All Forum Posts by: Matt R.

I agree with this.  The times I've done it, to date, have just been for my personal residence, but it can work; it's worked half of the time for me.  I did the research and talking to the county on my own, since it was just the one property each time.  I'm pretty sure that when they raise the assessment, there is an allowance to back off if a few people complain.

The time that worked was when I lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  One reassessment caused what I felt was a large bump in my property taxes.  I think part of it was that they had torn down some houses to widen a road in my neighborhood, and were trying to "make it up" on the rest of the neighborhood.  I researched what houses in the neighborhood had sold for in the past year, and got an appointment with the county tax guy.  He politely looked at the comps I had, looked at his computer for comps, and asked me what I thought a reasonable new value would be.  A few days later, I got a letter with a more reasonable assessed value, and that was that.

The time that didn't work was a few months ago, in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri.  They bumped up my assessment and offered the chance for an "informal review" before a "formal review".  I sent some comps to the "informal review", and after a couple of weeks, I got a response that they turned it down.  I decided not to pursue the formal review.

I can't speak to the specific situation in Chicago or Illinois because I don't live or own property there.  If the property taxes go up 100%, this idea may not help much.

Matt R.

Quick version: You can un-winterize for the inspector to do tests, but you then have to be willing to either re-winterize or (if you decide to buy the house) pay the utilities to keep the house warm so pipes don't freeze, etc.

The inspection agreement *probably* says that you can't go back to the inspector for money if he or she misses something major - read it carefully.

Long version:

I bought the house I live in now as a foreclosure/REO. The previous owners moved out in approximately summer 2008, and it had been winterized then; I went through the inspection in January 2009.

From what I remember, the real estate agent had been keeping the electricity on, but the gas and water were off.  She agreed to get those turned on for the inspection.  The gas was OK but when they turned the water on, they discovered a burst in a cold water pipe that hadn't been fully drained of water when winterized.  So they turned the water back off and I had to pay a plumber to fix that burst before we could do the inspection.  Luckily, the pipe was exposed on the garage ceiling, so it was an easy fix for the plumber.  There was also a split in the drain pipe under one bathroom sink; I think we just put a bucket under there when testing the sink.

Since I decided to buy the house, all the utilities were left on, and I left the furnace running at a low setting (like 50 F) so nothing would freeze.  I would also go by and check the house every day or two, to make sure the heat was still working.  The real estate agent told me that if I decided not to buy, the house would have to be re-winterized, and I think I would have paid for that.

I don't remember if I had the ability to go back to the inspector and say "you missed this, I want money" if something major was found later.  I kind of think I don't, but I don't remember exactly what the agreement said.  I *did* hire an independent inspector, not one that was recommended to me by the real estate agent, and I feel that he did a more thorough job.  When I bought a different house, 9 years prior, I hired an inspector that the real estate agent knew, and he missed some minor things.

The inspector in 2009 was willing to tell me *what* it would take to fix some of the issues he found, but he did not want to give me a cost estimate.  Since I had fixed things around a house before, I had a rough idea of what the things he found would cost anyway.

I hope this helps!

Matt R.

Disclaimer: I don't work for the post office.  I have worked with some mailing-list stuff before.

I think the post office has an idea in their computer of what addresses are "good" or not.  In other words, they know that there really is a house at 104 Oak Street, and that there really is a house next door at 108 Oak Street, but that there is no house at 106 Oak Street.  That way, if somebody mails a letter from across the country to 106 Oak Street, they "know" it's a bad address right away, and can return it to the sender after it first gets scanned, usually close to where it was mailed.  They avoid shipping the mail across the country, having the local post office say "nope, bad address", and then shipping it back to the sender.

I am pretty sure multiple units at an address work the same way; the post office "knows" that 112 Oak Street, Unit 1 through 10 are valid, but no other unit numbers are valid.  Same reason - they can kick back invalid addresses sooner.

The ZIP+4 code localizes delivery to a few single-family houses or a few apartments.  There is an additional two-digit code inside that bar code at the bottom of the mail that narrows it down to a single house, apartment, unit, or whatever.  The post office optically scans the human-readable address and then prints the bar code on the envelope; if it "knows" there is no Unit 11 or 12, it will kick back the mail to be returned to sender, rather than printing the bar code and sending it on to be delivered.

