All Forum Posts by: Donovan H.

Hello and welcome to BP!

Originally from Monroe myself, though currently looking more in the Toledo area.  I found agents servicing Monroe less than helpful for new investors.  I wish you well on your new adventure!

Actually, this is for my personal residence.  I live in a recently built sub (2005).  I've had an off-and-on flooding issue in my basement since purchase three years ago.  I had many a basement waterproofer come out.  All said I just needed a bigger pump.  After spending thousands of dollars trenching, adding drains, upgrading to three pumps with battery backups), I was fine for a year then flooded again ... The incoming water outpaced the three pumps running full bore.

Extremely frustrated, I called the city water department in for help.  They were at my place multiple times over a two week period before bringing out a robot.  You see there's a retention pond behind my neighbor's property.  The overflow flows into a drainage system for the sub.  I have two catch basins on each side of my yard.  These are connected to each other and to the overflow for the pond.  The city sent the robot through the pipe between the basins with a camera.  BINGO!  Turns out the pipe T's right under our concrete patio and opening towards the house ... About 5 feet from the basement wall exterior. The robot couldn't turn to see if this was even capped off, but is likely the problem even if unconfirmed.  Basically, when the system is full ... It's dumping water through a 12 inch pipe directed at my basement from 5 feet away.

Now, is this my problem?  The subdivision's?  The city's?  If this is my problem, who do I even call to fix this sort of thing? 

I've been looking for a contractor to deal with some issues with a small 6x8 bath and a section of floor that is sagging. I'm more worried about the sagging than the cosmetics of the bath (though it needs redone badly). I've called 5-6 handymen and/or contractors. One is phasing out everything but roofing. A bunch haven't called me back. One that did scheduled a meeting to look at the job and provide an estimate was a no call/no show. I need work done, cash in hand, and no one seems to want the job. Anyone else have these issues?

This is my first turnover on my duplex and I want to remodel a small bathroom (about 6x8). It's tiled half up the walls and the floor. It's an old house (1926) and probably hasn't had the bath done since the 70's. The wall tile is light pink and sky blue ... The blue being painted over the pink. The floor is probably older than that with the small octagonal white tile ... Some if it is missing. It's all not cared for well and in bad shape.

Now, should I just buck up and do it right ... As in have someone come in, tear it out, and redo entirely as I've never done tile before? The people at HD suggested Allure planks for the floor and prime (gripper)/repaint the ugly wall tile. The Allure idea is alluring ( bad pun intended), but the molding around the floor is tile as well. I don't know what I'd do to cover the expansion gap.

Ideas?

I agree with Brian here ...

You need to have reserves. Don't tap yourself out purchasing the property. There will inevitably be things that pop up even with the best or newest properties. Also, what will you do if your tenant stops paying his rent a month after signing the lease? Your bills don't stop because your tenant stops paying rent. Evictions may take awhile through the court system and have costs of their own. Plan ahead and have a substantial reserve.

just starting in RE. Only 1 buy and hold so far.

My car:

2008 Toyota Prius - just hit 80k miles. Totally paid off. Use it for everything. I can even get my push mower in the hatch without rigging, ropes, etc. Love it. I'd consider a Ford Focus hybrid next time, but I feel that next time is far off yet.

Wifey's car:

2010 Chevy Malibu - only about 15k miles. Nothing much to say. It's what she wanted. Impala was actually cheaper at the time, but she's short and felt more comfortable in the Malibu. Family worked for GM, so other brands not considered. Still about $8k left on that one.

I had big dreams about cool cars when I was a kid, but the older I get the more mundane my car choice seems to get. I just don't have the passion for driving that some do ... And I DEFINITELY don't have the passion for the insurance payments that come with those cars! Wife has the same mindset. If we splurge, it's on a vacation, not a car.

I have a duplex that had water issues in the basement this past blizzard/melt/rain.

The story goes:

This is a new duplex for us, came pre-rented, and the tenants who have been there for years said that there was only a very minor issue in one corner of the basement that we attributed to bad downspout planning. The duplex is on a hill with a fairly steep grade driveway., but it is in Toledo, OH which is swampland. It's not in a flood zone though.

The bad downspout ended about 4 feet off the ground at the back corner with the driveway and just basically ends, dumping water straight down. That's the corner that has a slow trickle that runs down to the drain in heavy rains.

The house is from 1927. There is what you MIGHT call a sump hole, but may just be a drain. There is another centrally located round hole that must be another drain of some sort.

Well, it flooded. 3-4 inches. Everyone thinks it's from the corner, but we dropped a pump in the square hole to empty the basement ... When we removed it, water started coming up from the hole itself ... Not the corner.

Luckily, all furnaces , water heaters , washers, driers are ok.

Do I call a plumber? Do I call roto-rooter to clear the drains/sump hole? Do I go straight to a basement waterproofer? Who do I call exactly?

My tenants started sending me payments through a site called WilliamPaid. Worked out, so I signed up for direct deposit. Haven't run into any issues yet. Not trying to promote that particular service, but I feel safer with that buffer and it's free. I don't have to give them any of my account numbers.

I think the original post was a tad too supportive of the Detroit News ' article without realizing it's the republican propaganda newspaper in Detroit. Let's keep politics out of this. Detroit is starting to come around, but it's due to the auto recovery ... Which is a macroeconomic issue, not anything a state politician has done or not done. It has nothing to do with "right-to-work" or anything else Snyder has done to the people of Michigan.

agreed. Lending Club will get you cash quick if you have a job-job and a really good credit score. Currently also a Toledo landlord. Used it to get a (30k from L.C.) $40,000 duplex that rents for $1200/month total. It's financed at an insane rate that leads to 718 monthly for 5 years. Doesn't hit the "rules" in this regard, but I can cash out refi in a year to a much better interest rate and extend the term so I cash flow better. Making money at this rate anyways due to low expenses, but it's not giving me enough to do some major reno without the refi. I look at Lending Club almost like hard money.