All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Also, I don't mind at all paying what we agreed to initially.  I'm a fair person, but this guy's acting like I'm getting some kind of buddy price or something.

So, against everything I know, I hired a plumber to replace a tub and drain without a written contract.  He said 26-2700.  1,000 up front for materials.  After 2 days of work, my wife was over there and he said he needed a check for $3100.  He was not finished but she wrote the check anyway.  I called him and asked about it.  He said $2700 was for the labor and he said that up front (which he never did).  He said he a had a lot of time in the tile demo even though I asked him if there was anything I could do beforehand to make it go quicker and/or save money.  He said he'd just demo tile around tub.  But then said demoing anymore tile above it would potentially damage the tub.  He then proceeded to rip out more tile in the bathroom itself.  We've had a pretty heated text exchange today where he's showing his true colors.  I just put a stop payment on the $3100 check.  Not sure if that's the right move.  Any advice on what to do next is greatly appreciated.  And yes, I've learned my lesson.

Hello, BP!  I inherited my parent's house and have a renter in there now.  We'd like to sell it and the tenant would like to buy it.  It's in a "gated community" that's in a pretty rural area.  Housing prices are all over the map in this community.  There are some beautiful houses on the lake that sell for $600k plus, and then some old A-frames that sell for $30k.  Some people also just buy lots out there to use the facilities.  Anyway, this house falls somewhere in the middle range.  To figure out a price, we ordered an appraisal.  The appraiser sent the appraisal.  He had 3 comps on it.  None of the comps had full, finished basements and we're about 60-75% of the square footage.  I'm not incredibly sold on the figure he gave us.  I asked him about this and he said that was the 3 closest comps he could find.  There is a realtor out that way that pretty much lists every house in that area.  Should I enlist her help, or how would I go about that to get a better feel if the appraiser is way off?  I like this tenant and I want to give them a fair deal; however, I also don't want to leave a good amount of money on the table.  Any advice is greatly appreciated.  Thanks, as always.

I've had a few things to fix in the last 6 months on this rental; however, every time I try to schedule it between my guy and the tenant, the times don't work for her.  I understand wanting to be home when someone you don't know is in your house, but it's really frustrating trying to find a time when they're both available.  Well, on the bright side, I'd rather have a tenant who works 3 jobs than one who sits around watching soap operas all day.  Anyway.  Any advice is appreciated.  Thanks, BP.

My folks both passed in January.  Has it been too long to avoid the capital gains?  The estate settled with the property being valued at 125k.  

Hello. I inherited a house from my parents and the tenant loves it and is interested in purchasing. It's in a lake community; however, the community has everything from 30k A-frame houses to 600k houses on the lake and everything in between. This is a modest home for the area. I'm guessing somewhere between 125-150. I've been looking at a lot of sold and listed houses out there. The tenant is basically just waiting on me to give them a price. After my parents died and the estate settled, everyone got their piece of the pie. I'd really prefer not to have to pay realtor fees. I have a realtor that I work with a lot. I plan on 1031 exchanging this house to a 6-10 unit multi. Any recommendations on finding FMV without enlisting a realtor? Is it okay to say to my realtor, "Hey, help me get this deal done and you'll make your money when we buy the large multi?" Any help is greatly appreciated.

Roommates could be a good idea as well.  Every time I read California posts, it makes me happy I live in the midwest.  Best of luck.  The absolute worst thing you can do though, is nothing.  Don't be in the same boat 5 years from now.  Get educated and asking on here is a great step in the right direction.  Best of luck to you.  

Welcome.  You're in the right spot.  Here, I mean...not California.

Maybe. I quit going to my local REIA for this very reason. Every speaker was good; however, at the end, they're trying to sell $1,000 packages. Not sure what your RE focus is; however, you can get WAY more out of listening to podcasts than any guru program out there. I went to the OREIA (Ohio) convention a few months back. Nothing but snake oil salesmen.

I would definitely look in other markets. Where I live, you can almost accidentally buy a good cash flowing property off the MLS. Check out some of the turn key providers. Search BP and ask around.