All Forum Posts by: John Murphy

Knockdown texture and new paint would be all we would do on a house we are flipping or keeping as a rental.

An exception to this is the basement of a home.  Many homes were built with unfinished basements.

So then a homeowner would try to hang drywall and finish it and many times it looked horrible!

So bad in fact that many times it was probably torn out and someone just started over.

Again, in common ordinary circumstances I believe you can do the knockdown texture and paint and you're good to go!

Good luck!

Thank you guys - appreciate the wisdom and advice!

I'm new to BP and still learning my way around the site and all it has to offer - this will give me something to work on!

Thank you for this incredible real life story!

I send the tenant an email a week or so before they move out and tell them they must clean thoroughly and ask that they not clean the carpet as we will have it professionally cleaned.

I list things that are common tenant mistakes - it seems like no one cleans the oven thoroughly.

The other thing that we are seeing is most tenants do not remove all of their belongings.

They leave misc items and I then have to get an email from them confirming "yes I have removed everything that I'm going to and you are free to discard anything I left behind"

Thank you - I read through your advice and just wanted to say I think you're right on target!

I'm interested in trying what you suggested and seeing what transpires!

Upon further thinking about this and trying to be realistic - I'm guessing there are a variety of situations out there and anyone who owns property has to decide how they want to run their operation.

If they have a smooth running operation and there is little or nothing to do - they simply are not going to hire me.

If, on the other hand, they have some "problem" and "headaches" I think they will be running and not walking to hand over these problems and saying to themselves "this is not worth the stress and the headaches"

It takes a certain person and set of skills to be a cop or a principal in a rough school or a dorm residence hall manager or a bouncer at a bar and not everyone is cut out for that.

I'm not sure I want to deal with it either and that's probably what I'm looking at if I actively pursue this and go to the time, effort, and expense to deal with difficult people, criminals, conflict, evictions, and the legal system.

Thanks again and I appreciate your advice!

I am a part-time property manager (15 apartments) in a small town of 5,000 population.  

And yet there are many many rental units here as we have a community college and we are the hub of this part of the state.

How do I acquire more clients?  How have you done it?

We have 15 apartments and when I started one year ago I was showing them and not getting them rented.

Our apartments were built in the 1970's and 1980's.

Then we made some changes.

When the apartment was vacant we did the following:

1. new paint

2. remove the old slab doors and install home depot six panel doors that were painted

3. install a new vinyl plank laminate floor throughout the entire house

Those three things did the trick.

The last five vacancies were rented immediately.  Usually the first person I showed it to.

We raised the rent.

We are getting better quality tenants

Good luck!

Again, I went to an appraiser and asked if I could hire her to give me a professional opinion about what to do with a piece of property and she refused - who then is the appropriate professional to go to to seek guidance regarding "the highest and best use of a piece of real estate"?

Are there any appraisers reading this - why won't an appraiser take on a job like this?

Thanks everyone - Lots of great suggestions and advice!

I bought the church 1 and 1/2 years ago.  I have spoken to our local zoning official and he is very helpful and a positive source of help and information!

My full time job is property manager of 15 apartments and I also do the repairs and remodeling and so I'm busy and don't have much time to try to do something with the church.

There's a concept in real estate "what is the highest and best use of this piece of property"

I contacted my local appraiser who appraised the home & church when I bought it and I asked her "could I pay you for an opinion regarding the highest and best use of this piece of property?"

I said "you don't need to write a report, just take a look at this and give me your opinion"

Her response was "uh no thank you" and so I have quietly gone about getting opinions from various programs and agencies such as the local Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Development and Community Funding and Development, my realtor, local real estate investors, and various programs and it's been an interesting process.

Probably the highest and best use of this piece of property is child care.

People are paying $125 per week per child for child care.

Eight kids equals $1,000 per week.

$1,000 per week is "high wages" for this community.

The building is large enough to support a large number of kids.

Sixteen kids per week equals $2,000 

Twenty four kids per week equals $3,000

I can't make $3,000 per week turning this into a duplex.

Someone mentioned turning it back into a church and that is a good idea - I like it because it can be done while I'm doing these other things and just have that as additional income!

The other possibility would be to put some money into the building and have it as a wedding venue.

People are paying $1,200 for the use of a venue - FOR THE WEEKEND.  They want the venue friday evening to set up and prepare, then have the wedding on Sat, and then come back and clean up the next day in order to receive their deposit.

Again, I want to thank everyone for their suggestions and input!

Yes the church came with the house at no cost to me.