All Forum Posts by: Mark Belenky

I've completely renovated the second and third floor sperating those floors from the other half of the hinge.  I reconfigured the floor plans of the upper unit and spent extra for higher grade materials.  As I found out while I was getting my permits, a lot of work previously done didn't have permits and want recorded with the town.  Not a big problem since I was doing a full renovation.  As of now I haven't gotten the variance as the town wants me to address parking.  I'll address the parking when I complete the next portion of the renovation which is to fully renovate the bottom unit.

Since I've completed the renovation for the upper unit, it's been renting just shy of what the entire monthly mortgage goes for and while I had it listed, was in very high demand.

So although I haven't completed the variance, it's doing what I intended it to do ands that's to pay for itself.

I'm definitely looking forward to completing this project fully and let it really cash flow.

Anyone know what the going rate for standard bookkeeping is?  

I've been handling my own bookkeeping for years and every year, it's been getting more and more challenging as I've begun to accumulate additional real estate investment properties and other investments.  I think this has to be the year that I finally give in and look for a bookkeeper that will be able to help me keep track of the numbers.  

In an effort to find a good quality highly referred bookkeeper, I'm coming to the Bigger Pockets community for advice.  Does anyone have any advice on how to find the perfect bookkeeper and what are the red flags to look out for to avoid the bad ones.  A basic google search suggested to start with going to upwork.com and then going from there.  

Thanks in advanced for any guidance you may provide.

Where does Westerville, OH fall into your neighborhood classifications?

Thank you for your feedback.  

When the GC came back to "Tidy Up" that's exactly what we did.  We did a walk through to review all areas of my concern.  He stated that with everything that I'm asking for they'll have to move the timeline.  In my mind, I figured just get it all done and I'm okay with moving the time-line and so we did.

Most items have been addresses since then however, the time-line had been getting extended one too many times and I just had to finish up the job on my own and with new resources.  

This most likely won't be the last time going through something like this but thanks to your advise and going through this experience, I do it a bit more efficiently.  

Onwards we go!!

I've hired a contractor to renovate my upstairs unit which is the second and third floor.  I've already paid the bulk of his costs which was approximately $114k with just $3k remaining on the balance once all work has been completed.  The GC is saying that he'll stop by and tidy up but, from what I can tell there's a quite a bit more work needed than just tidying up.  Items such as uncentered sconces, plumbing lines not keeping the color coding consistent, sink faucet drain stoppers not working,  damaged front lawn, job site is a mess, 

and I can't say enough about the paint job.  I've posted some picture.  Am I being too picky or should I be concerned?  

 Any suggestions on how to best approach this situation.

@Account Closed - Wow, real estate is truly amazing.

@Account Closed Let's say she then wants to buy a personal home after she purchases the investment properties, would she still be able to take advantage of the 1st time home buyers incentive program.  From the sounds of what you've said it doesn't sound like it.

Preamble: 

My girlfriend and I are currently living together in our first house hack and we're looking into what our next step in real estate investing should be.  She's never bought a primary home for herself so, she's eligible for the 1st Time Home Buyer incentives.  

The Question:

If my girl buys her first investment property can she use the 1st Time Home Buyers program on it and if not, can she still use the 1st Time Home Buyers Program for her first personal home purchase after she buys the investment property? 

@Anna Sagatelova @Will Fraser  - Thank you very much for your response to my question.  I do have a M2M term should a tenant not renew their lease and would require an additional month or longer.  Coincidentally; just as I posted my question on this forum, I received an email from the tenants who have requested to renew their lease and how we can add an additional applicant.  I've provided them with the requested instructions and I've responded with what you were alluding to Anna, we will need to have the lease signed and submitted no later than COB end of week otherwise we will be going on a M2M term, which then they agreed to comply.

Again, thank you both.