All Forum Posts by: Elysia Hou

 Hi Mike thank you!  We found pictures in the home inspection report of the attic. The picture is a little dim but shows concrete bricks on the attached side of the townhome. I believe there is a firewall now!  So we forwarded over this info to the insurance people and awaiting their response. I don’t understand too much of all this but believe this indicates a firewall running through the entire wall that is attached to other townhome. 

Darn. I just recently deleted that pic off my phone. But what do you think? 

It was built 1980 so not as old as the rest of the charleston!  But ok, I'll take a second look.  Thank you!

I'm going to hope for the best and keep asking around for ideas/experiences 

Hi David, it was the home inspector who told me.  I just talked to the city enforcer and they can't find any drawings on this building either, so I'm thinking now I should get someone to open up and do a second verification

Hi everyone!   So my case here is I do not have a fire wall behind the dry wall in my townhouse rental, and for a newbie like me, I am getting lost in what options I have.  HOI will not take on the townhouse without a firewall installed so my thoughts are 1. Front the money to get the dry wall installed and hope the tenants can live around the issue  2.  Contact the investor next door because they also have skin in the game here.  They're trying to sell the middle unit so it may come up in their home inspection report.  3.  Look for a different HOI that will take on the risk  .  Is it just my responsibility?

What do you guys think I could do?

Appreciate any thoughts !

Hey everyone!

I want to get my home inspection license in California, and there's just so many options on coursework.  I'm looking for training that allows me to work at my own pace because I have other obligations 5 days a week and guides me through the entire certification process ( and maybe even more after I get my license!).  Affordability is definitely a concern, but it just needs to align with the quality of the course.  Any recs?  I live in San Diego.  

Thanks Joseph for your kind words!  I am! 

Investment Info:

Condo buy & hold investment in Charleston.

Purchase price: $111,500
Cash invested: $22,000

James island condo.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

First the price was in my affordable range and I liked the location of it.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Real estate agent helped me find it and offered close to listing. Most of the negotiations occurred under contract.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional fixed rate Mortgage

How did you add value to the deal?

Sweat equity. All cosmetic upgrades.

What was the outcome?

Positive cash flow! Great tenant!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I found a lot of issues with the house through my first tenants who eventually asked me to break the lease without a termination fee. I felt so bad with how things kept breaking down in the house that I let them go. I def needed to vet the property better!

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

The agent I worked with on this helped me find the property but I felt pushed me to overlook a lot of issues I did find earlier in the house by underplaying them. I learned a ton inadvertently from the situation later but I wouldn’t recommend him for first timers.

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $234,000
Cash invested: $46,000

Found this little gem in a developing neighborhood located near Park Circle in North Charleston. It was a fix and flip. Conservative numbers showed that this property would cash flow positive after debt service and reserves put aside so we went for it and offered close to listing price. My second rental but my first time property managing!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The neighborhood is up and coming and the numbers made sense. Also, I noticed that more people were moving from the Northside down to Charleston.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Spent several weeks on realtor trying to find deals and snatch it fast. Most of the deals I searched for were ones that kept dropping in listing price. Here I believe because the immediate area seemed a little sketch to potential buyers it may have been difficult to sell at the original listing price so the sellers kept dropping the price over time. (What I came to learn is that the neighborhood was mostly section 8 renters but it was a totally family-oriented neighborhood so not sketchy)

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money lender (a friend from college who liked hearing about my journey from 1st rental)

How did you add value to the deal?

It was a fix and flip so I did not add sweat equity. I actually got 15k in the appraised value.

What was the outcome?

Positive cash flow. On-time paying tenants!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Since it was a flip and no one has inhabited the home in a while, I wished I started my own inspection of the home sooner to catch maintenance issues faster and not have maintenance performed while tenants are in the house.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes, I have a great buyers agent that I'd gladly recommend as well as a reliable contractor.