All Forum Posts by: Johnny Tran

I have a nice single family in Tampa, FL that is almost completed renovated. Doesn’t need much to finish. I have another project I need to move on to. If anyone has any interest let me know and I’ll send over the address.
ARV is about $390k, looking to get around $310k

Hey Matt, Im a cash end buyer here. We buy properties in Tampa and St.Pete. Would love more details on this property in available.

0 Votes

Tampa, Florida

Quote from @William Harvey:

@Johnny Tran My first flip was a property with knob/tube panel and I believe we had less to do than the scope you laid out and our price was around $4k. So, I would agree that this price sounds fine, especially if they are reputable.

We had another quote for $8k for the same job, so I think you are definitely smart to check if you are paying a decent price or not!

Thank you for your input William. Always a good thing to check here and there. Never want to get too comfortable

0 Votes

Saint Petersburg, Florida

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

HOW TO SHARE UTILITIES 101

You have a property with two or more units and the utility meters are shared. There are a few options.

1. Pay to separately meter the utility. This can be very expensive and is usually the worst choice to make because you can't justify the cost.

2. Charge the tenants a higher rent rate and include utilities with their rent. This is the simplest method, but it also means your tenants are more likely to abuse the utilities by leaving windows open with the heat or A/C running, leaving lights on, ignoring the toilet that constantly flushes on its own, etc.

3. Pay the bill yourself, then reimburse yourself by charging the tenants based on a formula. This takes a little more work, but it's the most fair and reduces the likelihood of tenants that squander utilities.

If you choose #2 or #3, there are considerations:

Start with an average. Use varies throughout the year. Heating costs go up in winter, as does electric due to the reduced natural light and people being indoors more. Electric can also spike in the summer with A/C. Contact the utility provider and get an historical average based on the last year of use. It won't be 100% accurate, but it will be close enough. I recommend you do this each year to adjust for utility increases and other variables. If your average heating bill is $150, you may not collect enough in the winter months when the bill reaches $225 but you'll collect extra in the summer when it drops to $65. If you base your tenant charges on the historical average, you should come very close to collecting the entire amount over a one-year period.

Charge a higher rate. If the water bill is $100 a month, increase the price by 20% (or whatever you decide is fair) to compensate you for the time required to split and bill and to cover additional use when tenants squander the utility. If the bill is $100 a month split between four units, increase it to $120 and charge each tenant $30.

How to calculate charges. Don't make it harder than it has to be. If you have four 2bed/1bath units with the same appliances, split it four ways and call it a day. You can make minor adjustments based on the type of appliances (dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer, air conditioning, etc.) and the size of the rental. If Apartment A is a 2bed/1bath with washer/dryer and Apartment B is a 1bed/1bath with no washer/dryer, Apartment A should pay a higher rate. Another option is to split the cost based on the number of occupants in each unit but this also means you'll need to adjust the charges as tenants move in/out, so it requires more work and I wouldn't recommend it. I recommend a simple spreadsheet to check your math and it will make it simple to adjust each year.

End the complaints. Tenants may complain about your method of calculating how much each unit pays. They think it's unfair because they only shower once a week but they can hear the upstairs neighbor showering twice a day. You can put an end to this by showing them an actual utility bill. Why? Because a large percentage of the charges are base fees that do not change based on use!

I just looked at a utility bill and it has a total charge of $184.12 but $116.50 is from base fees! If I divide this bill by four units, each tenant would pay $46.03. If they were separately metered, each tenant would pay the $116.50 base fees and their individual use, which would be 3x higher than what they pay when sharing a meter.

There are a lot of options out there, but don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. Tenants actually save money when using a shared meter, so there's plenty of room for error when calculating how to distribute the charges.

thank you very much, this was a good read.

0 Votes

Tampa, Florida

Quote from @Andy Sabisch:

We have focused on houses that date back to knob and tube and start from scratch in terms of rewiring . . everything goes. Your price for the entire job (from a licensed and insured electrician right) is a good turn key price. We have gotten cheaper when we started but they were with Facebook or Craigslist electricians that proved the saying, You get what you pay for. Electrical is one area you want someone that does it by the book in terms of permits, licensed and insurance. Drywall, painting and the like can be done by anyone that can do the job but electrical, plumbing, roofing, gas line work needs to be done right especially on a flip.

You speak the truth! Yes my electrician is licensed and insured, and he does good work so far with what I feel to be fair pricing.

thank you for your reply and time Andy

0 Votes

Saint Petersburg, Florida

Quote from @Adam Bartling:

4 months ago I sold my sign and electrical business in Houston Tx market and we are similar in price. 2 men on site will run you $150-200 per hour and look up your wire cost etc. and add 25-40%. So this price sounds in line. 1950s, ya everything! needs to be upgraded.

thank you for your input Adam. I did a simular evaluation.

1 Vote

Saint Petersburg, Florida

Looking for all suggestions and open to ideas.

I have a property that consist of 1 building, split legal 2 unit (front and rear). Front is spacious 2/1 and a large studio in the rear. As stated in the title, the units share utilities. I believe I have no way to split and manage the utilities between the 2, resulting to the landlord officially including the utilities in the rent. I would charge slightly higher than the average going rent per units in the area to cover the expense. However other than doing a decent job vetting the tenets how can I insure I will not "lose" with covering the utility cost? Can i state something in my rental agreement referring to the specific water and electric over usage?