There may be a way to get them to officially add the "extra" units to your property's address, but I have had limited success doing anything online with USPS.  It usually works better to go to the post office yourself and ask.  If you can, start with the post office that actually handles the mail for your property - sometimes that's the closest one and sometimes not.  If you happen to be at the property when the mailman comes by, ask him or her which post office it is.

So much this.  I've banged my head on those a few times in my own attic.  Also on the rafters.

Another thing I've done when fooling around in the attic is to take up a couple of planks and lay them across the roof joists, to avoid the patented "stepping through the ceiling" problem.  In part of my previous house I actually bolted them down to the joists to make a permanent pathway down the center of the attic; in another part I had a loose plank that I could move where I wanted.  If you can get cheap 1x12s, that's about right for this, or get a sheet of about 3/4" plywood and rip it into four 12" wide planks.

It also helps to put some temporary lights up there while you're fooling around; that way you're not always dragging a drop light cord behind you.  A couple of 4' shop-lights, or one of those strings of sockets with plastic cages around each socket, work fine.  Make sure to shut them off when you're not up there.

Disclaimer: I am brand new at investing.  I did buy my current residence as a bank-owned property that needed repairs, and I looked at several houses when doing that, so I have a little bit of experience in shopping.

General advice:

Take pictures and make notes as you go.  If you look at more than one house, the details will start to run together.  This can be on a phone, tablet, laptop, or even a paper notepad.  :)  When you first get to each property, take a picture of the house number (mailbox or front of house) first; that'll help you figure out which pictures go with which houses when you look at them later.

The house itself:

You can't give it the same level of inspection that a real official inspector can, but you can look for obvious things.  Are there shingles missing from the roof?  Does the roof looked "sway-backed" or uneven?  Are there water stains on the ceilings, or sagging ceilings?  Big cracks in the foundation walls (if it has them)?  If it's an older property (more than about 20-25 years), have any of the windows been replaced with more efficient ones?  Funny stains on the carpet or floors?  Are the drywall, interior trim, cabinets, etc in OK shape or beat up?  Have the colors, trim, cabinets been updated or is it still 1975 inside?  Does the A/C or swamp cooler or furnace look newer, or is it a 30-year-old pile of rust?  Has anyone stolen wiring or plumbing from the house?  If any of the electrical fixtures are already missing - like a ceiling light or porch light - sometimes you can see if it has copper wiring (good) or aluminum wiring (bad).  The realtor usually won't let you take a fixture apart to check, though.  :)  Is the lawn in OK-ish shape - does it just need a good mowing, or major rework?

The location of the house:

Is it on the top of a hill?  Side of a hill?  In a valley?  Is there an intersection near the house that would lead to car headlights sweeping across the house at night?  Is it on a through street or a cul-de-sac?  Are there streetlights (that work) and fire hydrants nearby?  Anything potentially noisy or otherwise annoying nearby - airport, train tracks, Interstate, big factory, sports stadium, race track, etc?

The neighborhood:

Do other houses have bars on the windows or "cages" over the outside A/C units?  Are other houses reasonably well kept up (lawns mowed, painted this century, lack of dead cars in the driveway, etc?)  If any of the neighbors are out and about, tell them you're thinking of buying the house, and ask about the neighborhood.  Are the city/county-provided things in good shape - like have the streets been paved lately?  Traffic signs present and not 50 years old?

One thing I've noticed in several metropolitan areas is that once a neighborhood is sufficiently sketchy, the stores will stop being well-known national or regional brands, and become things you've never heard of.  Like, if the gas stations are Phillips 66, Texaco, Shell, BP, Hess -> good.  If all you can find is "Bob's Cheap Gas" -> not so good.  Grocery and convenience stores are a little more regional; in Florida, Publix is popular, and if one of their stores is within a mile or two, that's probably better than if it's further away.  If you can identify the regional "premium" convenience store - the local equivalent of probably Wawa (in NJ) or Quiktrip (around me), look at where their store locations are.  Closer to the proposed property is better.

I hope this helps!

Disclaimers: I am new to this.  Most of my store trips to date have been for small quantity stuff, not for re-doing an entire house.  I am not affiliated with any companies mentioned.

