All Forum Posts by: Olivier Mader

If the volume is high enough, lower cash flow works, but for me it doesn't... Once in a while I come across properties from wholesellers that give you 10% ROI but I need more than that..

If interest rates stay low, it may be a long time until the next crash.. I'm not interested in buying and holding and making less than 10% annual ROI. I can make more than that in the Stock Market. Not a good investment for my money.. I could make a ton of money selling my rentals right now but I'm not crazy about getting hit with Capital gains taxes... 1031 exchange is not an option as I can't find any that meet my criteria.. My annual ROI on my rentals is extremely good, so I will just sit and wait.... keeping cash available to buy if a deal pops up..

I'm a low volume investor and used to buy, rehab and flip or buy, rehab and rent and sometimes flip after holding a few years.

Now, I have flipped and acquired several properties from 2010 to 2018 and my margins were high.. Also, all my current 5 rentals have a 20 - 30% annual ROI (based on total money invested). I'm on many wholesellers mailing list but I have not come across any properties that would even get close to that.. I often sold my flips for more than twice what I had into them and now, you can maybe make a $30k profit on a $150k home here in Central Florida. $30k profit is not worth the risk as any unforseen issues with the property may eat up that margin easily.. I'm not dealing in high volume and margins that low don't cut it for me.. Does anyone have the same issue finding deals with better margins? It has been 3 years since I bough my last 3 properties..

I have an LLC for some of my rentals and others are in my personal name. There are tax and legal advantages to having properies in a LLC. However, there is a lot more paperwork that comes with an LLC. I used to buy rentals and flip homes in my name as it was easier but when I purchased multiple properties on one deal, I teamed up with a friend and fellow investor and we made an LLC together. Most of our rentals are now Section 8.. Much better than non Section 8. Will make my other properties also Section 8 whenever tenants move out..

It depends on if you are a retail customer or a business.. 

For retail customers, kitchencabinetkings.com is probably the best choice

If you have a business and frequently buy, there are companies who offer huge discounts for wholesale customers..

Panda Cabinets out of Tampa or A&M Supply (Artisan Mills) out of Orlando.. Both offer heavy discounts for businesses and cabinets are all wood with no cheap particle board.. They also all have soft close etc.

The cabinets pictured are from Panda.. Assembly per box is about 10 - 15 minutes for someone who is experienced assembling cabinets..

 I use my trailer to transport the slabs. I do NOT use an A-frame.. I have to sign a waiver that I won't hold them responsible for broken slabs if I won't use an A-frame but that's ok.. I have hauled tons of those slabs without A-frame and never broke a single one..  I place movers blankets on my trailer bed and place the first slab on top of the movers blanket. If I buy more than 1 slab, I place additional movers blankets between the slabs. Never broke a single one of them.. You will need 1 extra person to help  unloading the slabs. The slabs are light enough so that they can be carried by 2 persons.

It is hard to find good people..  Recently bought 3 houses on a big piece of land together with a friend. I usually do my own work but it would  take me too much time to remodel 3 houses besides my regular job, so we used workers that my friend has used before on some of his properties.. We are running in tons of issues of them not showing up, work not completed in time etc... I usually like to do my own work because of lack of reliability of workers.  So, whenever possible, I like to do at least some of the work myself as it's hard to find good workers for a reasonable rate.

 I have done undermount sinks before when I still had a guy who would professionally cut out and polish the stone around the undermount sink  for $300.. That guy is no longer in business and now, nobody wants to just cut the slabs and sink but to install it too for $$$$$ and they want well over $1k for that.. Cutting my own slabs, the granite + installation materials costs me $400 versus $1600+ if I have buy the granite at $40 per square foot.. I highly doubt that the resale value of the home is lower if it has a top mount sink unless of course, you are dealing with high end property...  In the last 5 years, I have done all my counter tops with top mount sinks and all the homes I sold, sold very closed to appraised value (buyer's appraiser). I doubt that the top mount sink made a difference.. Nobody is going to walk away from purchasing a home because the sink is top mount vs. undermount. Of course, at high end properties, it may make a difference but I personally don't deal with high end property..  All me homes are mid range homes and I never have a problem selling them at around appraised value with the top mount sinks.. In recent years, whenever I listed a property at market value, I usually get a contract within 1 to 7 days on it..but I do live in a high demand area.. Real Estate is still relatively cheap here in Central Florida compared to other areas..

Here are the details of the process:

1) cut approx. 3/4 inch plywood in the size of the cabinet(s) you want to install granite on.

2) Install plywood on cabinets and then cut out sink and cooktop etc, slightly larger than the space needed

3) place the pre-fab granite slab on 2x4's so that it is well supported along it's entire length.

4) Measure your cabinets and then mark the granite slab where you want to cut it. 

5) use a circular saw with a diamond masonry blade to cut it using the following  process:

a) measure the distance from the saw's guide to the blade (usually around 1.5 inches)

b) clamp down a angle iron in proper distance from the cutting line (if the blade is 1.5 inches from the guard, place the angle iron 1.5 inches from the cutting line). Before cutting, place the circular saw with it's guide along the angle iron to make sure that the blade is lined up with the spot that you want to cut the granite.

c) place blue painters tape along the cutting line and use some water to soak the tape in water.

d) you can cut the slab either wet or dry.. Wet is usually a little smoother cut but not too much difference..

e) cut with the circular saw in reversed direction, gliding the guard of the circular saw along the angle iron. You need to cut reverse as circular saws, unlike tile saws, have a blade rotating in the opposite direction, so, in order to get the correct up to down motion of the blade, you need to cut in the opposite direction.  You can have an assistant spray a little bit of water at the front of the blade while cutting to get an even smoother cut.. If you cut very slow and carefully, you should also be able to get a very fine and nice cut without having someone spray water on it.. The important part is that the angle iron must be clamped down well so it won't move and mess up the cutting line.. If you cut the slab with the circular saw guard gliding along the angle iron, you will get a perfect cut..

I personally use pre-fab granite slabs. http://www.flooranddecor.com has pre-fab granite slabs starting at $149 + tax. They are 112 inches long and 26 inches wide with finished/polished edges. They are 2 cm thick granite (3/4 inch) and they are 4 cm (1.5 inches) at the edges. I usually cut the slabs myself with my circular saw using a diamond blade and running the saw reverse, gliding the guide along a angled piece of steel which I clamp down on the slab.. Here is one of the slabs I used.. Real granite.. just over $150 for the slab.. A medium sized kitchen requires 2 slabs... $300.. Cutting them is easy..  Here are pics of 2 kitchens that I did with those pre-fab slabs.. The bigger one cost me just over $300 for the granite and the smaller one was just over $150...