All Forum Posts by: Mike Hasson

A lot of that looks like small stuff. There are a few big ticket items, but as an investor, to me that means value add potential. You should do enough market research to get ARV value with comps to make sure those repairs are priced in. I'd suggest to get estimates on the big ticket items and make sure that those repairs are priced into the deal.

And if you're concerned about paying for repairs out of pocket, your lender may even have options to finance that stuff through your mortgage -  ask them about "credits". Just make sure the property is discounted accordingly - your realtor can help you with that, but remember to always run your own numbers too. Trust but verify

In any case, it would behoove you to understand everything in the report, since a lot of those items you will see in nearly every inspection. Understanding will help you to prioritize. 

One approach I like to recommend to my own clients, especially first time buyers, is to upload their inspection report to www.RepairPricer.com. It uses AI to provide estimates for every item in the report, and does so with alarming accuracy. More people really need to know about this!

Hopefully this helps!

Part of the reason I left Cali. Criminals get the right of way, while the ones trying to do things right are punished.

As an inspector, I may be biased, but I'd recommend a third-party inspector for the inspection, and then bring that report to the contractor for the bids. It can be advantageous to have a report written by someone who's paycheck is not dependent on extent of the findings. I'm not saying they will be dishonest, but we're likely going to be looking for different things. The contractor may want to give you a beautiful kitchen, while your inspector is there to make sure it's safe and correct - Different perspectives for different purposes. 

But many investors skip the inspection and do the contractor bids like you said, but I'd be willing to bet that those are experienced investors who already have existing and trustworthy relationships with those contractors. I cannot recommend that approach if it's your first investment, or if you don't already have a good working relationship and history with the contractor giving the bids. 

And I doubt a contractor will be crawling through crawlspaces or attics just to come up with a bid on a home you might not even own yet. How much will you paying the contractors for these bids?

Yes! Always looking for new ways to use ChatGPT! 

Try this prompt I put together to help determine if a certain breed is a good fit. It's very insightful as usual.

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Is a _____ a good breed for a _ bedroom (house/apartment) with _ people living in it who work during ____. The home has ___ sq ft of yard space with (yes/no) fence in a (shared/private) yard area.

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If it were me, I probably wouldn't. Which is hard because I'm such a dog lover! But "raised with dogs" to me, says "my parents did all the work and am about to be in wayyy over my head". I've seen a bit of dog ownership as I've owned dogs most of my life, rescued, fostered and raised many more. I've basically always been surrounded by dogs, and in my experience have developed many opinions on this topic.

For myself, the only time I ever added a dog to my family was during a planned period of down-time, between jobs, moving to a new place, one was an injury, etc. Knowing that without those MONTHS of round the clock care and attention and training, they will likely become to bored destructive dogs that are the subject of so many horror stories. I can go on and on with my opinions about breeds (I personally like the "dangerous" ones lol no, not because they're scary, but because they're so easy to train! Dobies and German Shepherds have been the most trustworthy dogs I've had!).

Some questions I might ask if I were considering are:

What breed and age is it? And is it a good match for your their lifestyle and housing type? For example, are they asking to bring a Husky into a one bedroom apartment while everyone works 12 hours a day? Anything less than pulling a sled up a mountain is likely to bore a husky, so that just wouldn't sound like a good fit to me. I think a responsible pet owner will have thought this through and have a rational reason on why they are choosing the breed that they did, not just because it's "cute". This shouldn't be an impulse buy. DM me if you'd like to chat more about breed specifics and I may be able to give some guidance.

Will someone be home to take care of the pet at ALL times? Or does everyone work/go to school 12 hours a day? A general rule is no more than 1 hour alone per month of age, and hopefully no more than 8 hours alone at an age. Does their lifestyle really support that cute 3 month old puppy?

How will they maintain financial responsibility over the pet? Is it covered by their renters insurance? By your homeowners insurance? Many insurance companies have their own breed restrictions.

Will you be incentive in some way for accepting the risk of damage?

Does the building have a designated place for the pet to run/play/potty? And are you providing bags/scoop/bins for cleanup if it's a shared space? 

