All Forum Posts by: Kristie Giles

I live in SLC and used Zions Bank for my HELOC. They gave me an account executive that I can email/call whenever I need anything, which is super helpful. I emailed him asking for an additional 100K personal loan since I was thinking about buying a property that was slightly more than my HELOC would cover, and he met me at work with the paperwork all ready to sign. Ended up buying a different (much cheaper) property, and I emailed him to close the personal loan, since it had an annual fee. They've been super easy to work with, and the rates are low.

@Chris Purcell based on my research, pretty much no insurance companies will cover meth use. However, they do cover vandalism, so I read that a few people have had success getting it covered by spinning it as vandalism.

Thanks for the responses! I had already gotten this taken care of by the time replies came in, but for anyone else who might come across this post, here's what I've learned: 

In my area, anyway, if the testing is done by a certified meth decontamination specialist, they will be legally required to turn the results into the county within 5 days if it comes back over the legal limit. The county comes to red-tag/condemn the property and tenants may only have about 15 minutes to move out if you don't tell them ahead of time. Any belongings in the house will be considered 'hazardous waste' and will cost extra to dispose of. And at that point, it becomes illegal for anyone to enter the property besides whoever is listed on a county-approved work plan. If the permit gets pulled and the work plan is submitted before the county comes to tag your door, it is possible to have the tag placed on the inside so that the neighbors won't know about it. And then once the decontamination work is complete and it passes the retest, they take your property off the list, and you aren't required to disclose it was a meth house to tenants or buyers. 

If you just use one of those DIY mail-in test kits, the county doesn't find out, so you will have more flexibility in how you handle the situation. 

The prices the meth remediation companies quote you are legit to get the meth residue levels on exposed surfaces in the main living area below the legal limit and get the house un-condemned, but if you do a bunch of remodeling afterwards that involves cutting down walls, cutting holes in the ceiling, sanding through previous layers of paint, etc., you might be re-releasing residue in the process.

Also, it is a very wet process that is likely to cause bubbling on paint, vinyl flooring, cabinets, etc., and any porous material will need to get thrown out (carpet, curtains, etc.).

Hi, I am looking for two small kitchen's worth of cheap, old solid-wood (and/or metal) cabinets ,and I only have a couple weeks to find them. What happens to all the cabinets that new cabinet installers haul away? Is there some kind of secret used cabinet warehouse that's not showing up in my Google results? I'm looking for something like this: 

I have been using Expensify, but I don't love it. 

Anyone have experience with meth remediation? How big was the house, and how much did it cost? The companies I talked to say they can do it for $4-$5k (1100 sq ft), but I'm skeptical. I read one article that said $26k. I believe they can clean it well enough that they can test the walls again and get a negative result for that price, but I am not confident that will actually get all the residue out of the house (I would imagine it gets into the attic insulation, rafters, etc., since everything vents into the attic). I got a positive reading on a property I am trying to buy and am not sure how much of a discount I would need to make this not a dealbreaker. I will find out the exact levels tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure it's from a previous tenant smoking, not a lab. 

Also, if meth levels are above the state's "safe" limit, would I legally need to evict the current tenants immediately? 

Hi, I live in a hot (or at least warm) market and have been trying to buy my second home/first investment property for about a year and a half (off the MLS). I originally was looking for the mythical 'structurally sound but killer deal because it has some broken windows and hasn't been remodeled since the 1940s' type of place, but I've since lowered my standards to include properties with major foundation issues and the like. I've gotten bids from piering companies for other properties in the area and feel like I have a reasonable understanding of what average and worst case scenario costs look like, etc. I'm planning to buy and hold, and my boyfriend and I can do most of the work ourselves. I've been doing cash (via HELOC), 10-day close offers with no contingencies besides an inspection contingency (per my agent's recommendation). I've made some not-much-over-asking-price offers on a couple "multiple offers received, highest and best due by ___" properties but never won any.

I found a "highest and best due by tomorrow" home I'm really excited about listed for about $100K less than the going rate for the neighborhood, accepting only cash offers, presumably because of the sagging roof, foundation issues, fact that it was built in the 1900s and pretty much never updated, etc. My real estate agent thinks it will go for well over asking price and suggested I do an escalation clause to beat any competing offers by $1000 up to a given cap. I have read mixed opinions about that strategy. It sounds fine to me, but I don't know how I would pick a cap. 

I suggested nixing the inspection contingency since I already know it needs foundation work, roof work, new windows, new wiring, basically "new everything"...I already know there's asbestos tape on the HVAC, radon is common in the area, etc. My insurance company probably won't be willing to insure it right away because of the tree branch dragging on the roof, etc. I've been through quite a few home inspections, and I'm not sure what else they could tell me that would really matter. I don't really care whether the back right burner of the stove doesn't work or there's some water damage on some joists somewhere. My agent thinks getting rid of the inspections contingency is a terrible idea, but I feel like if I was selling a house with all those issues, I'd be willing to accept quite a bit less if I knew it was a done deal. 

Does anyone have thoughts or good/bad experiences relating to either of those strategies? My goal is to get this property for as little as possible, not just to make sure I get it. Thanks so much for reading this!