All Forum Posts by: Kristopher K.

@Samson Kay , I'd call the fire department direct and ask. They are the ones that will issue any certificate/sign off required.

Are you saying the sprinklers are existing? I would not think they would let you remove them or disconnect it.

Welcome @Matt B.

You have a few BP'ers out there, hopefully you'll connect with some of them.

Set up some keyword alerts and try and get to the Black Diamond events (@Ann Bellamy ). Next one might be interesting for you and is next Tuesday.

@Khouri Rice , way way back when my wife and I did this before I knew REI was a thing, we walked the area were living in after work and would make a note of properties that looked distressed. Tracked down some of the mailing addresses and sent out a bunch of letters. We also had a really good realtor that knew what we were looking for and ultimately that is how we found ours. It was a 3 unit, I wouldn't say distressed but certainly needed some help.

I find the tenants actually took better care of it when we lived there. It was way easier to get the work done after work when a unit went vacant and we were there when something went wrong. It was an excellent learning experience.

@Ralph Taylor makes a good point, we were/are fortunate to have good tenants. You could also institute some procedure/process for issues that arise.

I would look into the Homepath Renovation also, I'm pretty sure those are available to investors after the 'First Look' period has passed.

I completely second what @Ann Bellamy suggests. Especially since you know contracting.

@J Scott , what is the site like? Any views and if so which way? Seems like the main living spaces are all out back. The combo of stairs and mud room might block off the entry and make it feel smaller than it is being tucked off to the side. It's a fairly symmetrical exterior so people might expect a central hall type space....not saying its good or bad, you can make either work.

I think you might want to look a little more at the stair location, make sure it's going to fit there. Personally I'd try and move it off to the side somewhere so you can have a little more visual connection to the front.

The only other comment would be to take a look at how the sun moves across, do you get daylight throughout the day or will the great room only be day lit in the am or pm?

She's done a good job with the sketching, have you looked at Sketchup at all? Lot of fun for modeling early ideas, not a really steep learning curve and I think they still have a free version.

(I know my profile says architect...I'm not registered and have yet to figure out how to put "designer"....my disclaimer)

Welcome @Steve Phillips . Seems like you have some good background between the construction and business. Where/ what are you looking to invest?

Set up some keyword alerts and check out some of the other resources BP has developed.

Welcome @Patrick Leonard

As @Shaun Reilly mentioned, try and get to the Black Diamond event. I went to one in Waltham when @Nick Aalerud presented and it was awesome! I'll be heading to the Worcester events for both parts this time.

I believe the next event is September 17th.

@Brisa Marie , if you want to focus on your current education, then yes it seems like finding a duplex or multi would be what you want to look for. Like @Jake Kellerhals mentioned, flipping or wholesaling would be ways to generate more income. They both take a fair amount of time and commitment so if you are looking at grad school they may have to wait. As @Samson Kay said, finding a multi or duplex as an owner occupant would be a good start. I don't know the market in PA, but at the least the other units would help offset some costs. Also as mentioned, see what you qualify for, look at rents in your area and start checking out some analysis posts on BP. Look at properties to see what you can get for your money, not just online but go physically look at them and get to know the market. Redfin is a great tool as well.

Good luck!

Welcome to BP @Michael Barlow . Good to see another "neighbor" here.

What area are you going to focus on?

Hi @Mike LaCava I usually do use the mention feature if I'm not on the iPad, but it was giving me some challenges that day! It would only let me @Duncan Banks . Today it's working...except all my text is highlighted as I type.

Aside from that - good tip to add along with keywords ect.

edit: (it's got to be my browser - now it's only highlighting the first 'mention')