All Forum Posts by: Jaclyn B.

I've painted before and am pretty good at it. I spend a lot of time on prep work (cleaning the walls, spackling holes, sanding, taping, etc.), so the actual painting goes quick and smoothly. 

That said, I just bought my first buy and hold and was planning on painting it myself. I grossly underestimated the amount of prep work the walls and ceiling would need. I work a 9 to 5 and the house I purchased is 90 minutes away which means most of my work is done on weekends. It would take me way too long to properly prep and paint the house, so I'm hiring out. I'd rather pay the $ to have it professionally painted than to lose income from having it sit vacant while I do all the work.

Always, always, always get an inspection. Of course, wait until you've made an offer and they've accepted it. Include an inspection contingency clause in your offer that allows you to time to get an inspection and back out penalty free if you find something you're not prepared to deal with.

@Jared Lichtin  This looks great Jared! What's the flooring in the kitchen? I can't quite tell.

Cast iron plumbing is a pain in the you know what. I lived in a house that had cast iron plumbing and when those pipes go.... boy do they go. We had sewage backing up into toilets, tubs, and sinks in two bathrooms. Get rid of it as quick as you can!

@Darin M. Are you doing any of the repairs yourself or are you contracting everything out?

@Dylan McLauchlan 

I offer flexible lease lengths to students. If they want a 9 or 10 month lease, they pay a little bit more to cover any potential summer vacancy. Otherwise they can sign a standard 1-yr lease. There's always a few students hanging around over summer who need short-term housing. You just have to be willing to be flexible and know that you're going to have to clean a bit more frequently.

@Jon Klaus It's on the west side of IH-35. I'm renting by the room so anticipating $1050/mo. 

@Mike D. I will definitely be looking into a power sander. Trying to do it by hand was just foolish of me. I like the idea of getting the painting company to do the sanding and I do the painting. 

Update on painters: I had two different painting companies scheduled to show up on Saturday to give me a quote and they BOTH flaked! Two other companies that I called and left messages with never called me back. Does no one want my money? So far I have one quote from what seems like a very professional painting company but it's rather high. They line itemed everything so I'm going to call back and remove some of the items I don't really need painted. I'm also going to try and negotiate for a lower price overall. Any tips on negotiating?

It's actually in Waco, TX. Very close to Baylor. Waco was a little easier on my pocketbook and fits my targeted tenant class of students. 

I recently purchased my first buy and hold investment. The house was in pretty decent shape. The seller wanted out quickly and so they agreed to provide funds for some needed repairs that came up during the inspection period. When I first saw the house it was pretty clear that the walls desperately needed a coat of paint. I had planned to do the painting myself. I've painted my personal residences several times and have pretty much got the basics down. No biggy, it's just paint.

Boy was I wrong. The walls had a few cracks that the previous owner had spackled over (but not yet painted). However, the previous owner spackled GOBS of spackle over the cracks, which all needed to be sanded down. I'm talking inch thick mounds of spackle  in multiple areas/rooms. After spending a whole day trying to scrub the walls clean (they were also very dirty) and then getting nowhere hand sanding piles of spackle, I gave up. This one is better left to the pros. 

So now I have three painting companies coming by the house to give me a painting quote which is an expense I hadn't counted on. Live and learn. 

Anybody have any experience with Homesearch.com? It's an auction site that has a listing I'm interested in. Any words of wisdom or caution when it comes to auction sites in general?