All Forum Posts by: Kevin Gerace

@Joel Colvos

This is a very interesting post to me. I have often had the same thoughts and questions you have. I flipped a house this summer that was built in the 50's. I had an inspector come out for the final that was looking at the most random things that I didn't even touch. For instance he wanted to see the foundation height between the garage and house. Like... the original foundation, I mean if he didn't like it then what? I'm not going to change it obviously! He just had some extra time that day and wanted me to know how smart he was.

Now to answer your question.... the AHJ does have the final say, but usually if one of them is giving me a hard time about something code related that is ridiculous I try to inject common sense into the conversation. For instance your replacing the rotting log with a new log. I think that would be the appropriate action, even if the code doesn't mention that. I'm an electrician not a carpenter, but I'm sure there must be some sort of code exceptions for Log Cabins. I mean people are still building them, so there must be some sort of building structure. What are some more of the modifications you will be making to the property?

If you've done multiple flips do you use the same teams as previous houses? I was always taught to make a standardized process. The same paint, the same cabinets, the same tile, etc. As long as they're in the same price range.

Also what about taking pictures of the previous completed projects to convey a point. I think the biggest cause for arguments is miscommunication.

So I took @Matthew Forbes advice and walked back over there today. Screaming hello from the back door I heard someone up on the second floor. I was met at the second landing by another brother (still in the full suit and respirator) standing on about 2 feet of garbage with the stench of 100 year old must and animal urine. My question to walk around quickly to see the interior was met with a firm no, and a "You can see the level of junk we are dealing with here, come back next year." So I say, "next year like... 2 weeks? or next year like 12 months?" And he said ya, like 12 months.

I'm sure they are looking for/ hoping to find something of value, also they are probably making sure i don't "trip and fall" and create lawsuit city. I'm curious to see how many trips they will make back and forth from Arizona, and how many dumpsters they will pay for before they decide it's not worth it.

I mentioned I would be willing to buy the house as is, if they aren't mentally interested in dealing with cleaning it out, so we'll see where that goes.

I never mentioned the house was built in 1902, and everything looks original from the exterior, so i'm sure the inside is the same. 

and @Brock Adams i did check the tax record and the town doesn't seem to care about the condition, it's assessment is actually middle of the road for the surrounding houses, and it is clearly the worst house in the area. 

@Bruce Runn

very good point. I have my own business and am very familiar with my silent partner uncle Sam who almost gets to split my profits with me 50/50. It's pretty discouraging sometimes. I understand your strategy to be able to pocket extra money, but if my end game is to own several multis i feel like it would be retroactive to sell it after i went through the pain, and exhaustion of a full rehab. Tell me if I'm wrong.

@Account Closed

this is a good point. I guess the main point is to make sure it positive cash flows, and is a good investment, not a headache investment. One town over I know I can find better deals, but i believe the tenant quality will go down. Not all of that town is bad, but a good part of it is. The closer you get to the center of town the worse it gets. However in my town, the closer you get to the center the better it gets. Strange how that varies so much town to town. Still I think i might be willing to pay more for this property because it is only 2 houses down and I've been thinking about it for years. I need to make sure I don't get emotionally involved and that the numbers still work.

Thank you everyone for your responses. @Account Closed I guess you may be right. I am just not very familiar with that area. I am familiar with wallingford, and meriden. I suppose I could look there as well. It's just what I'm comfortable with right now, also it would be nice to get a rental only 2 houses down from me. 

stupid question, but when I'm responding to people on the forums I can't tag them with the @ symbol like on the computer. I have an android. I can't do it in the Web browser or on the app. Anyone know how to do that?

@Manolo D. @Tony Velez

My plan would be to buy and hold, not flip, and yes I'm sure it needs to be gutted to the studs. The family was in the house in full body plastic suits and respirators. 

I'm hesitant to buy rentals in west or new haven because I feel the quality of tenant would be so much lower, higher vacancy etc... Wallingford, is great, just expensive, that's why I thought this would be a good opportunity to get in a little under the market price

So there must be other places like my town. The average (decent shape) 2 family home is selling from 250k-325k. And the average rent is $1100-$1300. These numbers don't work out for the 1% rule. Everything I've ever read on here, or heard on the podcast is that if you don't make at least 1% a month you will lose money. The only way I can see these landlords around me making money is if they have owned the property for years before the prices inflated.

The reason I've been thinking about this is because a 2 family a few down from mine has been lived in by a hoarder for the last 50 years, and no maintenance has been done to the property in this time. It literally looks like the Munsters house. He passed away a few weeks ago and i walked over to speak with the family who is here this week cleaning the house out. They are from Arizona, I'm in Connecticut. He voiced not wanting anything to do with the property, but when he asked me what I would pay for it, I said "in the 70's"... He almost just walked away from me. I couldn't get a hard number out of him, but he did mention a number around 140k. 

This seems outrageous to me. The entire house needs to be gutted, the entire exterior needs to be redone. The 2 car garage is cinder block, but the roof is caved in. Massive trees near the house. Plus the entire house is full. 3 floors of garbage. 

I've had my eye on this property for a long time, but I think it will need about 140k-160k to fix, do other people think my price in the 70's is low balling him?

I think if the units were nice I could rent each floor for $1200. ($2400 a month total) I want to buy in my town because it is nice, it's just so expensive here.

Sounds interesting.....

When the door is open can you set the dryer to run through a cycle and at that point will it create heat? I'd be more inclined to think it's the board than a heating element, just because it's acting so odd. I've fixed several appliances before, but never any with electronic displays or controls. Repairclinic.com has a ton of parts including the board for that model.