All Forum Posts by: Hannah Krebs

Hi all!

I have a friend in the St. Louis area who had a pipe burst in their master bath and flood the bath and the kitchen below. I'm wondering if anyone has any contractors in the area to recommend to pass along to my friend to contact? Their insurance will be covering it and they are looking for higher end materials (stone countertops, real wood cabinets, etc..). Any recommendations are appreciated!

Best,

Hannah

 Thanks for your reply Nathan! It's a very low turnover area and kind of in a unique place. I live in a lake0heavy touristy area full of seasonal use and super expensive cabins, as well as lower quality homes in the towns surrounding the lakes so that makes it even more difficult. Expanding the search area a few miles would include a lot of non-waterfront (this house is waterfront) homes, a lot of lower quality homes in another neighborhood, and also million dollar mansions located on a popular nearby lake. Sigh.

 Haha yes! I do have a great agent but he seems a little shy about offering price opinions. Also I'm a control freak and a data analyst so I always want to find my own numbers anyway. Ha!

Hi there!

I'm looking at purchasing a property for a primary residence and I can't seem to find any comps. The house is in a very low turn-around neighborhood, where the most recent sales roughly two years ago. These sales were around 300k, and the asking price of the house is now 425k. There is one house for sale on the same road at 680k, but it's been for sale for quite a while, is larger, newer and doesn't need updating. I think they might be overpriced (the house sat on the market for 7 months before they pulled it). Not looking to get a stellar deal, I just honestly don't know what to offer as a fair price! The appraisal will certainly let me know if I'm way off, but I want to make sure I get a fair deal and they get a fair deal (..for the condition of the home).

Does anyone have any advice on coming up with a fair purchase price when comps can't be found? I've checked the Zestimate, local sales within the county, and looked at all the similar houses in the area to no real avail. If anyone wants to take a stab at pricing it I'll be happy to shoot you the address in a private message. :)

Tyia in advance for advice!

@Nathan Grabau that’s a great idea, I’ll check the records. Also a great point on whether buyers will find that acceptable. The house has been on the market with no price drop for two months so I’d say the price isn’t off anyway, but since we are neighbors I am hoping to place price blame elsewhere 😂 thanks for your reply and great advice!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking at a house to convert to a duplex in central MN. The house has a “finished” basement that includes sheetrocked and painted walls and carpeted floors. However, the ceiling is unfinished and has exposed wires not in conduit and ductwork running everywhere. In addition, the electrical box is in the middle of the finished space with nothing blocking it off. My question is whether this will appraise as a finished space or not? I own the house next door which appraised at $160k as a 3/1. Without the finished space this would be a 3/2 and they’re asking $240k so I’m worried about appraisal and want to justify a lower offer.

Thanks in advance!! 

Hello BiggerPockets community,

I am planning to move a house from its original foundation to a new one in a new location. The house is stick-built in the 1970's and will be moved be a licensed, bonded and insured contractor with 40 years in the business. What I'm curious about is if I can finance any part of this move. I own the lot it's going on outright and plan to pay cash for the house and the move, which I feel would be the biggest concern for a bank. I am also able to pay cash for most of the expenses, but was hoping to get a construction-type loan set up for overages and to reduce my direct out-of-pocket.  What I'd be looking to finance is the foundation and contractor costs to hook up to utilities and update the plumbing and electric in the house itself. The value of the house on the new foundation will be ~220k and I am hoping to get a loan for about $60K.

Does anyone in the Minnesota or Midwest area have an idea who may be interested in financing this kind of a deal? I plan to occupy this home for two years and then turn it into a rental. I also plan to convert the construction loan into a conventional mortgage afterward and pull my money out. I have spoken to Agstar already and they would be willing to do the loan IF it were in a slightly more rural location. Darn. My other option is to get a HELOC or refinance my current home which I have ~150k equity in. Since I'm selling the house in the early summer I'd rather keep the new project loan separate so as to not complicate the sale process.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

@Matt Leber Thank you so much for the suggestion, I am going to check that out now!

@Jaysen Medhurst Great questions to be sure!

I did the rental analysis two ways, one refinanced pulling our money out and one leaving it as is. We purchased at a higher interest rate so we could ideally cash out to a lower interest rate and not really impact cash flow. We currently owner occupy the home so we were able to get the lower down payment up front, and could remove PMI if we financed. We purchased the house for 175k and the ARV is somewhere around 260k. The most recent sale of a 4/2 in our neighborhood was 303k but I'm trying to be conservative. We will have 20k into it after siding, windows, and the interior work. All in all a solid flip if the market holds!

Here's the analysis:

As far as renters, we are 10 minutes from a large university and with parking for 8 vehicles legally we could absolutely rent it by the bedroom to a bunch of college kids. We also live in an area where there are a lot of family groups that tend to rent out one big place for multi-generational living instead of renting multiple separate homes so I think there could be a market. That could definitely be an issue, though, as 5 bedrooms is a TON of space and a 4-bedroom would get most traditional families through.

Thank you so much for reviewing the analysis and the food for thought!