All Forum Posts by: Hector Serna

 While he may have been brief, you missed his point which is excellent advice. Chances are you could have caught a few of those items before you went UC, if not all of them. Now that those things have happened to you, when you are walking properties you should go see if those issues are present on future deals.

For example, I got burned on a retaining wall issue. Do you think I now walk any property I check out to see the status of any retaining walls, no matter how well hidden or out of sight they are? You betcha.

From now on, you should be looking in crawlspaces as much as possible, checking tax records for lot sizes and zoning, and if its a short sale or even a vacant home, you're speaking to the realtor and seller about turning on utilities before an offer is made.

Again, these are experiences that you can either learn from and try to mitigate in the future or choose to ignore and get butt hurt when problems come up you didn't forsee. This will dictate your path in REI.

@Hector Serna sounds like some of these things could be resolved/noticed before actually getting under contract

@Hector Serna Another newbie here in the world of RE investing. Best of luck on your deals to come!

Just keep plugging away, gotta kiss a lot of toads before you find your prince. Sounds like you dodged a few bullets and learned a few lessons already, and nothing to be ashamed of there. The more real-world, hands-on knowledge you have, the more confidence you'll have in recognizing the right deal when you find it. Keep going forward. 

I'll take what may be an unpopular stance with some - you did the right thing by backing out of those deals. You didn't know what you didn't know. I've learned that pain is the best educator. I bet you'll check tax records for double lots, look at foundations and plumbing, and inquire about water being turned on for inspections much sooner on your future deals. 

You should not even be in contract on these deals. Why did your GC not notice the crawl space issue? I have never hired an inspection co. in all 500 or so of my deals.  The double lot, Ok that is unforeseen, Water not a big deal, if there are leaks you fix them, and simply get a price reduction for a couple K. Even if no price reductions, if a few k kills the deals, it was not a deal to begin with. 

Good luck  

@Hector Serna "and for some reason something always needs to come up" - Can you explain what this means? What was (is) your strategy and what stopped you from closing? 

Everyone has anxiety and stress when buying real estate. What we tend to forget is the risk of NOT buying something. RE, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, it all comes with a level of risk and you have to be comfortable with that risk. You have to be happy with the return you seeks. If you're knowledgeable enough to avoid the pit falls and understand the exit strategy it's time to buy. Time is against you if you don't own any assets. Big or small. 

I don't see this as being a deal breaker.

First, is this a one story house on a crawl space or basement?  If so any plumbing issues are going to be fairly easy to address.  

Second, look everywhere for evidence of leaks. Under sinks, on the ceilings where upstairs bathrooms would be, in the basement/crawl space, etc. If water was leaking, you'll see evidence.

Third, air test the water lines and bring some buckets of water to pour down drians and toilets. You may need to call a plumber.  Although easy, this will be beyond most inspectors. 

I would take another thought on this one.. Probably not paying for things, but can you get a better deal for it? Looks like with the comps/ARV you are getting a deal, so this might be where you can make up some cash.. Is it "as-is" or can you negotiate after inspection?