All Forum Posts by: Jim Kalish

@Kevin G. Sorry to pile on Kevin, but doing a major flip without a GC is asking for trouble.  All of the comments above are right on the money.  Even if you get through the flip without one, once you go to sell a lot of realtors will protect their clients by looking for permit status.  If they see you haven't pulled any they will at least pull out or possibly contact the building department.  Permits are not a punishment.  They protect you and the final buyer.  How would you feel if the "skilled"  handyman mis-wires something and there is a fire?  Its not worth it.  And lets face it, when you ran your numbers you should have already figured in the cost.

Now if its just cosmetic, paint, flooring, etc, no you don't need a GC.  You could even do a simply kitchen or bath remodel like new cabinets and counter tops.   But if you start changing plumbing or electrical then by all means get a good GC.

@Candela Rebot If you were just taking down a short partition wall you certainly would not need a permit. But you mentioned electrical and a gas line. Both have the potential of causing major problems if not done right. It's worth a little extra time and a few dollars for the piece of mind. And based on what you described 2-3 weeks of construction is a very long time.

@Emily Ziemba I'm sure you don't need another person telling you to evict, but I'm going to anyway.  EVICT THEM NOW.  They will continue to take advantage of you.  If you are like me, you pay your bills.  SO you expect other people to do the same.  And most do.  But for the ones that don't, they thrive on ripping people off.  They aren't embarrassed or ashamed.  It becomes a game to them.    Being a landlord is TOUGH.  Vetting a potential tenant takes time and you have to stick to your guns.  I hate doing it.  That's why my son does it.  He is great at it.  Sometimes it takes an extra month but loosing 1 month's rent with the place vacant is a lot less expensive than evicting.  Establish ground rules and stick to them for everyone.  As soon as you make an exception you open yourself to litigation.  Check their credit history, do a criminal background check, and see if they have ever been evicted before.  So now you should be asking how to do this.  Hire a professional in that area.   You can just google property managers.  But you don't know what yo will get from that search.  You want a PM who does a lot of work for similar property owners.   So look for rentals  that area.  Call those numbers and tell them why you are calling.  If they are a property manager they will tell you thy are the best.  Just get all of their info and write it down.  Then compare.

Since you are remote and new to this, hire an attorney for the eviction.  It will be well worth the cost.  You can try to recoup your lost rent but its unlikely you will ever see the back rent.  Just write it off on your taxes.

Good luck.  And don't feel bad.  Our first couple of years were a disaster.

We've standardized on LVP for anything we do. In our area new homes under 500k usually have LVP unless they are custom.  Then its buyer's choice.  And higher priced homes start to install actual hardwood.  But its all dependent on what the market is looking for.  Visit some open houses in new subdivisions with different price points.  What they install will be a good indicator of what the market in general is expecting.  Comparing laminate and LVP, I've found LVP just feels and sounds better than laminate.  Of course the laminate we used years ago probably isn't as good as today's and we were just starting out so we went CHEAP.  But walking on the 2 different floorings I think LVP just sounds and feels more solid.  

As for brands what you really have to ask yourself is who is the manufacturer.  The majority of the LVP is made by probably a dozen manufacturers around the world.  While there are over 50 different brands.  The key is to buy from a well known distributor. Shaw and Mohawk are the big naes.  And they both manufacture and sell under the same name. Floor and Decor is a great place to start.  But don't buy the cheapest stuff.  I agree with @Ryan Normand on the price ranges for material.  I get the install for 1.50-2.00 sf range but he does a lot of work for us in apartments as well putting down vinyl so I'm sure he is cutting us a break.  2-4 is a good number to use.

When selecting your LVP I suggest looking for flooring that is durable enough to be considered scratch-resistant flooring and certified as low-VOC flooring.  LVP is known to contain a lot of materials that have VOCs, which can be nasty.  So getting flooring that is low-VOC is a must.

@Adam Schneider Thanks for the response Adam.  Great insight.  To date my purchases have either been from other investors or motivated sellers.  So your right, the question has not come up.  But I am about to start mailers to distressed properties.  So I'm a little concerned they will ask and then try to use that as leverage to get me to increase my offer.  Of course I will be honest with them.  But I like your last sentence in your post.  Its a really good starting point.  And maybe I'm just getting too worried about this one aspect and using it to drag my feet.  The positive responses I've gotten here are great kick in the pants to just get going.

Thanks Mark.  I've registered as a guest for the March meeting.

@John O'Leary Thanks John, I really appreciate your input.  Very helpful.  I'm a member of MetrolinaREAI but I have been considering NCREIA.  If I'm not mistaken they have a meeting on March 15 at the Hilton Garden Inn.  I'll try to check it out.  If I do I'll look you up.

Hi friends.  I'm getting ready to start reaching out to owners of distressed homes.  One of the questions in the BP calculator is how much profit I want to make.  Then it dawned on me.  When meeting with a potential seller, and explaining why their home isn't worth the same as their neighbors fully rehabed home is, how would I respond to them asking me how much profit I plan on making.  I know I'd ask that question of someone telling me my home is worth less than my neighbors.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim

Hi BP friends

I've lived in and have been investing in Charlotte NC for several years.  But after a visit back home to Rochester, NY a couple of weeks ago I'm getting the bug to try investing there.  My question is related to the rehab. Here in NC a GC needs to be licensed to be able to pull permits in most situations.  But based on my research it looks like Rochester, NY doesn't even have licensing for GCs, just the trades.  Anyone can pull a building permit.  Do I have that right?  Also, if I buy a home and list it as my primary residence can I pull the trade permits myself as well?  I know when I lived in Rochester 30 years ago I was able to pull my own electrical permit and do all of the electrical on a house I was having built.  If that still holds true that would be great.  I'd still hire qualified trades people but if I control the permits I can avoid some of the mark ups.  There isn't a lot of room  for profit in Rochester given how inexpensive things are there.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone is willing to share pricing they are getting from their subs that would be great.

Thanks,

Jim

Since you are asking about a HELOC I'm assuming the property is in your name. If its in an LLC then its a slightly different yp of loan. IN your name its based on credit score and your current debt to income ratio. Basically its mostly about your ability to repay personally. If the property is in an LLC then the loan is a commercial loan and is based on something called Debt Service Coverage Ratio or DSCR. Its more about the net operating income the property generates. It needs to ne anywhere from 100% to 125% of the debt. Of course most still want to see your credit score.

I've called around 100 lenders a few times over the last year or so. As of right now I'm aware of only 1 that still is doing HELOCs on investment property held in personal name. That's TD Bank. They loan on 75% LTV and 43% DTI. And they have a limit on the number of properties you can currently own. I think its 1 primary, 1 secondary and two investment properties. 1099 will make it tougher but not impossible. But you should check with one of their loan officers. BP won't let me post contact info for my guy, I tried. His name is Matt Paterno. If you want his contact info just PM me. Good luck.