All Forum Posts by: Mike Castellow

@Daniel Hyman Thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

1. It's there any benefit to hiring a local CPA or financial planner? 2. Do you use the same person as a CPA and financial planner? 3. It seems to me that one person would be able to maintain a better overall picture, but in your opinion is it best to keep these two separate? My details are as follows. I live in San Marcos, TX which is halfway between Austin and San Antonio, but I probably spend at least 9 months a year traveling for work. I am looking to hire a CPA which is something that I should have done years ago. Since I am trying to transition from a full-time career as an industrial equipment inspector into a full-time real estate investor, I would like to find someone who specializes in real estate. I would prefer more than just an accountant who regurgitates what the computer says. I would like to find someone who is both capable and willing to help me develop a financial plan that will help me achieve my immediate and long term goals. Thoughts?

I wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone for the private messages that I received especially from a couple of people in particular @Nghi Le and @Sandra Warren that helped point (lead) me in the right direction. I think that I have a fairly good path forward right now and should be able to complete everything over the next few months. I'll post an update on the progress of the renovation as we close in on the finish line. Thank you to the Bigger Pockets community!

Thanks @David C. I'm actually talking with both a hml and a mortgage broker who's researching possible construction loan alternatives.

I am in the process of completing renovations on a historic home in the San Marcos, TX Heritage district. I have finished all of the downstairs renovations except for a small portion of the kitchen and structural wall removal. I am now in need of additional funding to complete the renovation and 2nd floor addition. My issue is I have made the mistake of financing everything out of pocket in the form of savings and two separate personal loans that have had the detrimental effect of both raising my dti and lowering my credit score by approximately 30+ points (was 700+). I am almost positive that my dti is too high for typical construction financing without paying off the two personal loans so I am just looking for any options that anyone on Bigger Pockets might know of. I’m just hoping for a little advice or some out of the box thinking that would help me with my self-inflicted predicament. Looking back there are a multitude of ways that I could have financed and already completed the renovations, but I’ve obviously had to learn the hard way. The absolute hardest part for me right now, is the fact that I know with absolute certainty that I am headed the correct direction, but I just took the long winding path to get there. I know the first suggestion will be to ask family so let me say that I don’t have any family that has the type of money required so that’s not an option. The only thing that I do have is an additional 1250+ square foot at more than $75 a square foot in profit when the renovation is completed. So close yet so far away. Any and all suggestions and comments will be greatly appreciated. Even those comments that tell me what I already know, like how I should have financed the purchase and construction differently from the beginning. Hindsight on your first renovation has remarkable clarity.

I work as a contract pressure vessel, piping, and storage tank inspector at refineries, chemical plants, natural gas plants, or just about anywhere else there's a need throughout the US or world. I am typically on the road most of the year so that hinders my real estate investment, but it also allows me the disposable income needed for most real estate investments. I know there are very few people that do this kind of work so if you're an API Inspector or are just interested feel free to touch base with me or ask any questions that you might have.

@Josue Vargas

First off… The initial structural drawings were signed and stamped by the PE, and the design drawings were signed and stamped by the licensed architect (10 years of experience). I've worked throughout the country for over 20 years dealing occasionally with civil/structural, often with process, and routinely with mechanical engineers so I would venture to say that I know a thing or two about engineering incompetence when I come across it. I've seen engineers fresh out of school at little mom and pop organizations who were extremely sharp and more than capable of any job that they came across, and I've seen 30 year engineers at billion dollar companies who were almost completely incapable of performing any relevant task adequately so age, experience, size of company is often irrelevant. I also know that after 2 months of having to answer the same questions multiple times I see that it is time to part ways with no more second chances afforded. I now believe the main issue is the fact that I am working on a renovation and restoration of a historic home and not a new construction build as it appears the architect and possibly engineer had mostly performed in the past. So it is 100% my fault for using someone whose qualifications were correct for the job even though they might not have been. Let’s just say lesson learned. It’s called using the right tool for the job, and I take complete responsibility for using the wrong tools (double entendre meant) to perform the job at hand.

By the way, I don't care what excuse there is for the details being different than the main drawing because if my carpenter, plumber, electrician, or whoever skimped on the details or just got the details incorrect they wouldn't be working for me for long either. In my opinion it is the attention to details that is the difference between a professional and amateur. In my field of work a lapse in details can lead to grave and catastrophic consequences so I probably hold a higher expectation for professionalism than most other newcomers to the real estate industry. FYI, there were also a couple of other issues with the PE’s last drawing that was submitted and the incorrect details was just the one that I happened to reference in my post.

I am a 3rd party contract API Inspector who schedules and runs my own projects, and I have been the inspection lead on $100mm dollar projects and TAR’s so I don’t have to pretend to “play” boss for the day. My biggest problem is my work schedule and not being able to be there at all times to get this new venture headed in the right direction. While I have a core group of people that I trust, I do not have every skill position covered as of yet and that is why I simply posted looking for help from the Bigger Pockets community, and I truly appreciate @Jason Grote for taking the time to refer me to someone that he has used in the past.

I wish you both the best of luck in your future endeavors.

@Jason Grote

Thanks for the referral. I truly appreciate the help.

@ Josue Vargas The first issue was due to an unresponsive architect who measured the perimeter of the house and multiple rooms incorrectly and then gave this wrong information to the engineer. It's not that the architect just mismeasured in a few areas, she also had half of the attic joists running the wrong direction and sized incorrectly. Of course this invalidated the first set of certified engineering drawings that I received. It was at this time that we decided to cut ties with the architect and bring in the engineer on our own to have him update the drawings. Over the course of the last two months he has showed up often unannounced to ask the same questions about the same dimensions and has still somehow managed to bring me incorrect drawings on two separate occasions. Wrong joist layout, wrong joist dimensions, and even wrong wall dimensions. The final straw was the non-stamped drawing that I received today that has no spans length identified for any of the beams and also has several locations where a lateral support is identified as wood on drawing S1 and then identified as steel on the detail drawing S2. I honestly believe it is an age related memory issue which is truly sad, but I can't use what I can't trust and at this point I can't trust anything that he submits to me. Sorry for the long rant. Hope this can help someone else to know you cut ties sooner and not wait so long.

I need a referral for a structural engineer in the Austin / San Antonio corridor, specifically San Marcos. My current one has given me deficient information twice, and I would prefer to use someone else at this point. I am removing several load bearing walls and converting the attic into living space. Any help would be greatly appreciated.