All Forum Posts by: John Adamkewitz

Hey Christopher, You have a good question. I feel the same way with My realtor.

We haven't done a deal in over a year and She has probably shown Me about 35 properties (I requested) since. And about 30 before the last deal.

I try to research as much as possible before hand and sometimes know more then She does about a property. To Her credit She kept asking Me to go and see the last deal several times before I actually went to see it in person, it was ugly in pictures the numbers looked iffy, the taxes were to high, it was vacant, two years on the mls ect. I had no interest.

It turned out to be My home run. I think about the RE license all the time but not yet. I also think about slipping My Agent an envelope.

I thought about asking here on BP, if greasing your Agent was OK and I guess I just did.

John ;)

If it were the thermostat it would not call for heat in the first place.

Joel your looking for a single wire, hooked up to a male spade connecter, entering near the combustion chamber. On the other end of that connecter there should be Flame Sensor, looks like a small dia. rod, may have a 45* bend in it, unscrew it and clean the yellow brown coating off of it with any abrasive. Sand, dirt, sand paper what ever. Reinstall and recheck operation.

If You can find the paperwork that came with the heater, You will be able to turn on the self diagnostics and read the LED codes.

John

@Scott Meyers Maybe You could put in a call for the new guy?

John ;)

Hey Bill, be careful about Your exit strategy. Before your owner occupying prospective buyers would be able to get the purchase financed, the hoa will have to have %10 of dues going towards reserves, no more than %15 delinquent owner dues and a minimum ratio of owner occupied to investor owned units. Lenders will ask for document support.

If Your not using commercial money to purchase, You'll have to pass these requirements also.

Heres a Freddie Mac pdf to read over.

http://www.freddiemac.com/learn/pdfs/uw/condo.pdf

John

My first reaction would be "I'll keep the machines for a 50/50 split, on a non-auto renewal yearly contract, OR You can pick up the machines outside the property on xx/xx/xxxx date, thank You have a nice day. . .Click.

There also may be a play where You could claim the machines as abandoned property the same way a landlord can get title to a car, left by a tenant. Tell Him He can have the machines back for the "storage" charges.

Or, call His competition I'm sure they'd be more then happy to tell You how to get rid of this jerk.

Put the ball in his court and make Him worry about it.

John

Hey Ryan, I know that neighborhood. And I'm going to be honest, please don't take it personally. Many times in My life I would have paid cash for honesty.

If I came over to Your house as a guest, I would think cool, Ryan has some nice stuff.

If I was looking to buy that home, I would wonder how My kids would brush their teeth in the sink, it would be a mess, how do you clean that thing? I wouldn't want to shave in the master sink either, it's about 4 inches deep and water slides out easy from both sides. The bathrooms are just not practical to Your target buyer.

You've personally decorated someone else's house. And they don't want to fix it.

The kitchen is a hit, the sitting room ceilings a hit and that would have been enough to do what You needed to do. The faux tray ceiling molding light thing is a bit over the top and just reinforces the fact that You've put a half million dollar condo interior into a 200k blue collar house.

And please please, get rid of the clock most kids cant even read a real clock anyway. The tile wainscot in the bedrooms also needs to go.

You keep saying, "This house is WAY better than anything around it". Your probably right, but that's not what selling in Oak Forest IL.

If I have offended You, I apologize, it was not My intent. I'm just giving You an Honest opinion.

John

Thank You Bill.

I got a look at the financials and it looks bad. No reserves with actual monthly expenses running around $2800 split between 10 units on an 8 yr old building. $1500-1800 of it going to gas and electric for the pool area.

Add the Agent telling Me to expect a hold time of 3-5 years, for the market to come back.

Sounds like to much exposure. Instead of all 4 units, I may just lowball 1 unit and get a feel of the banks position.

John

Hey Bill, Your assumption is correct, hoa docs read over 30 day rentals only.

If I use the 50% rule, on $1150 in rents, I end up with $575 to pay a $333 mortgage and a $250 hoa fee, = $583. and a cashflow of -$8. A vacancy or hvac put Me into the red easily.

However (I think) there is an appreciation factor here, with 2/2/1 non foreclosed comps around 125k-145k. This one is 3/3/1. In My area, 2007 left us with a condo glut that is just starting to ease up and they are beginning to sell again.

I'm also pretty sure that the 220k tax assessment and taxes could be lowered $800 to a $1000 a year after the 85k purchase price. I've been searching county records and have seen proactive condo owners with comparable results after purchase. This would not help cashflow until next year. But it would be attractive to a potential buyer.

I'd really hate to do something stupid/costly. Maybe this is more profitable as a flip?

John

Hey Guy's, I need some experience on this one. I don't know much about owning and renting a condo, except that many owners don't like the hoa's.

Buy and Hold.

8 yr old condo unit, 1 of 10 total in complex. Bank owns 4 units. 3/3/1, 1600 sq ft.

85k purchase, $1150 rent, $3400 taxes, $250 hoa. Tenant would pay all utility's.

Garbage, snow, lawncare and outside maint by hoa.

Financing, 25% down, 30 am, 4.33% apr.

I come up with piti of $665. for 1 unit. I think that I would eventually move into this unit within 4-6 yrs, for a summer home.

Other than appliances, hvac and special assessments, what should My concerns be?

John