All Forum Posts by: Nicholas DeLouisa Jr

Where did the voltage drop?  Where were you measuring that you saw the drop?

Only from the main breaker back to the transformer in the street.  In a circuit, that conductor, which is not actually a "neutral" as defined by the NEC, is a return for all of the current, not just the unbalanced portion, back to the panel.

Other than an agent, ads in the paper/online, or sites like MLS ,or redfin, or realtor, etc., I don't have any other ideas. Maybe driving around looking for distressed properties? Or flyers on cars in shopping centers that have real estate businesses? Geez, maybe the obituaries? I really don't know. But that referral system sounds like a good idea. And I suppose I could even use wholesalers to find deals. Like a symbiotic thing. Hmm... all good ideas, thanks!

@Ali Boone, @Elizabeth Colegrove , @Mark Creason , @Hattie Dizmond , @Greg F. , @Bill Gulley , @Adam Hathaway , @William Hochstedler , @Nilesh Makhija ,

Thank you all so much for your responses.  I apologize for not getting back right away, had some family stuff to attend to.

All great info, I appreciate it.

Bill Gulley, it's not about "not getting it." It's not like I've read a dozen books or a hundred posts that advocate the type of diversification you're speaking about. I was asking about a niche because there are many many adamant experienced people in the BP world that suggest one of the first steps to getting into REI is to pick a niche and become an expert in it; ditto a market. That's why I was confused when other people suggest, "hey, do this other thing for a while, and then hope it leads to what you want." These are contradictory ideas and I needed a bit of clarity. As far as buy-and-hold forever, I have no intention of doing so. My current plan is to pick up some small MF properties, save their profits, and then trade up. Rinse and repeat. And as for talking to the wall, if you really believe that, then I would thank you not to respond to my posts anymore.

Nilesh Makhija, my brother-in-law is doing this very thing.  He plans to flip to build some capital for his eventual buy-and-hold plans.  As of right now, I am considering this option as well.

Mark Creason, I have yet to educate myself on the tax issues at hand, but to be sure I had never heard of phantom income.  Interesting subject.  As soon as I decide on an accountant I will have to ask about it.

William, Hochstedler, I will be posting a question about licensing in the near future.  It's a topic of conversation in my household, and we do need some clarification.

Elizabeth C., thank you for your encouragement.  I don't feel like I have to follow anyone in particular, but it's nice to hear from people who are doing what I want to do and are successful at it.  The good and the bad stories are all informative.

Hattie Dizmond, I've heard other people talk about marketing, but it's a subject to which I hadn't given much thought.  As a new person, the idea of marketing was in my head as something the agent's take care of.  Then I learned about having to market for vacant units, which seemed obvious and I knew I could do it, but then I heard that a property management company would take care of that (in the larger properties).  I really hadn't even considered having to, I guess, market myself, get out there and kind of hawk my business.  Definitely something I will be researching, thank you.

Adam Hathaway, thanks for the suggestions.  It's interesting you mention the idea of being paid to learn the ropes.  I was considering getting my license for the same reason!

To everyone who responded, thanks again for taking the time to do so.

Hi everyone,

Perhaps a subject beaten to death, but I have a personalized question about how to decide toward what niche I should put my efforts ... in the beginning.

I want to buy-and-hold.  I feel this very personally and very strongly.  However, when just starting out, I've heard other people suggest beginning with wholesaling and to save up some money from those profits.  So I started to look into wholesaling, and it seems like this is not exactly the "easier" route I was led to believe.  In fact, it seems like a ton of work and time to build a good wholesaling business that will produce the profits people say I might need to buy a rental property for myself.

Please understand, I have no problem with hard work.  I have no problem with dedicating the time required to make my business successful.  But I do have a 9-5.

What I'm asking is, if wholesaling requires so much time and effort to become successful (i.e. make enough profit to use for down payments for property), wouldn't I would wind up putting all my spare time (outside of my 9-5, which is actually more of a 5-5) and energy into wholesaling, when what I really want to do is buy-and-hold?  If I bust my a** to become a good wholesaler (which I'm not sure my heart would be in), when do I get into buy-and-hold (which is where I know I belong)?

I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone might have ...

 I understand that, but the electrician was talking about upgrading the panel, so it's important to remember that for everyday use of 120v ckts, there is available power on both phases. 

If there was short circuit current present, and the compressor breaker failed in the closed position (I've never seen this as breakers are designed to fail open) either the subpanel feed breaker would have tripped or the main panel breaker would have tripped.  If it was just an overcurrent, and the compressor breaker failed in the closed position, the compressor may have been damaged, and perhaps the conductors supplying the compressor may have gotten a little warm (or melted if the current was significantly higher than the ampacity -current carrying capacity- of the conductor but still less than the rating of the subpanel feed breaker), but it still wouldn't effect either panel. 

