All Forum Posts by: Martin S.

One more question. Do I need to worry about the roots after the tree is gone? Will they be fine the way they are? I'm guessing that roots can be just as large as the top of the tree. Will they cause a cavity as they decompose, or will their decomposition just create soil or something?

Have a huge oak tree which has roots pressing against the foundation. Want to cut it down before it causes any real problems. I did have it trimmed, and they dropped large logs onto the roof, which put a small 2 inch hole into the roof and caused a leak 8 months later once enough twigs and leaves caused the roof to allow water to pool when it rained. I had to book a flight, car rental and hotel to get down there myself and take care of the leak and a couple other issues. It was probably cheaper than hiring a roofing company, for some reason every time I try to outsource some work, no matter how small they give me insane estimates (Sarasota, FL). To install 2 security lights an electrician wanted $600, obviously cutting down a tree costs an insane amount of money, redoing the duct work for the central hvac is like $4.5k, flooring, installing a door or window or anything is just ridiculous.

Anyways, I requested a few quotes. Some came back over $5k, but I did get one at $3k, which I am considering, since it is a very large tree and they will take everything away...

Should I ask for a copy of their insurance policy before the job starts? I don't want to end up on the roof again fixing holes or shingles sticking up with debris under them...

Cancelled the contract after inspection. House needs to be torn down. Pics made it look salvageable but that was not the case at all. The numbers wouldn't work out at all if I couldn't rent the house that is standing... Gotta keep looking...

Purchased a second home with 20% down, did $15k of improvements and then decided to rent 4 months after purchase. Closing agent even told me not to worry if I rent it out because the banks wont know and dont usually care... Still have insurance as a second home, am I supposed to change it to landlord insurance?...(That would likely tell the bank its rented)... Its been 4 months since I rented it out and I would like to get my equity out for purchase of investment property. I know my mom got a HELOC while renting her place, and the closing agent and appraisers didn't care either. Should I just get a regular HELOC or equity loan and ask tenants if I can have the place to myself on the appraisal date?

awesome bathroom! You can poop and brush your teeth or wash your hands at the same time. Haha.

Did u hire contractors for the work?

No its not historical. For some reason all the houses on this 1 block are really old and fairly small, between 1000sf-1500sf living area... Very few sales on this block, owners since 1980's and before even up to like 1930s...

Each lot is zoned for RSF2, from what I've read that means I can actually build 2 houses on each lot. Technically the 1st lot already has 2 houses as under sc-pa it shows 

Property Use:0810 - Multiple Single Fam Dwellings

Setback is like 25 feet from street, 5,8 or 10 feet from sides, not sure... Each lot is 268x100 according to survey attached to contract, but sc-pa has each lot at  24,450 Sq.Ft.... So there is plenty of space...

I would be fine building 1 house at a time. I can even do 1 house on the front of the vacant lot for now and then see how it goes.. All while renting the old house. Then if it works out well, I can do house #2, then #3, then tear down the old house and do #4, all while renting each house as I complete them. I was thinking of doing asphalt right down the middle of the property line and eventually make an easement for the driveway, And then in front of each house lay concrete for an actual driveway to each house...

I really dont want to flip. I really want to buy/hold for income and loan potential.

You need to be closer to that zestimate from zillow. I'm sure many buyers look at that number. I know I do... I say $209,900

Yes, I guess I self manage, like I said, not much to do other than collect the rent check from my mailbox and deposit it. Just got my rent check yesterday, I'm a happy person, lol.

Worst case, I got many many credit cards that all came with nice bonus points/miles, and I can pretty much fly anywhere I want anytime I want... But I dont foresee any issues. They have a new kitchen and new bathrooms, and new doors, also pretty much new HVAC and water system....

So I just got an executed contract, with 10 day inspection of course.

Sarasota, FL - I'd say a B neighborhood a few blocks from Riverview HS...

This is long distance as I live in NYC...

