All Forum Posts by: Joe P.

Hey all -- I'm close to wrapping up a BRRRR rehab phase, and I'd love to hear some tips/tricks from folks to ensure that you can "sign off" on the rehab and pay final costs to your contractor. Thinking in terms of "rehab is done, house readiness" checks. Basic mechanicals come to mind, but also checking for anything that might have been done not up to snuff that you can review and check for. Here's what I've got so far:

- Besides checking all aspects of your rehab to ensure scope was met...

 - Confirm gas, electric, water are all ON

- Turn on heating unit, turn on AC (if applicable) and confirm heat/air coming through all vents

- Run all faucets, shower, and flush all toilets, check for active leaks

- Test every light fixture and every outlet

- Confirm all appliances work

- Check all windows/doors for any issues (air gaps, water leaks, locking, not opening/closing, slamming windows, etc.)

Then after they leave:

- Schedule cleaning crew

I'm sure there is more but these are the key things I could think of. Would love investor/landlord insight for more things to check for/confirm.

Different document, same problem. If they lose income due to covid no one is going to get rid of them regardless of lease length.

No one is judging you. I just told you what to do, and what I thought about your financial situation if you can't afford a $10 per week listing fee.

Fact is that for a service as powerful as Zillow, and the fact that most people seem to get their places via Zillow, it's now become one of the top services for finding tenants and for tenants to find places. Frankly I think $10 a week is a bargain, if you want to have a discussion.

The other option, again for discussion sake, is Facebook Marketplace. I listed my open rental approximately 10 months ago on it and had no less than 100 people inquire. The problem is, all 100 -- not exaggerating -- never got to the point of even seeing the rental. I believe they just type in the standard message to every open spot and either do something else or go see only a select few? I'm not sure.

I suggest not being a cheapskate and paying the $10. If you have to be worried about a $10 listing fee for your apartment, I'd go and check your numbers and make sure this place isn't costing you money.

I'm a professional guitar-gear buyer and an extremely amateur guitar player. :)

I used to be a pretty decent soccer player back in the day, but don't really have much love for the game anymore. So I spent a Sunday each week playing on a softball team with family. Also enjoy video games, especially computer games, but work/life takes me away from that.

Check out Visio lending as they might be able to, for fees/points, get you to a cash out refinance sooner. Expect to pay 2-3% higher on interest than you would for a conventional refi. The time literally costs you money. :)

@Justin Johnson remember I said earlier this is an operations business. Try to get yourself a process flow going NOW so when people are ready to put in an application, you're buttoned up to some acceptable degree. Brandon Turner has a free guide on how to rent your house, and it includes a section on application. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/how-to-rent-your-house

The best thing you can do for yourself is try to think through your major steps ahead, and plan for each. If you don't know what to do, research it.

The execution of a sale and purchase for a 1031 exchange should be considered as well.

If this property is a cash cow for you, I'd look to make the necessary repairs and HELOC it. If it's a dog and isn't making you any return, then a sale is the correct approach.

Also trying to avoid a deluge into politics, because politics affect the view of what's happening, not the actual result.

So, facts are, the budget is slashed by ~33%. That's a major slash. But it sounds like money is being pushed elsewhere so police don't have to handle those issues.

My feeling is, and if there are any police officers here, they can weigh in -- that 95% of the job is civil response that has a chance to become dangerous at any time, and 5% is...serious, dangerous, and threatening.

Play out those scenarios. Lets say that budget is being used to create a citizen task force that could be called for things like minor traffic accidents, neighbor disputes, police-report-after-the-fact, spending time in court, etc. Sounds like a better use of funds and time for the citizen task force. But I worry that police decrease their involvement with the citizens they protect, which is not always a good thing.

We cannot expect police to do everything. They deal with a lot of nuisance, as do our fire and EMTs. It makes sense, operationally, to shift the "nonsense" away from first responders so they can do what they do best -- fight crime, fight fires, and apply immediate/near-immediate services to those in need.

You all have a job...how many times do you have to do some stupid stuff that's "filler" instead of what you'd actually like to do, or are trained to do? I suspect that's what this is -- and has the worst name for it. Talk to any officer and they'll tell you they're mired in paperwork and desk nonsense and not able to do their jobs effectively.

The optimist in me says let the police become a positive presence in our communities, one where they are trusted and can be a face/name that we all can believe in. IF these measures are aimed at doing that, then I am all for it. I want my officers out and about, not filling out reports.

Just my $0.02. Now, if I can get political for a moment, if any pro-police people believe that "defunding the police" is a direct attempt to have crime go up, get your head examined. No reasonable (or even unreasonable) person asks for more crime. I won't give it any points for marketing efforts. But think of the possibilities from a police officer standpoint -- they want to either fight crime, or help to deter future crime, right? Does anyone get into the profession to deal with b()!!$&1#? Probably not.

The world is different and I believe if the government can do something right, the creation of a "citizen safety" or "citizen civics" group to deal with a lot of this nonsense is not a bad idea. The proof will always be in the pudding -- crime needs to maintain or drop and non-police issues need to be solved either equal or better/faster than today.

Probably can't do much better than that in terms of a refinance. If you have the cash/reserves to buy a self-sustaining income property, then do it. Do anything that puts you in line with your investment goals.