All Forum Posts by: Donald Hendricks

I am a member of Lifestyles Unlimited. It is $500 to join (includes a 2-day seminar) and there is a $240/yr renewal (if you want to stay with it). I have 2 rental properties now but want to start expanding that in the next couple years. I give LU 2 thumbs up.  If you live in TX, I would say that if you want to be a RE investor, you should definitely join. There are several benefits.

1) The keep a tight leash on their vendors list in terms of "quality". So, if you're a newbie you have a high degree of confidence that anyone you use in that database will treat you fairly (ie: not a fly by night, rip you off, etc type outfit). The LU community in TX is ginormous. They gets tons (TONS) of referrals by being on that vendor list. Dont dont want to rock that gravy train. If you live outside of TX, I'd say that it's still worth joining (come on, it's only $20/mo) for at least the first several years you are getting up and running in RE investing.

2) You get access to a lot of really good training videos. Yes, you can find similar video content on youtube, etc BUT you have to figure out who's legit or not. If someone is presenting (trainer) in LU, they are well vetted.

The problem is... what if you dont live in TX? That is legit. Their "vendor list" is not as strong or well-vetted as they are for TX just because they dont have critical mass yet outside TX.

As for comparing BP with LU....  among other things, conceptually, you can think of LU as expert led learning experience whereas BP is sort of like crowd-sourced learning. I am not knocking BP. Both are good. It's just that they serve different needs. 

Hope this helps

I have a good team of hispanic contractors, worth their weight for sure :). 

Hi,

I am looking to invest in San Antonio. All cash, maximum investment about $70k including repairs, etc. 

I'm just looking for cash flow, doesn't have to be an amazing return, just good or decent, for example if my yearly net after all expenses but before income tax is above $5,000 I will be satisfied. 

Obviously since I'm not looking for crazy high returns, I would like to reduce my risk, so no high crime areas, very old homes, etc.

Any tips or suggestions?

I see a lot of foreclosures for sale.

I'm an out of state investor so I'll be using a property manager and am thinking about even trying HomeUnion.

How is Kirby, TX specifically the Sunrise Neighborhood Coalition?

Thanks!

I'm sorry....what? The responsibility for ensuring that the work is performed correctly falls on the contractor.  That's why you hire one.   You always have to make sure you are getting what you paid for, but to put the responsibility of poor workmanship on the customer is just ... well ... confusing to me.  In what other industry would you claim responsibility if someone you hired didn't do a good job? Are you checking the seasoning that the caterer is using?  Are you checking to make sure that the web designer has used the appropriate security protocols?  You hire people to do things that they profess to be competent at.  Of course you have to be happy with the finished product and need to have clearly communicated your requirements, but that doesn't mean that you had a hand in them turning out a crappy tasting cupcake or a website where your customer's information is open for the whole world to see.

@Donald HendricksWe are dedicated to resolving this complaint with you and the handyman you hired who is a vendor in our program. We are happy to reschedule the resolution meeting you did not attend.

@David Begley I disagree with your statement as to the shotty work and here's the reason why.  The main problem is that Donald didnt check the progress of work nor it seems he didn't have people to take his place while he was out of town.  I don't know the situation so I can only assume and with that I am not bashing Donald he may work full time and its hard to make sure things are going well when you have to do what you do to keep making money.  We all can't baby sit a rehab and if its coming on the recommendations of others.....and if the source is highly accredited well you can assume that you don't have to babysit the job.  I think that is really the only mistake here in this case because if the work was properly supervised this problem would not have occurred to the extent that it did.  Donald could of corrected the issues right when they were happening.  So that is why I said there was no communication.  And I would also refute the claim of looking at a contractors hands to see if he's working.  I make more money using my mind than my hands and my hands will never make me more money than my mind period.  If I'm only rehabbing a couple of places at a time then yes I will be working more hands on but if I have 4 to 6 working then I'm supervising and making sure everybody is doing there job and I'm checking on things everyday making phone calls and seeing where everybody is at.  If work is not up to par or looking like its going in that direction then we need to talk about it and make sure what I am expecting something to look like what it is suppose to look like.  I'm not trying to bash anyone just saying that Donald has a responsibility to make sure what he is paying for is being completed the ways he wants it done.

Well I can say I never appreciated what my contractors did or didn't do for me until I became a contractor, and I can tell you it opened up my eyes to a lot of things I never paid attention to.  So with that being said I'm sure if nothing was in writing this is what was bound to happen.  Sounds like to me your idea of what was being asked to be done was not the same in his mind.  Regardless lesson learned for the both of you next time get it in writing in detail what you expect and when its not up to par with contract then you address accordingly.  This is why in my contract I put a per day penalty so you can be assured that I'll finish on time Good luck on the redo of work and hopefully it won't cost you too much more headache cause the money is enough of an issue at the moment!