In Kansas City, HD and Lowe's are the big players.  HD was here first, and Lowe's showed up soon after.  There is a Menards in St. Joseph but that's 55 miles away; I think there is a much closer one in the works, but it's not here yet.

I've shopped at Menards in Iowa a couple of times, but not enough to reach a general conclusion.  Their selection *looks* more extensive than HD or Lowe's, but I also think some of that is down to how Menards builds their in-store displays and shelves.

Usually I find HD has better prices on the same material.  I also find that sometimes HD has the more well-known/older brands, while Lowe's has the "me too" brand of a particular product.

I think HD is better for "stuff you can't see" - lumber, screws, nails, rough plumbing, rough electrical, and so on.  Lowe's is sometimes better at "stuff you can see" - light fixtures, faucets, flooring, curtain rods, and so on.  Lowe's has more choices, especially at the higher end, and more up-to-date styles.

Sometimes HD's lower prices work against them - if they are sold out, I can go to Lowe's and find the item on the shelf, for those times when having it today is worth a 5%-10% price premium.

Around here, HD also has tool rental (in some stores), and truck rental.  Lowe's only has truck rental.  If it's a job that needs a rental tool, it's easier to get the tool and all the other pieces at HD.

I don't usually shop at hardware stores like Ace or True Value, except for certain things.  The hardware stores are a lot better if you just need a few of some goofy fastener; they have more selection and will sell you 1 at a time.  They are also a little better for when you want to buy just the guts of something like a faucet and rebuild it, rather than swapping the whole thing.  Related to that, the repair parts that HD and Lowe's do stock tend to be only for relatively "recent" stuff, like what has been common for the last 10 or 20 years... if you have a 50 or 80 year old house, you're more likely to find parts that fit at Ace or True Value, compared to HD or Lowe's.

Some of the hardware stores make it a point to hire retired or part-time tradespeople, which can be handy if you need some advice to go with the goods.  I haven't seen this as much at HD or Lowe's, but sometimes it happens.

Every once in a great while I buy something at Wal-Mart.  Their selection is not extensive, but they are open 24 hours a day, and the hardware aisle (in a Supercenter) has a lot of stuff that might need to be fixed right now - sink drain traps, toilet parts, switches, outlets, cover plates, door locks, etc.  The prices are at least close to HD, but if I'm buying it at Wal-Mart, I am probably not worried so much about the price.

Around here (Kansas City), I would expect a $150k-$190k house to come with central heat and air.  Probably straight gas heat, or electric heatpump with gas backup heat, and electric A/C.  Towards the high end of that range I would start expecting a slightly larger house and maybe a couple of zones on the HVAC, so I get separate temperature adjustments for different parts of the house.  Your area may be different.

One way you could hedge your bet a little would be to figure out where the furnace would go in the basement.  (This has to do with where a good spot for the ductwork is, where the electrical panel is, where the gas pipe will come in to the house, where the furnace vent pipe(s) will go, how long the Freon lines are for a future A/C, etc.)  Then, have the ductwork, both supply and return, installed from the rooms upstairs to that spot in the basement.  Maybe even run a dedicated 15 amp 120 V circuit from the electrical panel to the future furnace location, and just terminate it in a junction box where the furnace will be.  Then finish the basement as normal and go from there.  That gives the buyer the option of putting in a furnace later without having to tear up the house.

On the other hand, getting just the ductwork done by itself will probably cost more than getting it at the same time as a furnace install.  There is also somewhat of a risk that when the furnace gets installed down the road, the installers don't like something about the ductwork and require it to be re-done.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional HVAC person.  Also, this is not legal or tax advice.

Where I live and have lived (Missouri, Oklahoma), you don't usually install straight electric heat unless it's a really small house (less than maybe 1000 sq ft) or seasonal, like a lake house, hunting cabin, etc.  Natural gas, or electric heatpump with gas, is the most popular, if you already have gas to the house.

Natural gas is the only utility I pay for that has gotten cheaper over the past 3 to 5 years.  I don't expect this to continue forever but it's fun while it lasts.

