All Forum Posts by: Stephen Underhill

I would be looking for coastal/Caribbean, it's mainly going to be something I wanted to do for my mom, and I've never exactly planned a vacation, (I'm 21 with no kids) besides road trips with college buddies... My budget is looking like it'll be around $5000 for 4 + a 14 yo. I'm hoping for 5-7 days and the less hassle the better :)

The main reason I ask is because right now google is my main source and that's just too many options to go through, lol. glad you had a good trip! How many people did you bring?

much appreciated @J Scott I planned on looking up the inspection companies locally next week after everyone gets back from Xmas

Hey everybody, I was looking into a family vacation next year and I realized, bigger pockets is full of people that work around the retail rat race, so my question is this, do you guys have any suggestions for family vacation destinations? This would be for myself, girlfriend, my mom and stepdad and my 14 year old sister, I was hoping to head somewhere warmer, we live in indiana

J Scott I have to agree with everyone, I really think your book adds valuable insight for those of us new to the game especially. It's a great reference for me to have a ballpark once I have a list of issues I need to work on. I was curious btw, I've done a few walkthroughs on properties and learn something each time, but what advice could you give to us rookies as to what to look for during that first walkthrough to identify some signs of more than cosmetic problems that will help us get a better idea of what will be needed. Like I said, I'm learning to look for more as I go and I know the more I do it the better I'll get, just want to accelerate that any way I can!

@Edward Burns right now the system is winterized, so yes the water is inactive. im not sure how long the property has been vacant, as this was just a first walkthrough but i dont think it has been too long. the heater was from 04 i believe, and in decent condition, but since itll be 10 years old at this point it was something id budget in.

@Deryk Kennedy thanks for the imput, i was already assuming that was going to likely be the case, which is too bad because it had potential. But hey, when you get the advice of an engineer, its probably a good idea to listen right?! :) the other two were more moderate rehabs, but other concerns stem from the age of the houses. I intend to get off to a strong start in January, so hopefully i can find something that will work out.

thanks for the input guys, keep it coming :) all three properties were pretty old houses, so there's a lot that I'll have to look for. The property I was most interested was in pretty good shape with most systems, except there are some foundation and/or structural problems. There were diagonal cracks throughout most of the walls in each room, and in the basement one of the exterior walls had like a 1-1 1/2 foot crack in the block starting at the floor and there was a small ammount of water running from that to the middle of the room. Since I'm a rookie, ill of course follow up, but to me that sounds like it's probably more on the major issue side of things.

hey @Peter R.

welcome to BP! my first thought is looking at your 10% down, is this contingent on owner occupancy? in that case you would have to factor that into calculations. having said that, if you live there you can do the prop. management youreself and save a bit there. usually you only have to stay for a year depending on the terms. some are more lenient.

hey all, i am looking at a few properties tomorrow and plan to see a few dozen in the next month. I was wondering what the top things to look for would be so that i can factor things into a initial analysis. I have looked at a few properties, but want to really improve myself in identifying potential problems in the first walk through so that i can avoid paying for inspections on properties i can rule out.

also, this is a rookie question, but what do you guys typically bring with you to a first look? Right now i take something to write on, a basic tool kit and a flashlight.

any imput is appreciated guys, thank you very much.

absolutely! at a minimum i would request their material to see how they came to that conclusion... One thing that will help when challenging is to have some comps of recent sames and similar quality ready to go, if the whole area is being assessed that way, it might be a little more difficult, and of course you could bring the refi appraisal to their attention as well..

as for their due date, you may have to bite the bullet this year, but definately never hurts to ask!!! $$$ in your pocket is worth it.