All Forum Posts by: Lindsay Wilcox

I can try to narrow it down, but it's tricky because I don't know what I don't know!

Long-term, I want to buy houses that need to be gutted anyway, rehab them to be handicapped accessible, and work out lease or lease option agreements with people who have disabilities. I love learning, and since I'm a woman in my twenties, I want to ACTUALLY know something about all the parts of my operation so I don't end up with people I hire for various jobs thinking they can rip me off because I won't know any better, but I'd also feel a lot better knowing that, in a pinch, I could competently and legally prevent the wheels from falling off my business if one of my key people gets hit by a bus or something (God forbid!). Depeding on how much I learn and who I meet, I might be interested in being my organization's real estate agent for awhile or general contractor for awhile. If I have a knack for something and find out I enjoy it, why not?

So I don't know if that helps narrow it down any. I'm probably not going to spend six years becoming a licensed electrician, but I'd be interested in licenses I could earn in a year or two that would give me a lot of options and opportunities.

What kinds of licenses does it make sense to hold? Or what kinds of licenses do YOU hold?

I've seen some debate about real estate licenses, but what about, for example, general contractor licenses if you do a lot of flipping? My city (Indianapolis) apparently does not require any kind of skill test to get a general contractor license, just insurance and bonding. Not sure yet what the insurance companies require to provide coverage, but was curious how much value people place on different types of licenses.

Thanks! Most of the other houses on the street are duplexes, so I'm expecting it to be zoned properly.

Would any of these sorts of issues, or title issues for that matter, have come up when the property was inherited?

Also, the one unit that's already rented is rented for $525. It's 450 sqft, mine is 500, and the 3rd is 400. That's why I said ballpark $1,500. I'll probably only actually shoot for $450 for the smallest one, but if I were to move out, I expect the one I'm in would be at least $525, which would hit the $1,500 number.

(I know, if I wanted to absolutely maximize, I should live in the smallest one, but I just plain don't like it as well as the larger one!)

I'm already under contract on it. One of the units is already rented, and both of the other two, while tey could use cosmetic updates like refinishing the floors, are liveable exactly as they are. Seller agreed to first $1,500 in repairs before inspection, and inspector said all-in repairs should be less than that. The house is in excellent condition.

As for having been turned into 3 units, my understanding is that that was done decades ago. It was actually four units with the basement being a 2-bd unit, but it was decommissioned and pretty much unfinished back when they made laws requiring egress windows, which was a long time ago. Not sure what kinds of permits would have been required at the time.

The seller inherited the property, but she's a nurse and works 4-5 12-hr days and doesn't live in the house, so she doesn't want to manage it.

It's WELL worth $49k to ME. I've been watching listings for two years and have never seen one like this before. I'm just concerned about what happens if the appraisal my lender ordered comes back much below what I've agreed to pay for it. I have trouble imagining how it would appraise for less than $49k, but I definitely don't want that surprise!

Thanks everybody. Does the equation change at all if it's a unit that's going to be rented?

My homeowner's insurance company seems to think it would cost over $250k to replace the house, but I have a feeling they have a bias in that assessment?

I know "disability status" is often a protected category, but does it work the other way?

For example, if I wanted to acquire homes that needed to be gutted anyway, rehab them to be handicapped accessible, and work out lease option agreements to help people buy homes, could I limit people I'd sell/rent to in FAVOR of people with disabilities?

What if I did this under the auspices of a nonprofit? My state (Indiana) just made it easier for city and town officials to give property to nonprofits when it has been listed as part of a tax lien sale and did not get sufficient bids. Could I set up a nonprofit specfically for this purpose and sell the properties for only as much as the cost of the rehab and the overhead for the project?

Or is "discrimination" always discrimination, no matter which side you're on?

Yeah. I suppose I should have mentioned that!

I'm working with professionals in my city to find out options under a new law that just passed in our state that gives city and town officials rights to give to nonprofits properties they acquired when no offers were made on the lax liens. The law just went into effect two weeks ago, so there's still a lot of figuring out to do, but the thought is to have a nonprofit that acquires, guts, and rehabs the houses to be handicapped accessible, and then works out lease option contracts with purchasers with disabilities to sell the house for close to the cost of the rehab even though it's worth more than that. Funding options are quite a bit different for nonprofits than for regular real estate investors, so I wasn't even thinking in the same categories!

If I were trying to assemble a house-flipping team, what kinds of specialists would I need? I have a few listed below, but there are probably quite a few more I'm missing!

Real estate attorney or(/and?) CPA
Real estate agent (buying AND selling)
General contractor
Electrician
Plumber
Drywaller
Floor specialist
Painter
Home owner's insurance agent
Title agent
Wholesalers/somebody finding deals

What else am I missing?