All Forum Posts by: Mark F.

Yes, HD will sometimes not pay on certain items but I don't have time to go back and look at every receipt but yes my understanding is that Menards give the full 11% on all items purchased

@Kevin McGinnis it happen every time Menards runs their 11% rebate so just watch for the next one. Last year, 2020 because of the COVID pandemic Menards basically ran the 11% rebate continuous from March or April through November.  I kid you not, this is the stack of HD rebate cards I have sitting on my desk right now!  

@David Braun its hard to compete with a solid offer or one with non refundable EMD, from the sellers perspective those deals are more likely to close with no issues or delays and even when the offer is less most sellers might be inclined to accept over a higher offer with contingencies. The market is crazy hot right now, too many people including investors competing for the same properties. I've had a few offers recently that I put in for all cash, no inspections, no contingencies, $10k non refundable deposit and can close in 5 days (or whenever title is ready) and I'm having problems getting deals..... welcome to the new norm (for now anyway)

@Jonathan Klemm yes it definitely works in the Chicagoland area, I have been doing it for about 2 years and have a huge stack of HD gift cards that I probably cant hold in one hand. The online process is much simpler then Menards however they issue a separate gift card for each receipt whereas Menards combines several onto one store credit. The HD 11% is only when Menards is running their 11% rebates which was pretty much all this year with COVID so I got a lot of them back. 

The other thing that HD does it they tie your HD Commercial Card to Shell for gas rewards and you can get 1% of all Home Depot Purchases available as free gas. ie, spend $100 at HD and get $.10 per gallon at Shell gas stations.  I've been using that for years also and don't think I've paid for gas in my truck for a couple of years and have had a times up to $5-8 per gallon off and it rolls over with each use/purchase  https://www.fuelrewards.com/ho...

@Thomas Tarry during Attorney review period the seller, or buyers attorney can "not approve", thus cancel the contract with no reason given. I've had to do it myself on the seller side, for reasons I won't go into on here, but that is how it is. If either attorney disapproves during the review period the deal is dead regardless..... 

@Rameez Balagamwala it sounds like it might work out for you after all to that is a good thing. I would have loved to take the forbearance and not make 10 mortgage payments for 3+ months but I'm glad I didn't since I had the reserves. In fact just last month I did a conventional refi on group of 7 of my properties all at once for a substantial cash out amount AND my payments went down just over $1000, which means my cash flow went up. Had I taken the forbearance I would not have been eligible. 

@Rameez Balagamwala if I may ask, why did you take the forbearance if you have "more then enough cash reserves"? I checked with my conventional mortgage guy when this all came about as sure and he told me exactly what you have found out, that if a forbearance was taken there would be problems with any Freddie/Fannie mortgage in the near future. Completely understandable, if someone is saying they need a forbearance because they can't pay then why would they be lent more money for additional properties..... 

@Ray B. I agree with the photos and this area is odd to me, its like what's going on with the hole in the ceiling. I mean, I understand why its there but it would have looked much more finished off if it was boxed with drywall and painted. The other thing, and I'm not familiar with the area, but I see its baseboard heat and no air conditioning, I would think most people paying that much would want/expect central a/c

@Jessica James what town is this house in? I just finished up 2 consecutive renovations and am looking for the next property.  

Mark 

I say it depends:  

For a rental put down vinyl plank flooring because it's nearly indestructible and fairly tenant proof. I recently renovated this house and someone asked me why I was covering up the hardwood floors, I explained that the wood floors can only be sanded and refinished so many times so for a rental I put the LVP over it and don't have to worry about scratches etc then if/when I decide to sell we can just pull the LVP up and refinish the hardwood then. 

For a flip, refinish them.

Just my $.02