Looking to hear of strategies others have used with success with simular case.

I am also thinking of STR both units. Obvious in this case I would be responsible of all utilities...

Thank you all

0 Votes

Tampa, Florida

I have a 1950 wood house, 3/2, 1500sqft house in St.Pete that we are rehabbing and getting it rewired. I have a reputable electrician that I have used before however I would like to ask other local investor/rehabbers roughly how much they recently paid for a standard rewire job done on simular size house. I understand that each project various along with the cost of material and labor. Simply gauging average numbers.

Our electric job consist of:

New 150 panel - rewire entire house A-Z finishing - LED recess ceiling lights- All finished outlet/switches and plate covers... Pretty much everything electric related

This project we were quoted $4,500

thanks all, looking forward to hearing from everyone

2 Votes

Saint Petersburg, Florida

Great question. I would start with understanding/break down the parts of a home and evaluate how trade workers charge for the job.

____Repair cost break down___

Roof - repair price depends on home SQFT, type of roof + any know damage

HVAC - replacing a Condenser (outside unit), handler (inside unit), ducts or possibly replacing all together

Electric - cost depends on the job - replacing panel, running new wires, adding or repairing electric to an area

Hot water tank - cost of tank + labor + ( some plumbing components)

Windows - cost per window + labor cost per/window

Paint- cost is price per/sqft, varies if painter are painting trim, primer, how many coats, interior or exterior

Sheet rock work - how many sheets 4x8 sheets will they Demo and replace

Flooring - normally charge per/sqft - find the cost of the floor you want and multiple by your sqft and add the labor cost per/sqft

kitchen - cabinets ( price per cabinet + labor to build and install) - counter top cost, price for material sqft and price per sqft of to fabricate, cut, and install

Appliances - cost of appliance + install

Bathroom remodel - depends on the size and quality finish - i start with finding the price for a small standard 5x7 bathroom and move up

Plumbing - cost depends on the size of the job and scope of work

The above information is a quick break down of how to get rough estimate of rehab cost. Make a list of the repairs needed and add them up

+++I would suggest starting with the current home you live in now. Call and ask different trade workers to give you a quote on a specific remodel to understand estimates and cost. For example call a handyman/general contractor (3 and get average price) to your house and get an estimate on a basic remodel of one of your bathrooms. Replace everything in the bathroom and bring it up to date. This will give you good baseline of a bathroom remodel cost in your area...If your roof old? Call some roofers out to get an estimate on replacing your own roof. This will give you a baseline cost of a roof repair for other projects +/- rehab cost depending on each homes sqft

Hope this was helpful.

1 Vote

South Bend, Indiana

Hey Marvin, I am also located in St.Petersburg Fl.Great to see other local investors near by.

Here are some information that was helpful to me when I initially used a HELOC on my primary that I bought cash to fund my other investments.

HELOC are a great tool if used properly. As others have mention HELOC are used for short term investments ( Perhaps under 1year). A HELOC resembles a second mortgage (if you have a current mortgage on your property) but functions like a credit card. HELOC funds can be drawn when you need the money instead of taken in a lump sum. Most HELOC are variable rates until you make the draw and use the funds, some lender allow you to lock in the rate once the funds are drawn.

Have you shopped different lenders?

Depending on the lender the LTV can range from 75-90%. Using your information, stating your home was appraised for $360k if you qualify you can pull a HELOC somewhere between $270k-324k assuming you own your house free and clear. If not just deduct what you owe on the property from the total LVT amount to calculate total HELOC credit.

From there if you do your research and numbers align, use that HELOC to purchase the investment property, rehab the property if needed, rent it out, refi the new investment to a conventional loan (there may be 6month season period before you can refi or a delayed financing) and repay your HELOC back with that BRRRR check.

Hope that was helpful!

1 Vote

Quote from @Robert Bartow:

Hello. if you take out a heloc, it is separate from your current mortgage. The heloc is a 2nd position lein. With a heloc you only make interest only payments for a set period of time usually 10 years. Then start paying back the principle. You only pay interest on the money you spend. So lets say you take out a heloc of 100k and you only spend 25k. your only going to pay interest on the 25k. It would be ideal if you could use the money to get into a deal then take the money back out of the deal and pay back the heloc and either keep or sell the asset. At the end of your post it seem like youre refering to a cash out refinance. A cash out refinance resets the term of your mortgage, which is why they are telling you there is a new interest rate. Im planning on using my heloc to apply the brrrr method, or flip to build more capital. I hope this helped. Have a great day.

Exactly what I got from reading the post first time around.

However if you are pulling a HELOC and using $100k as mention your combined payment will be the 1st position of payment of $600 plus your 2nd position payment

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Johnny Tran

Johnny Tran has started 2 posts and replied 15 times.

Post: SF flip to move in Tampa

Post: Electrician - Electric cost ?

Post: 2 units BUT 1 Electric and water meter. HOW TO

Post: Electrician - Electric cost ?

Post: Electrician - Electric cost ?

Post: 2 units BUT 1 Electric and water meter. HOW TO

Post: Electrician - Electric cost ?

Post: How can I learn renovation costs?

Post: What my best option ?

Post: Home equity line of credit: HELP!