All Forum Posts by: Josh VanSetten

Good for you getting started early!  6 words: House Hack, House Hack, House Hack.  I wish I would have done that instead of buying a sfh when I first was married.  Best of luck.

What is the reason it needs replaced? What kind of insulation?  

@Phillip Shafer I would try a couple of things:

1.) Go to a supplier of the products for each scope of the job.  Example, find a tile supplier and ask them what would be a safe budget for tile backsplash and install.  They will usually know because they have installers working for them.  You are also not waisting their time since someone is in the showroom anyway.  You can do this for roofing, siding, cabinets etc...  

2.) Have your ducks in a row.  Have approximate square footages for them and maybe a kitchen sketch.  Doesn't have to be fancy just squares for the cabinets and appliance locations.  

3.) Change your approach to contractors.  Usually the owner is the one going out and pricing jobs and he feels like he is getting pulled in a thousand directions.  Driving to a job and walking through it may be a hassle he doesn't really want.  He may be more likely to help get some rough pricing over email if you ask to send him some pictures and a scope of work with approximate square footages.  Ask if you could send him these and pay for his consulting.  

I am a small general contractor specializing in remodels and my knowledge has value.  I have quit giving that away and I hope more and more tradesmen/women do the same.  I hope this helps.  

It depends a lot on the area but if you have specific questions I would be glad to help in whatever way I can (without charge :) ) 

Thank you for the replies. I really appreciate it. This is my first property purchase as a serious investor. I bought a house maybe 8 years ago as a rental but I didn't know anything about REI so it does not cash flow really anything but the loan pay down is nice and equity. we have been lucky to have had only two renters in those 8 years, both who are good tenants. Then I bought a house that was converted to a shop that my construction company rents from my property company which is a nice tax break. So technically this would be my third single family but first really planned out deal.

Hello BP people. I am very excited to say we are under construction with a new brrrr property we picked up in January. We bought the single family 3 bed 1.5 bath house for 75,400 and it appraised before closing at 107,000. It was a HUD foreclosure. I am looking for a bit of input. The bedrooms are all on the second floor as is the full bath. I am considering changing the 1/2 bath downstairs to a full. It wouldn't be a ton of work and it has good access, but I am not sure if it's going to make the appraisal at refinance significantly more. I would love to hear your thoughts and learn from anyone's experience. I will post pictures of the project as we continue on so if anyone is interested in following along you can. Thanks in advance.

@George Blower Thanks George!

@Adam Altringer Thank you for reaching out Adam.  What is your opinion of the  housing/rental market in Great Falls?  I live 50 miles north in Choteau.   I have been working with a realtor in Great Falls to find our first GF property.  I will let you know if anything changes and keep you in mind for our next one.  Thank you for reaching out.

@Brandon L.  Thank you Brandon! I will definitely look into those blogs.  I very much appreciate you reaching out.

@Jay Helms First off, I love working on houses.  I have been building houses for 13 years.  The last seven of those I have been running my own general contracting business.  It seems like a natural fit to be in the real estate business because of the knowledge I have gained in my construction career.  I also believe that I won't be able to build forever and need to plan ahead to a career when I am less physically capable of building.  This is why rental properties seem like a good fit.  I enjoy a challenge, not afraid of a little risk, and always wanting to learn.  People have asked me ,"don't you think it is a little risky?"  I ask them what is more of a risk: to think I can build houses for 30 more years or investing in rental properties to help secure my future?   Jay, thank you for the question.  It made me stop and think about my future and what my needs, goals, and fears are.  I am also very fortunate to have stumbled onto BP the info is great and from my short time on here the people are amazing!

Hello Bigger Pockets community! I am a father of three great kids and husband to an amazing wife. I own a construction company in North Central Montana. I own two rental properties with my business partner, the first kind of fell into our laps and we have been very lucky on. It does not cash flow but we do have equity in it. The second was a great deal, we bought it well below value and our construction company rents it from our properties company as a shop and yard. We also have good equity in that. We are excited to put rental property investing higher on our priority list and got a line of credit to use as a down payment and repair cost for our next purchase. The LOC is using the equity as collateral. Looking for deals in Great Falls, Montana. I am excited to become an active member on BP forums.