All Forum Posts by: Jay M.

 By saying "do not pay early" I take that to mean do not pay before the job is complete or punched out?  I have been in the construction / design end of this business for a few decades.  While you do not want to pay early as soon as everything is done and punched out and you can verify that everything is complete and correct - pay quickly.  

Especially in this market if a contractor / sub-contractor has 6 jobs going, they're living paycheck to paycheck and all 6 of their employers are calling and screaming at them whose job do you think they'll go to first?  The one who writes the check (upon completion / verification) immediately or the one who you submit a bill to and they put it in their "payroll system" that takes 3 weeks to issue a check? 

Ford Transit type van...  You can still get a sheet of plywood / rock standing it up.  If you're carrying more than 1/2 dozen sheets of either then you didn't plan your work / materials ordering well enough...The mileage is also way better than a full size pickup and much more economical.

While I know next to nothing about investing I do know a little about business.  You can have a friend or you can have a partner but you can't have both in one....

 I agree with almost if not everything you just said.  I'm down on the southcoast and unless you want the war zones it's starting to look like that as well around here.

I would also concur on the roofing.  I'm in a very, very expensive part of the country and I could get a 14 sq. roof done for under $5.5k.

The biggest item that scares me is the deposit.  If you give him 50% he is going to disappear quicker than Joey Chestnut can make a hot dog disappear.  At that pricing maybe he will actually do the work but to me I wouldn't give my grandmother that kind of deposit....

Floating floors are the ONLY floor I would cut to cabinets.  I always install nail down wood or tile under cabinets.  I think it's a hack job otherwise.

If you're in a state like Massachusetts even if you're in the wrong and they DIDN"T put the money in a separate interest bearing account they're liable for triple damages.  I had a landlord 30 years ago attempt to extort me by keeping the deposit, took him to court and left with our money x2......

I skipped page 3......Did someone say "penny wise, pound foolish" yet?  The landlord will be lucky to ONLY eat about 3 months worth of "expenditures" postponing any potential sale until after the tenant is out and the winter is over....  I've seen cheap bast***s like this before.   Even money he attempts some "action" against the tenant for "spoiling" his potential sales......

 I just checked out both websites.... Will they hold up for 5-8 years?  I was a cabinet installer in a former life and some of the ones I installed in the '90's are questionable if they were still on the wall 10 years later.  NOT very good quality but I hear these newer brands are much better.

The items you listed that it needed is not as much as a rebuild.  Even if it is only as serious as you described and not worse then I would look at a tear down as an option only if the cost supports it.  If you bought it for 60 and vacant lots are going for 70+ then look at it.  If you're into it for 60 and lots are going for 60 then you're in the red already because it will cost you $X to tear down and remove it.  

In my area teardowns are popular because of the lack of land and for the most part the neighborhoods usually maintain or improve rather than degrade.  When you live near the ocean they usually don't let it go to heck....