As some kind of reference, on the bills I paid in October, the headline rate for my electric was 11.15 cents/kWh (first 600 kWh) and 11.48 cents above that, plus a monthly charge and random inscrutable other charges. If you divide the total bill by the total kWh, the overall rate is 14.35 cents/kWh.  For gas, the headline is 7.38 cents per CCF, plus a monthly charge.  If you divide the total bill by the total CCF, the overall rate is $2.58 per CCF.  If your rates are way different than this, the gas/electric tradeoff will be different.

If your current house is electric heat only, you probably get some kind of discounted rate from your electric company.  If you go with gas heat, your electric rate may go up, but the total usage should be a lot less.  The electric company may be able to estimate your usage without electric heat, or ask a couple of your neighbors with gas heat what they pay.

If you don't already have gas to the house, find out what it costs to bring the gas line in.  I wouldn't be surprised if this is $1,000 or more.

Both the gas and electric company will probably have rebates for higher-efficiency equipment, and (more subtly) rebates for sticking with their fuel.  This house had an old electric heatpump plus gas heat, plus electric A/C when I bought it in 2009; when I replaced it, the electric company offered some rebate because the A/C was more efficient, but more rebate because I stayed with the heat pump (which means more money for them).  It is probably worth calling both the gas and electric company to see what they will do for you.

Back when I updated the A/C, the rebate was based on the nameplate rating of the old and new units.  Now, they have a slightly different program, where an A/C tech measures the performance of the existing A/C before the swap, and the performance of the new A/C after the swap.  This means it's important not to tear out the old one until the tech gets to look at it.

You might not care about A/C at all in Idaho, or just use a window unit for the two weeks in the summer that you need it.  Forced-air gas does let you have central A/C if you want it... maybe that lets you get rid of a window unit that's in an awkward spot or noisy or whatever.

In 2009 there were some federal tax rebates for more efficient HVAC (or more insulation, better windows, etc) but I don't know if those are still available... the furnace salesman should know all about them.  The way it worked back then was that after it was installed, the install company wrote you a letter that said "Your Acme model 1234 furnace and Acme model 6789 A/C installed on 31 February 2009 at 1011 Oak Street meet the efficiency requirements of the Super-Duper Energy Saving Act of 2008".  You then claimed your rebate on your 2009 taxes and sent in a copy of that letter with your taxes.  Sometimes your state has something as well.  Some of these might be restricted to your residence, and not a place you rent out to others.

Hey, I used to live in Claremore, and then in Tulsa!

Like @Kyle Critchnau mentioned, you might try Zillow; I have also used Trulia in the past.  Their "current price" estimate may be off somewhat, but they will usually have actual sale-price data, which can help if it's not too old - less than a few years, maybe.

I know you can access the Tulsa County land records by going down to the Tulsa main library, in the civic center, and finding the public computers there that can do it.  The county may have this for free on the Web now, but for a long time, their land records were subscription-access only; realtors and banks would subscribe, but the only free option for normal humans was the library.  This will show you at least the county's assessed value for a certain property, and how it has changed over the past couple of years.  You can also punch in addresses up and down the street to see what those houses are assessed for.

The version of the land records that the County Assessor has access to does have recent sales on it; I contested my property tax increase once when I lived in Tulsa and I looked over the guy's shoulder as he researched it.  Their version also knows the difference between a full market sale (somebody listed it with a Realtor and sold it) and other reasons for change of ownership (like inheritance).  I don't know if normal humans have access to that level of detail, though.

I hope this helps!

Disclaimer: I am brand new at real estate investing.

I am in the east suburbs of Kansas City, Missouri.  I only plan to invest in areas that are really close to where I live (like, a 15 minute drive or less).  To help explain why, an example:

In a certain area of Kansas City, Missouri, if you look long enough, you can probably find a beat-up 1920s or 1930s house for, say, $80K or $90K, rehab it, and sell it for $150K+.  But if you drive two or three miles east of that house, on the same street, the exact same beat-up 1920s or 1930s house will sell for, say, $30K, and if you rehab it, you can sell it for... $50K max.  I grew up around here and I know which one would be $150K and which one would be $50K, just based on the location.

I have no idea how I would reliably figure that out in a city hundreds of miles away.  Sure, I can go on a real estate site and look at comparable sales, or Google the neighborhood name and see what comes up, or do some other research.  But I still feel like I wouldn't really know the area I was buying property in.