All Forum Posts by: Fred Grant

It seems like you already know the answer and that the extra $500 per month (some of which will be deductable so it's a bit less) will be a lot cheaper than a legal battle when he final "goes too far".

So the problem probably comes down to "how do you fire your FIL?"

A quick google search gave me the impression that PMs in Oregon (assuming he is there) have to have a license. So you could use that as your excuse as it doesn't sound like he is motivated enough to get one. "Sorry, we didn't know, our attorney has advised us that we should immediately get a licensed PM to avoid future issues, etc, etc"

Pay the full 10% to a PM company and have him act as your general handy man as it sound liek that is more his area of comfort.

Fred

Making dust wiping nationwide is still under review (until mid July I think).

If you are only looking to buy a property and want a quick evaluation for yourself then you could use the test sticks from Lowes or Home Depot. That would let you test a few doors or windows for $2 - $4 per test. If they read positive then you have lead. If they read negative then you don't have lead in the areas you tested but you could have it elsewhere .

So you will never be able to prove the house has no lead but you might be able to show it has some and get a reduction.

However, to do the test you need to cut through the layers of paint so you are "damaging" the property which might be a problem for your realtor or the listing agent. Then again, if you leave the tell tale cuts in the paint and red marks on the windows showing lead is present that might be enough to discourage other buyers.

Doing dust wipes instead would be less destructive but would cost more. So you will have to weigh the pros and cons.

If you are new to this (as I am) and think you will save money by doing some work yourself the first time - you wont so don't.

Having spent months painting the upstairs unit of a duplex and "playing around" installing new window locks, replacing doors, drilling door locks, etc, I met someone at a Real Estate investors group that had his crew come in and lay new floors in the entire downstairs unit and and paint all walls and ceilings in about a week. They also replaced the missing roof shingles, pointed the chimneys and a few other jobs I would have never have been able to do.

Cost me a few thousand but before they arrived I was paying for the following on an empty house: heating over the winter, electric, sewer, property tax. I also lost months of rental income and depreciation.

All told I probably "lost" 3 times what I ended up paying anyway so DIY was definitely not cost effective. Not to mention the time I did not spent with my family.

Bottom line: painting is mind numbingly boring and takes many times longer than you think, removing an old ceiling and insulation is an incredibly filthy job, you will never ever figure out why the last owner used wood nails to tack down their carpet or why the damn things won't come out. Let someone else deal with all that. Whether you are going to be a landlord or are flipping, you will ultimately get your money back faster.

You can still be aware of pricing and how long things take but let someone else do the work and maybe just tackle the odd jobs like lock replacement on the day you aquire the property.

Just my 2c as a first timer.

Firstly, the comments I made are specific to Rhode Island as that is where I got certified so if you are in Rhode Island you can either pay to have a lead check done or you can assume Lead is present. If you pay the $150 or so and no lead is present (in the areas you will be renovating) then you do not need to follow Lead Safe Practices. If lead is present then you have to follow the codes. You could skip the $150 in testing and simply assume Lead is there.

In MA and CT which are my 2 closest states, you are allowed to follow the new EPA rules which allow Certified Renovators to use the $4 test sticks that you can buy at Lowes and Home Depot; so yes, it sucks to be in RI.

After the work is complete, MA and CT allow visual inspection after cleanup has been performed, again done by the Certified Renovator. In RI, the rules have been made stricter and only lab tested dust wipes collected by Lead Techs or Inspector are approved to show the job site is clear. Visual inspection only cost the price for the materials, lab testing is going to be over $100 so again; sucks to be in RI.

Secondly, there are obviously lots of other parts to the new regs around how much space will be disturbed, who will be living in the house, etc but the key fact is that this applies to "compensated" firms and individuals and under EPA rules landlords doing there own renovations are compensated individuals as they receive rent so they have to follow the EPA practices and be certified. If you are working on your own house then you do not have to follow the EPA guidelines although it is recommended, esp if you have children.

I will leave it up the lawyers out there to discuss:

"what if my brother-in-law does the work an doesn't get paid and therefore isn't "compensated""

"What if I sell it before renting it"

"What if I was going to live in the house myself but changed my mind after the work was done"

"Are flippers considered compensated"

Fred

How about doing 2 or 3 sessions and posting them so everyone can see / hear how this training is different (Ad free, actual useful content, etc) and then making it part of the Pro susbcription?

If the availability of this training caused an extra 1% of the members to upgrade then that will give you an extra 510 *$15 = $7,650 per month or $91,800 per year. That should be enough to cover your costs.

And if you could get 5% to upgrade it would be $459,000 per year.

There is always a need for good, affordable training and I think making it part of the Pro upgrade with examples available to help convince people would help you get this going.

Fred

It is not just EPA.

I finished the Certified Renovator training today and Rhode Island has already mandated that dust wipe testing must be done (by a Lead Tech / Inspector) at the end of all projects regardless of work methods used. The EPA approved visual inspection process for Certified Renovators will not be accepted. However if I drive 10 minutes to Massachusetts I will be allowed to use the EPA process for any jobs in that state. Having to do dust wipes everytime is going to add $100+ to each project depending on the number of samples.

In addition, Rhode Island has mandated that Certified Renovators cannot perform pre-renovation testing using the EPA approved kits. Only dust wipe testing performed by Lead Techs / Inspectors will be accepted. So the choice is pay $150 for pre testing or assume LBP is present and follow the new working processes for all jobs.

So even if the EPA doesn't change its guidelines you could find your state doing it anyway. During the class today it was mentioned that 8 states already have some variations on the EPA guidelines.