All Forum Posts by: Marian Smith

Gary Eldred is a Phd and was on the faculty at Stanford business school. He wrote "Investing in Real Estate." It is not an inspirational book like some of the others, but just explains the whys and hows, etc. in plain language written for someone who can read at the collegiate level. Smaller print and packed with information.
Also, print off an IRS 1040 schedule d or e or whichever it is and read the instructions on how to report rental income.

I like to spray with Brush-be-Gone or Roundup and then spray any new sprouts during the growing season. Once the tree is dead let it rot a year and then just yank it out with your bare hands.

I actually haven't turned the utilities on yet, so I don't know if I've got a big problem or not. One thing though, my insurance company, Amica, wouldn't write me a policy because i didn't have an inspection so couldn't estimate the roof age, etc. Cost me an extra $300 a year to go with a "subprime?" insurer. Actually, part of the $300 is due to the house being vacant, but when it is rented I can switch to a lower priced policy, but not $300 lower.
I would have liked to have an inspection but I wasn't going to pay $500 without utilities. Plus, I didn't think the bank would be very open to more negotiations. I may have left money on the table, but I just felt like I might nix the deal if I came back for more. Comments?
Also, I felt that once I had a 10k reduction that it left me some room for a new hvac or whatever was wrong. I did call the MUD office and they assured me that the water bill for the house was stable and very ordinary in price.
I might add that my final price was 56% of a house that sold a few weeks later directly across the street. 50 sq ft larger and, of course, in much, much nicer condition.

I recently bought a house without an inspection. It was bank owned and quite a mess—evidently the occupants had to be evicted. 1250 square feet 3-2-2 with half the popcorn removed from the den cathedral ceiling, missing upper kitchen cabinet doors, laminate flooring installed without cutting the door jambs or installing quarter round (so gaps), electrical outlets painted over, a large crack in the one-piece fiberglass tub/shower that had been epoxied over, a broken window and lots of general grime. The master bath was lightly primed over so you could still see one black wall, one pink and two peach colored walls. It was a house of never finished projects.
Anyway, I am a newly licensed real estate agent so I represented myself and made a cash offer. After we settled on a price I asked the listing agent to have the utilities turned on for the inspection. They were never turned on and I never got a satisfactory answer as to why not. At one point I decided that maybe the utility companies wouldn’t turn them on because the evicted people didn’t pay their bills and as the bank owned the property they were being held responsible from the time they foreclosed. Does this happen??? I asked the agent if it was a problem with unpaid bills and he said yes, but then I realized I had lead him there so I’d never really know. Then I thought maybe the listing agents pay to have the utilities turned on out of their compensation package. ??? Lastly, I thought maybe he was afraid I’d back out and wanted to wait until after it looked like I’d lose my earnest money , 1k, if I backed out.
So, I decided to go over the house myself to see if there was anything I couldn’t live with. The HVAC looked original 1977, the roof looked good inside and out, I knew there was a tub leak and the inspector could’nt tell me what I’d find behind the tub anyway. Then I noticed a slope in the front bedroom floor. I used a 4 foot level and determined there was a slope and then put the level on the window sill and it too was sloped and in the same direction. But the area is solid limestone and you never see foundation work around there, so I called a foundation company to ask how to tell if it is a bad pour, or what was an acceptable slope when pouring concrete for a house. He ended up coming out, said the house was built on fill dirt and he wrote up a bid to repair the foundation for just under 10k. I asked the bank for the foundation repair money and 2k for collateral damage from the repair. They agreed so I took the house without an inspection. I am not repairing the foundation because it isn’t that noticeable and I plan to rent the place out anyway. When it is paid off 15 years down the road I will decide whether to repair or just disclose it when selling.

I'd stick with the good tenants. But that is just me. My rentals are financed for 15 years and I just want them paid off with the least hassle possible. My plumber does work on some Section 8's around town and he says they keep him busy.

Lily, why did your investor seller want to meet the buyers? I would find that disturbing, also.
Jake, divorce attorneys? Really?