All Forum Posts by: John Harvey

Water would be with a private well - and I believe that would fairly typical for this area.

I came across a group of vacant building lots for sale in a 1960’s subdivision. About 1/3 of the lots are built on and I would guess most of the houses are 20-30 years old. Of the vacant lots, the largest lot is over 1 ½ acres and is flat & wooded. The lots are selling for roughly $5k each. This subdivision is in the county and all of the lots would need to have private water and sewer, and none of them are currently permitted for this.

I understand that the property is selling for such a reduced rate due to the areas poor soil drainage (I live in an area that is predominately clay) and the expense associated with installing a more expensive and engineered septic system. The seller has provided a study by a soil scientist stating that “some of the lots would be potentially suitable for a drip sub-surface septic systemâ€. I contacted this individual, and asked a bunch of questions on this and I understand that this process would take between $6-8k to evaluate and design a system for permitting – this cost would not include the actual septic system.

Even with the expense associated with septic and water permitting, I feel this is a good opportunity to either buy/permit/sell or develop as a sfr or simply buy and hold the lot. Does anyone have any thoughts on the expense or process associated with having a vacant lot permitted for water & septic?

Thanks everyone for replying to my questions! I have given considerable thought to all of your comments.
Brian P, I really appreciate your recommendation - to learn more about purchase agreements/options - I guess with my current financial situation I'm really focused on trying to get the ball rolling without conventional financing and I lose sight of other possibilities.

At this point, I plan to learn more about purchase options, specifically, sandwich leases, wholesaling and gaining control of property subject to. In concept, I'm feeling more comfortable with each of them, but once you have an interested seller - how do you come up with the written agreement? Is this something that you have an attorney put together, or are there standard forms available for each of the options?

Thanks-
John

Hi all, I’m a newbie and I really want to get started in real estate investing this year. I have put my investing plans on the back burner for several years and now I have the time to do it, I just don’t have the W-2 and a steady income that I had years ago. I have read dozens of investing books and studied multiple approaches to investing but I’m having a hard time settling on a strategy. I have some savings to dedicate to this but a conventional loan is pretty much out of the question – I’m self employed and just starting out with that.

My current business plan is to connect up with motivated sellers and buy property subject-to, (primarily because of my lending situation) and then I envision completing some minor repairs and then rent or lease the property out, for a positive cash flow. There are a whole bunch of small steps to this plan that I’ll need to figure out as I go but I’m wondering what other experienced investors’ think of this approach for newbie. Am I realistic to think that I can figure out the steps involved? Is a Subject –to loan assumption really possible?

Thanks for your thoughts….
John

I agree with Ryan, flat roofs aren't inherently bad.

Most large scale commercial buildings are done as flat roofs just proves that if done correctly they will last many many years. Unfortunately, what I have seen far too many times on residential applications is less than ideal. Sometimes an addition is connected a porch is enlarged and the only way the designer could figure the roof out was by making it flat. This often creates a multitude of potential leaks, at wall to roof joints, sloped roof to flat roof joints and penetrations thru the flat roof. If incorrectly designed and installed any roof will leak. The flat roof absolutely requires a skilled installer.

3 of my favorite;
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Calvin Coolidge

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.
M. SCOTT PECK

Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient.
ARISTOTLE

Stephen,
The tiles that are higher than others - are they firmly attached or loose? If attached, I'm thinking it was a poorly installed tile job. When tile is installed it is tamped while the setting bed is soft to level the tiles with each other. To make it right would require starting over.

Good point Tim.
The AIA contracts are pretty much the gold standard in the construction industry. They cover the Owner/Contractor agreement, Owner/Architect agreement, JV and Design Build agreements and many many more legal arrangements. They've been around for years and have been tested.

How old is the water heater? Is it an electric or gas water heater? From my experience a water heater usually fails near the insert for the element (for an electric water heater) simply due to the age of the unit. It could be the pressure increased slightly and that was enough to start a drip. You will need to take the covers off the insulation jacket - usually a sheet metal cover with a couple screws. That should give you a better idea on where it is leaking.

Thanks Blake, I've never heard that term......How does it vary from an in-law suite? Are both parts of the house equal, basically - is it intended for 2 individuals to split the house?

thanks in advance
John