All Forum Posts by: Kenneth Garrett

@Albert Blair

There are many SFH's that are within walking distance of the beach. On the beach your well over a million. Condos facing the beach 600K ish. In my opinion, your revenue is much higher with SFH versus a condo even when there on the beach. A couple blocks from the beach works great.

@Ollie Oak

Not to rain on your parade, but you Intentionally rehabbed your house without a permit. Most people know the risk of doing it without a permit and the chance of getting caught.

Here is a different side to it. If for some reason a fire occurs or other disaster and your insurance finds out your claim will be denied. People tend to say I did it all to code anyway so what’s the big deal. Unfortunately, the building code book is complex and designers (architect and engineers) are corrected on there designs all of the time. They did not intentionally design it wrong, but it happens. It’s like saying I complied with all of the IRS guidelines. CPA’s have a hard time keeping up with all the rules, why would construction be any different.

Have it inspected. Most likely you’ll have to open some walls up and if everything is up to code you can then get your permit and you can move on.

@Paul Liu

Back in the 2008 crash, values of homes plummeted and mortgages were difficult to get. Most homeowners ended going through foreclosure. They couldn’t sell there property because they owed more then it was worth. So if they did sell they would need to bring money to closing because the money received from buyer would not be enough to pay off the balance of their mortgage.

@Jessica DiPonziano

I think it depends what you are investing in. Writing a business is a good idea and you may realize you need to rethink your strategy. They really make you drill down the details. Now if your investing in large commercial projects I think you will need one, but for SFH flips or rentals and up to 4 units probably not. I've done 4 unit and less projects, student housing and a STR. I've never been asked for a business plan from a lender, but I have done many projects. I have an outline for a business plan dm me and I will forward to you.

When I first started I used Airdna as a guide, but I feel comparing similar properties to me in the same market is way more accurate.  It’s like using Zillow for value of a property or rent on a given property.  It’s not very accurate.  At times it might close to being accurate but most times it’s way off.

@Jeremy H.

It’s best to work with the neighbor.  You are correct, in theory you can cut anything that overhangs your property line, except killing the tree that you do not own.  There have been a few litigation cases like yours where a neighbor trimmed the tree in such a way it killed the tree even though it wasn’t on there property.   Approach the neighbor with proper decorum and hopefully you can work it out.

@Alec Khlebopros

I'm all about the beach in Florida. You don't need to be on the beach, but within walking distance is ok. There are many HOA's here. It's actually a challenge to find properties with out them. The economy is driven by vacationers so rules outlawing STR is not very likely. I agree check the HOA rules to make sure there aren't any restrictions. I'm in a gated community. Yes the HOA rules at times are a pain, but overall my experience has been mostly positive. Do your homework.

@Kevin McGovern

That’s a hefty tax for sure.  Even though your competition doesn’t disclose their license number doesn’t mean they’re not licensed.  You probably could request through the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) a copy of who is licensed.  They might redact the names, but it should reveal the addresses to confirm who is licensed. Then you can decide if you wanted to turn them in, find out their process of finding out illegal operators or just move on.  In my home town, code enforcement goes on to Airbnb and VRBO to see if people are licensed.  They may do the same.

@Robert Saulnier

So septic fields are designed based on the number of bedrooms.  Has nothing to do with bathrooms as many people think.  Creating a bunk area which is not really a bedroom is probably a loophole in the system of septic designs.  By definition, a bedroom has a closet.  I am assuming no closet exists as this bunk room is sort of carved out.  The more people, the more it taxes your septic.  If you think about, when you have a large party at your house and you’re on septic, the system doesn’t have a problem.  Long term who knows.

@Briana Smith

When I started I used Airdna as my guide for my area.  I used 50% occupancy as my metric to be on the conservative side.  Be careful of using 2021 or 2022 as your guide.  I used 2019 and it was right on.  I like to use very conservative numbers, if it ends up being 60%-75% occupancy then it’s a bonus for me.  I don’t use month to month, I use the annual income for the year.  Month to month varies every year.  Some months are fantastic one year and the next year might be just so so.