A backfeed is possible under certain conditions but it requires incorrect wiring (which is possible, considering who did the wiring).  But without knowing exactly how the tenant wired the compressor, it's hard to say if this was the case. However, remember that panels are designed to handle voltages and currents. I still don't see how a backfeed of 120 volts and 15 amps could cause damage to the panels themselves. 

As far as the panel being 100amps, keep in mind that each phase can supply up to 100 amps. So you really have 200amps of usable power in that service. A 200amp service can provide up to 400 amps. Yes you may need an upgrade (you'd have to do a survey) but remember that you do have 100 amps available on both phases. 

You need to call a different electrician.  This guy is either an idiot or a thief. The idea that this compressor damaged the main panel is laughable. There may be other problems - that subpanel is loaded with violations and if the person who worked in there also worked in the main panel then you could have issues in there as well - but your electrician didn't say that. He said fatigue. 

The compressor draws 15 amps. Even if it wasn't working properly and was drawing between 15 and 20 amps and was also incorrectly wired by overfusing a 15 amp wire (#14) with a 20 amp breaker, it still wouldn't harm anything in either panel. Yes it would tend to overheat the conductors feeding the compressor but that wouldn't effect the lights. 

However, based on the issues evident in the picture, there may be other problems that could account for the symptoms. Brighter than usual lights could mean extra voltage. Extra voltage also could fry electronics or motors. It is possible to wire a circuit or circuits such that extra voltage could be present. 

You need a licensed electrician that can trouble shoot. 

As an aside, is that rust in the bottom of the panel? If it is you need to find out how water is getting in there and repair that issue as well. A rusty panel needs to be replaced and the cause of the rust needs to be addressed. 

@Camille Johnson, 

This is not a typical situation in a house.  To me, this cost would fall on the tenant.  I don't see how it is reasonable for a tenant to demand a dedicated circuit for abnormal use of a space.  If the wiring conforms to code requirements, then I can't see how the cost would fall to you to make this new installation.

However, there could be an actual issue.  You might want to call out a licensed electrician to take a look and see if there is a larger problem than just too many loads.  If the electrician says there are no problems with the circuit, but the fridge is just too much and he advises a new circuit, ask him for a price, then pass that info on to the tenant.

Other posters are right, having extra power available in an area that could be used for this or that is not a bad idea.  But feeling forced to install this circuit so the tenant can have a second refrigerator/freezer/saw/arc welder/toaster oven/space heater/etc. in the garage is absurd.

You may want to have it installed anyway as a potential selling point in the future, but don't feel pushed to do the job.

Hi,

I was just curious about something.  I went to my first ever open house last weekend.  Not because I am in the market yet (I'm still learning the basic principals of this business, putting together a bank roll and a team, etc.), but because I've never done it before.  I figured I should start practicing now, trying to learn to see property the way an investor should, being able to ask the realtor/owner the proper questions, and just to calm my nerves so that when I'm on the hunt for real I'm not so nervous.  Plus, I figured it would be a good way to learn about a market, maybe even make some realtor contacts.

[I just wrote this whole big post with details and my impressions of the house, but I realized none of it is relevant to the question, so I deleted it all.]

Anyway, during the walk through, the realtor kept insisting that the seller was very motivated, and every time she said it, she would lean on the "very" harder and harder.  Almost to the point that I got the impression that they would practically pay someone to take it off their hands.

So, my question is, suppose you were in a position where you weren't ready to make commitments, but something fell in your lap, like a house being sold for far less than what it might be worth, what would you do?  Would you pass the info along to someone you knew was in the market?  Sell the info (whatever that means)?  Lock it up and wholesale it just so you don't miss out on the deal?  Or jump into the pool, having little to no idea what you're doing?

Just curious, because I was running some numbers on this (what numbers, you ask? I'm not really sure), and the house is big with plenty of potential, but unless they are willing to come down oh say $400k lower than what they listed it for, I am in no position to do anything about it.

And yet, part of me wants to make that offer, to say I would be a buyer at like $119k, rather than the list of $519k (I really don't have the time for a project like this, so I would be wholesaling it).  I think the house would be a good investment for someone that wants to flip, or you could probably make three separate apartments in it and rent them out,  But it's just so old inside (built in the fifties and never ever updated, except the siding and the roof) that I could see it taking well over a $100k, closing in on two, to get it up to par with the houses in the neighborhood.

Anyway, I was just curious what some of you would do.  A potential deal falls from the sky, you're not ready, but it could be something good - WWYD?