All Forum Posts by: Glen Whipkins

I would look long and hard at your after rehab rental numbers to make sure they are accurate.  The area may not support a 2/1 renting at 850-900 per door.  Re-figure your numbers at 700 per door and see what you come up with as that may be all the market will bear.  

One thing to remember about inspections is that you are paying someone to look at the property and find all the problems.   And they are going to find problems, it's what you paid them to do!  A lot of times it will be lots of little things that really don't amount to much.   Like "switch plate cover in bathroom is cracked"  or "sidewalk should slope at 12 degrees and it only slopes 9 degrees".    They will also find major items if there are any.  We built some new houses and a potential buyer wanted an inspection.  The inspector came back with like four pages of things wrong and 99% of it was really nit picky things or things he would have done differently than my builder did, not wrong, just his opinion.  We wound up fixing one thing on the list.  So as a buyer you can a lot of times use the inspection findings to reduce the purchase price.   Usually minor things aren't going to get you much but major repair items will, like the roof needs replaced or it has cracked rafters or floor joists.  Sometimes the seller will lower price, sometimes they won't.  Another thing to look at, make sure your inspector does hvac.  If he doesn't, I would recommend having a separate hvac inspector look it over because that can run into a big expense in a hurry.  

He could also need access to your wifi for smart home features like keypad door locks, thermostats, lighting, etc.  

I also have a question about this, are there machines available that use a debit/credit card instead of coins you have to empty on a regular basis?  

We just bought a foreclosure and it was a nightmare dealing with the sellers agent.  Submitted our first offer on the deal in late october and finally closed on it feb 2nd.  We went past two earlier closing dates because of no response from the sellers agent.  My agent finally contacted the broker and we did get a response but it didn't help the communication much.  Good luck!

They think they have the upper hand  in this dealing, here is how I deal with this.  Tell them wow, we sure didn't realize there were so many problems and issues with our house and we just wouldn't feel right selling something in such bad shape and by using one of the most respected builders in your area you thought for sure the workmanship would be top notch.  You think maybe it would be best if you just return their earnest deposit and pull if off the market until all these things can be fixed.  However, if all these issues do get fixed you will have to considerably raise the price when you do put it back on the market because of all the extra costs involved.    I bet they can't get to closing fast enough and if not, they weren't your buyer anyway.  

The first step in a development is to find out what the zoning, hoa, or local laws permit to be done on the property.  After you know the rules, then you can formulate a plan on what you want to do or are allowed to do to develop the property.  Absolutely verify everything, don't take someone's word that something is a certain way, see it in writing.   I made this mistake with my first development and learned a costly lesson.  

@james wise thanks, thats exactly what I was needing to know. 

We have listed our first rental and are screening applicants.  My question now is say we sign a lease agreement on the 10th or 15th or 20th of the month, do we pro-rate the first payment then the first full rent payment is due on the first?  Or do we collect the pro-rated amount for feb plus march as the first full month when moving into the unit?  

I built some spec houses and had to have electricity ran into a property.  In our area I had to pay to have it done but the utility company did it and at a much cheaper rate than if I had hired an independent company to do it.  The rate was different if it was going to be occupied homes or seasonal homes.  The occupied was cheaper.  It was a couple of years ago but I think the rate was less than $1 per ft.  If it is in an area that is going to be developed anyway, you might get lucky when you contact them and they not charge anything to run service in there.  You never know until you ask and they know your plans.  Also, the cost of running sewer isn't as expensive as you are thinking either.   Again, if the city sees the area is going to develop they may decide it is worth them running the sewer into the area because of the future customers it is going to serve.   Are you buying the whole property or just one lot?  If the whole property I would approach some builders who build spec houses and offer them lots at a discount to build in there.  The more going on the less expensive the cost for running in the utilities.