All Forum Posts by: George W.

I'm not sure if they're illegal but my point of view is that any form of cold calling is super annoying.

Get a good w2/job with consistent good pay. Build your credit. Save as much money as you can. Dont waste money on dumb stuff. Create good financial habits. 

 If you dont already have a bank account go start one. Start putting away money in the savings account and contribute to it regularly.

Honest opinion, a flip wouldnt be the best way to try and start off with no prior experience with rei or construction. 

Learn more. Theres so many great resources these days about investing. A good book to start with is Rich Dad Poor Dad.

No judgment, but you're paying a guy 1k to do all of his wholesale leg work? He can knit pick the deals he wants and decides if he'll pay you 10k? All the while youre stuck with a contract. 

I'm not a wholesaler, but that sounds kinda like the guys getting over on you. You could probably make more than 9k on a really good wholesale deal with the right buyers 

hate to be this guy, but asking for a "general estimate" online on a 2500sq' house is likely to put you in the category of being the guy who you're buying it from. 

Get a GC to come look at it, you'll never get an accurate estimate from here. 

If the properites you're looking at dont meet the 1% rule maybe you need to increase your down payment. 

No properties will meet the 1% on the market in my area will meet the 1% rule if you're doing an fha loan with 3.5% downpayment. 

Moving back to an area you're originally from might help if you have a large network of people to borrow from or invest with. Remember that's a quick way for relationships to turn sour. 

what type of business would you be starting? Would the proceeds of the business be worthwhile to save enough money? flat out buy a property or owner finance with a higher percentage dp? 

I'd almost recommend getting a PT job to help build a steady consistent income and strong foundation for your business to be built on. If the business is strictly just for income, then maybe you'd be better off just getting a full time job until you buy a place first.

I'd say I'm both. I'm not Midas everything I touch or buy doesnt produce cash and turn into gold. 

To me big flashy things dont mean much. I'd rather be able to live comfortably and be in control of my own destiny/time

Budget for a GC. Budget to have others do the work for you. Otherwise you'd be better off going into the construction business and starting a company doing that instead. 

Many will disagree with this but, if paying someone to do the work for you is killing your profits on rehabs then you don't have a good deal!

One thing everyone has in common is that we all only have 24 hours a day. Im a plumber and these days most things around the house and rentals I hire out anymore. 

Why? Because, I value my time. I know that I can make way more money doing what I am good at vs trying to do tasks like sheetrock, tile or laminate flooring. Yes those tasks arent necessarily hard but they are time consuming. Paying someone to do those time consuming tasks allows me to focus on more important things that ultimately makes me more money to reinvest. 

Being your own GC may be an option if you acutally know what you're doing, have a good network of sub-contractors and dont mind babysitting them.  

Built a new house in NJ last year under IRC for a family member. I believe the insulation sub put R38 in the ceilings and r21 on 2x6 walls if I remember right. The inspectors in my area were easy going with insulation. Didnt do blower test. Closed cell would have been better for heatloss/gain but was a good deal more and money was probably tight on that build. 

Spray foam is awesome I did a house years ago all radiant heat 5000sq' with spray foam and condensing boilers. The guys energy Bill's are probably less than my old 800sq' shack of a house and way more comfortable. 

Coming from an HVAC background I've got a few bones to pick with foam:

#1 makes house too tight/not enough air exchange from outside. Without a outdoor air exchanger you may have environmental issues/air quality. Which further adds to installation costs. 

#2 makes it harder to run wires and pipes in the future. So planning ahead is key. 

#3 most HVAC guys at least in my area way oversize equipment especially boilers. Better understanding of manual J and D with more experienced contractors should be used when system efficiency is important. Oversized equipment short cycles and is not good for comfort or longevity of the equipment.

I'm a master plumber by trade and we dont use ICC codes in Nj for plumbing. I do use the ICC fuel gas code though and I believe changes are usually highlighted with a line next to text in the code books. 

It would probably be simpler to buy before switching jobs. When I bought my first place I had switched jobs 6 months before and still was appeoved