All Forum Posts by: Connie Brzowski

How about, "Don't ask, don't tell" :mrgreen:

I just assume someone's died in most older homes. It happens... people grow old, get sick and want to go home to spend their last days with family and friends.

Honestly-- it shouldn't be a problem. I wouldn't give it another thought.

Now a violent crime or murder is another story altogether...

Starting med school has to be incredibly stressful already-- perhaps she's just maxed out at the moment?

Once things level out and she adjusts to this 'new normal' maybe she'll be more supportive of your real estate ventures.

Under the same circumstances, I'd spend maybe 6 months to a year doing your homework, getting to know your new market, finding neighborhoods you want to farm, finding the local rei club, making contacts, etc. and give the wife some time to adjust. It'll be helpful for both of you.

One of the smartest people I know is very reserved. When he's in a new situation, he just keeps his mouth shut. This may go on for weeks...by the time he finally speaks, everyone thinks he's a flippin' genius.

First, he's always dressed nice-- button down shirt, nice jeans or khaki's and a jacket he can take off if he's overdressed.

He sits near the middle/back (not the very back) and moves a bit forward with each meeting but never to the front.

If someone introduces themself, he shakes their hand, looks them in the eye and answers with first and last name, "John Brown." If they ask questions, he says, "I'm just here to learn."

He immediately turns the focus to the other person, asking the same questions to them, "How about you? What type of business are you in?"

He *listens*-- he's learning the vocabulary, getting to know the other people and learning the dynamics of the group.

He keeps this up until he's ready. This guy understands his natural reserve and his own nature and he's given himself permission to wait until he's comfortable before moving forward.

He's very successful-- probably much more so than the guy that comes on like a used car salesman 8)

Wish I'd kept better records.

We had very little in the bank, but we did have good credit scores( over 800 at the time), two unsecured lines of credit (10K each) and several credit cards without balances. Our mortgage broker found an 80/20 loan so we only had to pay closing costs. Carrying costs while rehabbing the house (monthly mortgage note, credit card payments and utilities) came out of our already overstuffed budget.

I'm guessing we had about $5000 extra in the bank although we didn't use that much.

During our second rehab, we discovered that the 3rd bedroom had quarter inch sheetrock when a tenant leaned on the wall and fell through :shock:

Anyway, dh usually interviews contractors, but it was a rush job and he had to work for several weeks without a break. Everyone we knew was booked so we called around, asked for references without luck.

Finally an ad appeared like magic in the local paper-- Stan Can Handle Any Repair, Large or Small!!! I called Stan and scheduled to meet him at the house for an estimate...

Long story even longer, turned out Stan was a con man-- he blew into town, placed an ad, lined up several simultaneous jobs, hired drunks from the local bar who showed up and pretended to work, took whatever money he could get and left town.

As I didn't have a clue, Stan's band of motley maniacs got all the way through the job, I paid the entire amount, dh blew a gasket when he saw the room, everything had to be redone-- we lost a month's rent due to delays and $1000 to Stan due to my stupidity.

The End

Oh-- and dh is a great guy and wasn't mad at me, but he now interviews all contractors no matter what. He calls it our Contractor/Conman ID Course 101 :mrgreen:

Now *that* is excellent advice 8) Thanks John~!

John,

Thanks for that explanation-- we've never used a hard money lender before... had no idea that you also paid points at closing.

Is that common practice? Seems like it would really drive up the cost... maybe I need to try harder at getting the limit on our line of credit raised? :crying:

Hi Mike,

Hadn't looked at it that way, but makes sense-- thanks for your help :D

(now where did I leave the stupid tissue box?)

I guess if you get the interest rate high enough, then problem solved...

(Think I answered my own question :-P)

I should *not* try to run numbers with a head cold... but it *is* habit forming, you know :crazed:

Rehab--

Opinion please?

That's what I thougt but it doesn't seem like very much...Do you think anyone would be happy with simple interest like that? I sure wouldn't...