on a project such as a water heater. If the plumber has pulled a permit first, the red flag would have shown up. Instead, most plumbers do the work and then call for a permit and inspection once the work is done. 

I would check in your area and see if a permit is required BEFORE work begins. If so, and you are dead set on wasting time in court, I feel you would have recourse against your plumber for not pulling a permit prior to beginning work. You should still file the loss with your insurance IMO.

@Carlos Appezatto before randomly lowering rents make sure you are at market rates. Sometimes that means knocking on the neighbors doors and introducing yourself as the new owner next door and finding out what they pay.

Here, instead of lowering rent rates I will sometimes offer half off first month rent with qualified 12 month lease. Or if it is after the 15th of the month we advertise rent free until 1st with deposit and qualified lease signing.

Also make sure you are advertising in places where qualified tenants are looking.

@Account Closed it is in a good area it is about 1 mile from my residence in a college town of 22, 000. 

I know the area fairly well and I think I can bring rent up to the market rate with no renovations, possibly updating kitchens for an additional rate hike in the future.