All Forum Posts by: Joehn B.

Give her the notice in writing.  I found this form by googling "Texas Eviction Notice"

https://ipropertymanagement.co...

I am confused.  you rented her a room in your home but you don't see her?  is she not there or you don't live in the same house?

btw welcome to biggerpockets and congrats on househacking your homestead!  

I don't think insurance will cover this.

No to lining.

Bite the bullet and replace it all.   Cast iron becomes brittle and disintegrates, there is no patching or lining.

I did mine and paid a guy to tunnel.  < 5k

Just make sure you understand where it is under the slab, run a camera through it it's not clear.

What is the copper pipe situation (water)?  also under the slab? how far under?

TIP: Next time you buy a 1960+ property SCOPE the sewer and negotiate the replacement cost into the price if it's damaged.

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Benjamin Papet:

@Nathan Gesner You're missing my point: I truly appreciate the gift and I'm not discounting my agent. However without the buyer (me) there's no transaction, hence my question. 

You hired someone to do a job and essentially want to renegotiate her fee after the job is over. You should have done your negotiation up front.

I wouldn't fawn over an agent like this. She's earned $40,000 in two years from you, but she still charged you an additional 0.3% on top of what the Seller offered. That seems petty on her part. In my market, buyer agents accept whatever is offered, which is sometimes as low as 2%.

I would definitely ask for a discount on the next transaction, but I would ask for it up front. If she insists on sticking with 2.8% then I would probably find another agent that truly appreciated my business.

she did NOT ask for the 0.3% difference.  she said she would not ask for it.

NO, you should not expect anything, and most certainly you should NOT ask.  

Quote from @Steve Vaughan:

Quote from @Justin Mabry:

what things are good to do it yourself and what things are just simply better to hire out for? i.e., painting, landscaping, tile, etc.

What will save you the most $ of course is to do the things a licensed tradesman would have to do. 

I save at least $60k per year doing my own plumbing and electrical, but I learned how and have been doing it a long time.  I also do my own interior painting but I cut in free hand fast and have my own paint.

I save another $60k per year doing my own RE transactions., not having to hire or retain bonehads that think any real work is beneath them. Last year I saved over $110k there.

But I don't do roofs, concrete  or tile or mess with landscaping too much.  I wouldn't build a deck or swap windows. But I do stain and refinish floors, decks, cabinets, countertops. Contractors all seem to just want to rip them out. 

Basically things that can be easily bid out where a specific license isn't needed I'll hire out.

Handyman and cleaners can take care of punchlist stuff for the most part.  Hanging blinds, screens, securing rails and racks, swapping locks and fixtures etc if you have a job and time is more limited. 

Nice! ditto.  I do my own electrical/plumbing. (Engineer) but won't do heavy lifting and landscaping. @Justin Mabry go easy on the first one, help the trade folk and learn.  replace old yellow outlets plates etc.  take care of the little details!

Overall it's tempting to do it all yourself and you save $$$ but you have to PAY yourself.   over time you want to find a balance.  your time is better spent find the NEXT DEAL.  get good at THAT like @Eliott Elias said!

shoot for an existing duplex and house hack it.  rent the other side and make this your first investment.

Renting is fine, you just need to screen your tenants very very well.  If you are not comfortable with this, you can hire a reputable property management firm and hand them the keys.

Either way, one thing you Must do is visit the property at lease once a year, maybe every 6 months to check for neglect/damage.  I made that mistake with an out of state rental and the tenants killed the yard.

You can get good tenants in a C, D area.  you can also get horrible tenants in an expensive B area.  Its all in the screening.  Choice of area has more to do with your goals.  do you want cash flow or appreciation?  sounds like you are in it for an appreciation play.

Just to clear up for newbies when you say "buy foreclosed home", you are buying a banked owned property thats already been through a foreclosure sale, unsold.

You can also buy a home prior to being bank owned at a foreclose sale, with cash often at a lower price but higher risk since you can't inspect inside.

The good points you make are for bank owned homes.

Fix it and cash flow the heck out of the grandfathered multi-unit.