All Forum Posts by: Marian Smith

What is expensive to miss when buying a house? Here is my list, I hope you guys will add to it.

1. FPE breaker box....stab-lock breakers are reputed to fail and the breakers are no longer sold except used ones on ebay. I have heard insurers on the east coast wont insure a house with this type panel. Dallas has hundreds of thousands of houses with these (NPC homes) and the paper reported on this issue.

2. I think you have to request a Lead based paint screen. They sell kits at Home Depot. The problem here is contractors, for example window replacement guys from big boxes, will test and if positive your install price wtill go through the roof because they have to wear suits, tape off and sheet over everything, etc.

3. Ditto asbestos in popcorn ceilings.

4. And there is some sort of plastic plumbing that was used in the 60s or 70s and maybe even the 80s that didn't perform as expected...it is garbage. But I do not know whether it is in the walls or to the street nor how to recognize its use.

5. We also bought a little old lady house that smelled of mold (washer leak) pet urine and smoke. After priming and painting everything we realized the HVAC vents smelled like smoke...worse than when we bought because (I guess) we bought in a mild winter and the house had been aired out and the HVAC was not running because it wasn't needed. I never run the system while renovating because I want to minimize dust in the system so I didnt realize until virtually finished and running the AC. We bought a Clen-aire gel cube thing at Ferguson's to put in the return and it really helped. But I think it would take a coil cleaning, coil replacement and/or new ducts to truly remedy the problem because when the system turns on after having been off for an hour or so it blows air with a subtle hint of stale tobacco smoke. It just lasts a short while, nonetheless...nasty.

We don't usually get inspections so we look for aluminum wiring; patched spots, fake vents etc around plumbing stacks to indicate prior termite treatments and ......what do you look for? Thanks.

I would buy a n orbital sander at HD for $25 and sand the whole thing until stuff stops flaking--much easier than scraping. Or powerwash as mentioned above. Then solid stain in a very similar color or darker color. Jered is correct, You can't stain over paint, but if the surface isn't acting like paint then it probably isn't paint. Only an idiot would paint a deck IMO. As for the deck repair-restore kits they are expensive and don't really look that nice. They cover up badly deteriorated decks well but only as a stopgap, and it sounds like you just need to recoat. I have been happy with the Cabot products at Lowes...Read the instructions on the can, if I remember correctly, you can only recoat within an hour or so because it contains teflon and so will repel the second coat if fully cured.

Here I had a glass guy cut the existing mirror and put it in a frame I had. I painted the frame to match the cabinet, which I also painted. Doesn't look fabulous but it looks good and was inexpensive. Glass guy charged 15$ and he siliconed the glass into the frame after cutting it.

A less common and less successful way to begin investing is to go to a seminar in California and buy sight unseen a new trac home in an outlying suburb of Austin, Tx, get a loan as an owner occupant, hire a property manager to rent it out but with negative cashflow because while houses are cheaper in Texas, so is rent but , property taxes are much, much higher, have a tenant flood the house when her old, vinyl supply lines to the washer bust, and not have enough savings for the insurance deductible and the mortgage while the house is vacant, end up in foreclosure. true story. (not me).

The most common and most successful way to begin investing in real estate is to buy and live in a single family home until that time you can move to another property and rent out the first one. This would mean buying a property that would make a good rental for you in your circumstances--so probably something small and cheap so you can afford the vacancies or repairs that come up. Buying something off the HUD home store that is offered only to owner occupants is a good way to get a good deal on that fiest property.

thanks for the responses. Kevin, what brand/color. Last time I picked. grey beige it looked purple on the wall. I have a terrible eye. I can put a paint color card up to a wall and not even get close to the color.

Just finishing up a rehab which was purchased as a long term rental. But this is the hottest real estate market I have ever seen. Texas, I feel stupid not selling...buy low sell high, etc. But I bought as an inflation hedge and the property rents will more than cover the 15 year note and expenses, so it also seems stupid to sell. Especially as it will probably be years before I can replace it with another fixerupper under current market expectations--i only buy good deals and for that I need a buyers market because I don't knock on doors, etc.

I don't think the house is worth near what it would bring except that at todays rents and todays interest rates it is cheaper to overpay with an FHA loan than to rent. I would guess this property would sell for 30% more than pre-bust prices. 30% over 5 years seems somewhat reasonable, but the increase in value seems to have all happened in less than 2 years.

This house has a bad across the street neighbor. Hoarder, garage sale seller, porch dweller type. Other neighbors houses look fair to good to great, mixed but mostly good. good schools.

opinions? Rents and prices will plummet when interest rates go up? building materials getting more expensive so replacement cost will go up propping up existing home prices? loans will get harder to get so prices down but rents up?

Are you rehabbers migrating towards a grayer beige for interiors? If so, any color recommendations? Thanks.

Thanks

Texas has an implied warranty of habitability that appears to mean a rental must be dry, heated, with flushing toilet, etc. But I don't understand the extent of the implied warranty.

It appears that for 30 years people have lived in the house with a certain heavy faux wood-looking type door separating the garage from the house. At what point, if any, does a landlord have to make sure it is a fire rated door? It isn't marked and it isn't a slab. Can I assume it met code when installed and that it is grandfathered in?

Texas Property Code states explicitly how many locks and fire alarms are required in rentals. But I don't see anything about bringing an older house up to code. Specifically, if the door from the garage to the house appears to be solid core and has not been replaced since the house was built in 1982, is that okay. Obviously it met code when the house was built, but I dont see a stamp or anything identifying it as fire rated. Thanks in advance. (and please dont advise to replace it just in case, which I may do with a metal door, I want to know if I am required to.)