All Forum Posts by: David Hutson

@Kyleigh Morgan,

That is definitely a loaded question, as you know.  I would recommend you search BP for other contractors and investors in your area that you work in and ask them what they pull permits for.  As for the costs, a lot of times you can find the permit prices on the city/county sites, or again, ask the others in your area doing that type of work.  I don't know your area so I can't answer it clearly.  

To answer the main question, as a real estate agent, I have had buyers ask about the permits for all of the work.  That is one big area that you can run into issues, especially with newer buyers or those who may want to live in the home.  Most investors I work with don't ask so you could be ok if you don't have permits for everything. 

Another thing to consider is that a buyer could come back to you in six months when something breaks and there were no permits for the work.  If all the work was done well it's probably not an issue.  For me, when I'm working on homes I want to know that the work was done well, to standard and that my contractors will come back out and look at the repair within a reasonable amount of time.

Finally, another great resource is your local REIA. You can find contractors and investors who are currently doing the work and/or pulling permits. They should be able to give you general info. Hope this helps.

@Joshua Giron,

Congrats on starting early and wanting to build an income early in life.  Definitely starting saving up to buy a home since househacking will be a great option for you in a year or two.  Buy a home, live in the master bedroom and rent out the other rooms.  Finding a local mentor who you can work with will be a way to gain experience.  Find a quality person and work for them, with them, around them, whatever you can work out to learn about properties.  As to whether you should wholesale, buy and hold, etc, will depend on the money you have available and what your goals are.  

Find a local REIA in your town and start attending meetings. They will have lenders, sellers, contractors, etc that you can learn from at the meetings. You may find a few mentors there.

There are lists of books on here.  Find the topics that interest you in real estate investing and start with those to see if they keep you interested.  A few that I like are The ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy and The One Thing by Gary Keller.  I'm reading Never Split the Difference by Voss now.  That one could probably wait a bit.

Keep asking questions and people here will continue to assist.  Feel free to message me also if you get stuck or have a quetion.

I like Trex or other similar decking where there is a lot of rain or bad weather, even extreme heat.  The initial cost is a little more but there is almost no maintenance other than watching for broken pieces or repairing spots where people are being rough on it.  You won't need to stain or paint it.  As far as aesthetics, I think it looks great if you pick a color that complements your home or whatever it is connected to.  It's sold at the big box stores and other locations.  It's just as easy to install.

I'm with @Taylor L., if you don't charge a small amount you may receive more people kicking tires and wasting your time and money for the credit/background checks.  In Memphis, I only know of one PM who doesn't charge and all the others do.  If I'm renting out properties on my own I also charge.

Retired last year at 49. I have a military retirement, VA disability, 20 rentals and participate in 20+ syndication deals. I do a little work on my rentals like cutting the grass or painting when the properties are vacant because I enjoy it.

I would let them go and say to have a nice trip if they actually pay for August's rent.  If they actually go overseas trying to serve them to pay for the rest of the lease would be difficult.  If they have been good tenants and have a good payment history, it will suck to lose a good tenant, they will be gone anyway.

It is good that they are giving you notice and hopefully the home is in good shape.  It's still a good time of the year to rent.  Unless the house is in shambles you should be able to fix it up and get it rented in a short period of time, possibly before the end of August and you can get another tenant in without a loss of rent and use the deposit for any repairs.  Obviously it's not ideal.  I would be nice, let them go and start getting ready to list it again 1 August.

@Gili Rozenthal,

Look at the zip codes/locations listed above. Cherie pretty much summed it up.  Even being in under $70k will be difficult with much of a profit, and don't forget selling costs.

There are plenty of buyers for the rehabbed homes if they are done well.  Finding homes at a good price to start off with is the issue.  There aren't a lot of good homes to buy that make sense, which is why prices are going up.  The low inventory here in town is pushing prices up on the initial purchase and at resale.  Contractors will be another issue.  All of the good contractors are busy.  Many are a week or two out before they can get to your home.  Their prices are going up also.

There is a shortage of good rental homes which is good for the investors.  I'm seeing many homes rented in under a week.  I'm currently working on a total rehab project on a home in 38122 and I have people coming by everyday asking about renting it once it's complete, to include contractors working on the home. 

Myself, like several others, get many calls every day from people who want to buy homes that are owned in Memphis.  I have a 916 area code but live in Memphis.  There is one caller with a 530 area code, (message me if you want the number) and I do know where it is, call me about five times a day.  I have had the number blocked but finally unblocked it today and answered when I was fed up with it.  I answered the call and he got into his script before I was able to say a word.  He was really trying to buy my home on pobox.  After a few minutes of talking I asked how to get off his call list and he kept reading the script.  He asked it if was rented.  I replied yes.  He asked if I owned it.  I said no, the government does.  A few minutes more and I asked him to look at the address again.  After saying it's a PO BOX three times I heard someone laugh in the background and I think they finally got it.  I asked them again to take me off my list and hung up.  

So, for all of you wholesalers out there calling me, even though I'm on the do not call list, I'm going to start playing with you.  I'll let you take the house info, ask all your questions, tell you I will sell the house for the right price (and I would) and let you go to look at it or you can pay someone if you are out of state and I'm not going to show up.  If you call me back I'm going to apologize and say I had a flat tire and reschedule. If you give me a high enough price I'll take it but I believe you won't give me a high enough offer to be serious.  I'll string you along as far as I can.  I'm retired, don't work and have all the time in the world.

Let the games begin.

@Steven Feit, 

Yes, I have 12 homes with them.  They are still doing an awesome job with my homes.

Yes, Jeremy is the primary seller for them.  That is who I work with to buy homes.  Reach out to him.