All Forum Posts by: Joseph Sangimino

Hi Patrick, 

I'm a new investor in the South Pittsburgh area as well. Feel free to reach out if I can help you in any way, or if you would just like to get together to talk Pittsburgh real estate.  7247990993

Everyone...sorry for the late response, but I've been working on the house like a dog. 

Thanks so much for all the great advice! I'm going to verify that the pine is not a soft pine, then plan to refinish it. If I'm lucky, I won't even have to sand it (thanks Michael), but we will see. I'm also going to plan to do the porcelain tile in the bathroom, because I'd rather pay more now to maximize durability and the longevity of the rental. As for knocking down the kitchen walls, I think I'm going to hold off until down the road or I'm ready to sell. I'll likely do a full kitchen remodel at that time anyway. 

Ronald, I agree that some tenants may not appreciate beautiful hardwood floors, BUT if the wood under your carpet is in good enough condition to be refinished, I would think strongly about doing so. Like Michael said, as long as it's not soft pine, hardwood floors are a very durable option for tenant-proofing if coated in a couple layers of polyurethane. Also, some nice looking rugs can help protect it and still allow the hardwood floor look to impress tenants - possibly increasing the rent potential. Carpeting in my opinion is a cheap short-term solution (in some cases) that will need replaced after just a few years of renting. 

Thanks everyone! That's all good advice. I think I'm going to do a cost comparison of tile vs vinyl in the kitchen and if they are relatively close, go with tile for the durability. 

How can I confirm whether a wall is a load bearing wall or not? Using common sense, I think one of the walls is so I was probably just going to do a square cutout instead of removing the whole wall. Do I need to contact an architect or residential construction engineer to confirm whether it's load bearing?

All, 

I recently began rehabbing a SFH that I plan to rent. I have a bare bones rehab plan in progress, basically just to fix everything to the point where it will be a good solid rental. However, I'm trying to decide if I want to go a step further and go ahead with some the modifications I think need made to sell at full retail. The full retail rehab plan would include knocking down a few walls to open up the kitchen to the living room, which is currently way too walled off considering how people like open floor plans nowadays. Taking into consideration that I hope to put long term tenants in, my questions are:

1) Should I go ahead and knock down the walls now, or wait until a vacancy or I'm ready to sell to do it? 

2) There are pine floors underneath old carpetting. They seem to be in good condition. Does anyone have recommendations as to whether I should finish the hardwood for this rental, or just lay something like vinyl on top? I'm not 100% sure of the cost to refinish the floors, but am considering it strongly because of the durability and aesthetics of hardwood. 

3) Recommendations on flooring for the kitchen? I've been leaning towards vinyl. My main goal is to have the most durable tenant proof flooring, but also have it look nice. 

Thanks,

Joe

All, 

Speaking with a few other real estate investors has got me thinking on how I'm going to continue financing properties in the future once I'm maxed out on conventional mortgages... I have a few questions I hope someone could shed some light on:

1) I have one investment property and am actively searching for my second. If I eventually want to bundle three or four conventional mortgages into a commercial loan, is it advantageous to stick to the same bank for all my conventional mortgages (assuming they will continue to loan)? Would that make it easier to eventualy bundle into a commercial loan?

2) Say I eventually have four conventional mortgages (which to my knowledge is the max allowed by Fanny May - correct me if I'm wrong) and then proceed to bundle them into a commercial loan, can I then continue to take out additional loans? This is under the assumption that I'm eligible for the finnancing in the first place of course.

Once I acquire this next property, I'm going to have to start thinking about creative finnancing. Just trying to think ahead to prepare... 

Thanks!!!

Joe

Thanks for the input everyone. So far it seems ceramic tile is the best compromise between a good looking, but also durable/tough flooring. Any remarks on the difficulty of installation?

I'm working on a golf course clubhouse/restaurant/bar that needs some basic remodeling and a new, fresh look. Its a unique (but nice) setup, with a circular bar in the middle surrounded by tables, seating, dance floor, pool table, etc. It can hold about 80 people. It has an old, ugly, green carpet that I'd like to replace, and need a recommendation on what to use. I want something that looks nice for when we hold special events there (parties, wedding receptions, etc), but it has to be tough enough to withstand golf spikes when golfers come up to eat/drink after playing a few rounds. I also need to make sure its not too slippery if wet since a good number of older folks use the place and people occasionally spill or trail water up there. I was thinking about using some kind of laminate flooring. I am looking for something affordable and would plan on installing it myself. 

Any recommendations would be appreciated!

Hi, 

I have a unique opportunity to potentially invest in a vacation rental on a very nice lake house in Minnesota. I have never looked into running a vacation rental, nor would I be able to be very hands on with this investment since I do not live very close. However, the property is turnkey and what I feel would be a very appealing place for people to vacation. What I need to determine is if it could be profitable. Like I said, I've never analyzed a vacation rental, and am currently buried in another project. 

If someone with experience managing rental or vacation properties would like to assist in analyzing this deal and potentially get involved, please reach out to me. 

Thanks

Thanks everyone for the guidance in dealing with banks that own REO properties. As an inexperienced REI, I was having a hard time coping with the idea of putting an offer in on the property without a contingency for inspecting the utilities. I'm still under the impression that it would be very unlikely to have an offer accepted on an REO that included an inspection contingency - because if it truly was a good deal, there would likely be cash offers (like the recent property I wanted) which are hassle-free and more appealing to a bank even if they are slightly lower. I think the bottom line is that I need to hold off on considering REOs until I have a better grasp on the repair costs of worst case scenario utilities. It's too much of a wildcard for me at this point. I'm willing to take calculated risks, but don't feel that its a smart decision to take on a project without performing a thorough analysis on the utilities.

Hi Everyone, 

I've been a member for some time now and am a big fan of the bigger pockets podcast. I have recently upgraded to a Pro membership because I'm actively trying to acquire my first property - and have been for some time now. I have done what I feel to be a good amount of due diligence for determining my investment criteria, but am lacking good resources to answer some of my questions and provide general guidance. I'm interested in buy and hold properties and my target area is South Pittsburgh suburbs in Allegheny County. I'm open to flips as well, but I have a much stricter criteria for that type of investment to be considered.

I've been actively looking at a number of foreclosures, and an issue that I've run into is conventionally financing one of these properties. The banks that own the REO properties I've been looking at are not willing to turn on the utilities for a general inspection, even when I notify them that I'm willing to make an offer. My bank will not provide a loan without verification that all the utilities in the given property are functional. I've looked into non-foreclosed properties, but am finding that its much more difficult to find prospects that fit my strict finnancial criteria. I'd appreciate any advice on the subject.

Thanks!