All Forum Posts by: Monty Alston

TC said it best, to know what you don't know. We have a home inspection business in Atlanta, GA and have performed many investors inspections. One thing that can't afford to be missed is a crawlspace inspection. I don't know about your area, but we have a lot of them in the ATL. I see a lot of flippers come in and put $$$ into cosmetics when the foundation is in need of major repairs! Many deals go bad because of it. Our job as home inspectors is to make sure that major defects are noted. Good Luck, we LOVE the home inspection business and it can be a great way to gain knowledge and network in the Realestate Industry! 

John, you are already getting some good investor advice and I am sure there will be lots more to come. My son and I are Atlanta Home Inspectors and we seem to have run across a lot of out of town investor with similar issues and worse situations. I have volunteered to go to some of these properties to give an update on the condition of the property. What I have found in a many case is that property is not at all as described, more often than not have been vandalized and recently found that out of state investors are paying for repairs that never actually happen. I said all that to just to give you some ideas that might help going forward. First don't let this scenario prevent from future investments. As it has already been stated the first deal is usually the hardest. Second spend the money to hire a home inspector prior to purchase that way you know from a third party if the house has any major issues. Our Inspection company is a little different due to our construction background that we can also give detailed estimates for renovations. I am sure their are other home inspectors that can do the same.  That way you would have an idea of what you are about yo get in to. I also just finished The Book on Flipping House and The Book on Rehab Cost by J Scott. These are great reads for someone just starting out.

Thanks,

Monty 

Abe, you are getting some really good advice here, I am contractor and home inspector and would highly recommend you add interNachi  to your list of programs to investigate. They have a monthly and annual program for around 500 per year. If you subscribed to either Homegauge or Inspector Pro reporting software they will include some free membership to interNachi as well.  

Best of Luck!

Nathan I am in Sharpsburg and have need of a good real estate lawyer in this area as well. I have a post on the marketplace also and will let you know if something comes up. 

@Raymond B. Thanks my friend! I am not sure what happened,but I obviously missed something.You can see in a previous email to @Nat C. it worked with no problem. Nat, I included you in this response to be sure you have my previous message. I will send you email and pics tomorrow. 

Thanks again Raymond

@Carlton Kohler I am a fellow Georgian in Sharpsburg, GA which is in the West Ga area. The Metro Atlanta area seems to be booming I am looking at 3 properties for other BP members (Potential Flips) this week. Let me know what your interest are and I will gladly pass along any advice I can. You can read my profile and get a better idea of what my interest are. It dosnt look like you have filled out your profile yet. If you haven't I would certainly do that first. 

@Nat Chan sounds good I can go by tomorrow afternoon. I will be in Atlanta looking at property for another BP investor close by to your property it's on my way so no problem.

Thor, just came across the post on the BP Marketplace. I can certainly help you as reliable contractor. The quick part depends on the project. I focus on 3 things. Doing the job right the first time in budget and on time. Let me know if you have anything you would like for me to quote. 

Thanks 

Monty

Welcome to BP I am still a new comer myself. This is absolutely the best place to learn REI. I hope you have great success!

Monty 

@Chukwudi Motanya I think that if your a business owner that promoting yourself on this forum is a no no! I am still new and not sure about that. I in no way want to abuse BP policies. There is a great place on BP called the Marketplace were you can get local information by searching. I recently listed my information there.