$220k

2 lots next to each other, each are .56 acres. 1 lot has 95 year old house about 1500sf living area, no garage, PLUS an efficiency unit, lol, 400sf. First time I ever heard/saw of an efficiency unit, lol, looks like newish metal roofs on both though...

Taxes are a bit higher because these lots are each at least double what is norm in the area.  $2800 for lot with house (I think is a bit steep), $1400 for vacant lot (kinda high for vacant lot). 

Insurance is going to be a huge issue. I'm betting it'd be at $2k at least, IF i could even find a company to issue a policy on such an old house, I'll get quotes soon... or at least try to get a quote, heh...

Zoning is RSF-2...

My plan. For now, if I close. Fix up house (kitchen, baths, floors) then rent for close to $1500-$1600. But only include half that lot as part of lease, but allow use while its still empty.

I would barely break even in cash flow, but at least there would be a tiny bit of cash flow while I own the property. But, thats $44k down payment + $5k closing costs, and likely $5k-$10k rehab... Rehab costs go to 0% credit card for 1 year... 

What I would want to do is to build, but I'm not sure what to do exactly. 

I think I can actually build 2 houses on each lot, and then rent all of them out. I am looking for cash flow and also appreciation so I could get more loans down the line.

My issues. Just buying this house will take all my cash. I would need loans from there to actually build something. I actually want to do the majority of building myself (gained interest after watching youtube builders) and maybe hire out some help here and there. I dont really know if/how banks would issue loans to DIY builders, or would I need to become a general contractor to make this work...? I'm guessing I would need to get some type of new construction loan, I've read that they are typically 20 year, interest only while building... 

Also, I realize that building takes a long time, and that sucks as I'm a stay at home dad with a 6 month old, but we gotta do what we gotta do for the future of our children... Most likely will have to split some time between having my baby with me while I build, and the other times my wife will have to work out a schedule with my mom and her mom to watch the baby at home while my wife is at work... Luckily my mom is 'retired', BUT crazy, not sure if I would want her to 'teach' my baby anything, lol.

Anyways.

If I were able to build say 1800-2200sf homes under air, with a generous 2 car garage and some SPA, Utility, and open porch spaces to make it actually bigger but keep taxes down, I'd say right now they would be worth $300k each at least. With prices going up, in 2+ years if/when I finish them all they would be over $350k each...

I figured I can probably build them myself at $100k each. Block contruction preferred, I could even do the roof trusses myself or if they aren't too expensive just buy them, I guess I would need a licensed plumber and electrician, but pretty much everything else I can do myself, ohh, other than lay a foundation slab, unless I can learn how to do that cheap myself with maybe some help, lol...

What do you guys think? Am I in over my head, should I just look for already built houses and rent them out? Or maybe sell the vacant lot or something, but then I'd just be stuck with a really old house... Maybe partner with a builder or something, I'd give him 1 lot if he builds all the houses? I dunno, maybe I need a mentor for this deal...

I kinda figured that in Sarasota a home around 1500-1600sf gets about $1600 a month, so you can cash flow about $800 like I do. Larger homes around 1800-2000sf are all over $250k and dont rent for much more, close to $1800 even for 2000sf. Thats a mortgage of like $1000, plus double for taxes and a little more insurance. So I'd end up with less cash flow (only $500-600), but likely also spending a lot more money for something that requires more maintenance since its bigger... So why bother with bigger homes when they bring the same or lower cash flow... Lot sizes are usually the same...

Smaller homes like around 1000sf are now over $150k, many listed at over $200k, crazy people. A good deal is like $100k for 1000sf, but then rents are only $1000-$1100... So mortgage is like $400 plus taxes and insurance another $200, you only cash flow like $400-$500 on those houses, and I would never live in them anyway, unless they were 1000 heated sqft and had total building sf of over at least 2000sf... And then you also get a lower quality of tenant. I'd rather deal with middle class tenants. Lower class tenants will mess up your home, and upper class tenants are high maintenance...