Hope this helps, let me know what you decide

One way to get get caught doing something you shouldn't, is to post about it in a public forum. 

But I think see what you're trying to do, though you may be asking the wrong questions to accomplish your goals.

Some alternative questions you may want to consider:

Are there good deals in Sandusky or closer to school?
Are there equivalent programs closer to Columbus?
Will renting an apartment negate the benefits of house hacking?
Are there other means of temporary lodging available? STRs? Hotels? Vanlife? 
Is college even worth it anymore? (jk jk)

I wonder if the boom will create a ripple of growth to some of smaller towns outside the city (coughcough Mansfield) I think there will always be those who don't mind a commute to save on gas, or prefer the open space of the countryside, so I can't help but wonder how many of those workers will seek residence outside the big city? And if so, how far out will the growth spread? Is Columbus going to run out of room and people will start to migrate farther and farther? Are some of these smaller neighboring towns solid investments for the long term?

I don't have any answers to these questions; these are just things I wonder about when I hear about the growth in Columbus... What do you all think?

I like the idea of Trust but Verify. Your realtor probably has good reasons for making the recommendations they do, but maybe not. But you probably have a good realtor that has developed trust with the inspectors they recommend. I wouldn't worry too much about them glossing over just to close, as Florida requires home inspectors to carry a state-issued license so they would be risking a lot for a little, not to mention the breach of integrity. 

In any case, a license is a usually a minimum standard, and so additional certifications (such as Certified Professional Inspector, or Certified Master Inspector) are above and beyond that you might want to look for.

Where the real distinctions come though, is from specialties, if your purchase requires any. Some examples here in Ohio might include groundwater wells, septic systems, geothermal systems, radon testing, mold/lead/asbestos testing, wood destroying insects, sewer scoping, etc, all require specialist training and outside the scope of a "home inspection". Florida is probably a little different, and these are likely special use instances and outside of the norm, so just make sure you have a good idea of what you need to know to make the best decision for you.

I had some roof issues as a seller. Not sure if it applies to your area or situation, but I was deciding how to proceed after a leak formed a few days before closing. I remember wanting to ask the buyer for more money if I was to replace the roof, which was old and in poor condition, riddled with patches. Those repairs had lasted several years btw. We knew it was old but hoping it would at least  continue to function. It did not. And while I wanted to ask for more for the buyer to contribute to the replacement, since repair was no longer an option at that point. My listing agent explained to me that while an old roof may detract from the value, a new roof would not add value. An interesting distinction, as in my mind, it was the opposite.

Since the buyer did in fact pay over asking,  and was very easy to work with through negotiations, I, after careful deliberation, bought the buyer a new roof. 

It hurt my bottom line since I wasn't expecting it, but it was the right thing to do and saved the sale. And looking back, that roof while not cheap, was a just drop in the bucket in the big picture. Besides, as an investor, if I don't have enough cushion for things like this to come up and still be in the green, then it was probably too risky a project to begin with. Besides, in the end, I am glad to know that the leak occurred a week before, and not a week after closing. Since I look it this like a business, the buyer is my customer, and I want my customers to receive a quality product - and ultimately they did! 

So I'm not sure how much of my experience translates to yours, but these things do happen and flexibility is important. That said, ultimately I went with the roofer's recommendation, which was that that roof was beyond repair and had to be replaced. So if I was in your shoes, I would wait for the roofer's evaluation. Yes, roofs are important and expensive and anxiety inducing, but unless I knew more about roofs that a professional roofer (which even as an inspector, I do not), then I would wait for their professional evaluation. And if I was the buyer, I would at least elect to choose my own roofer for that quote.

There are so many options out there it'll make your head spin! 

Since we can only give you general advice, it would be better to call 3 different TYPES of lenders to get an idea of your options. For example, perhaps explore some programs from:

-Hard/Private Money Lenders

-Local banks or credit unions

-National Bank/lenders

Find which of these types of lenders will match best with your goals, and then interview 3 more of THAT type of lender for even more options, and to fine-tune your plan. 

But keep in mind that for investment loans, what you're looking for probably won't be called "down payment assistance". Instead, you'll be looking for higher LTVs, interest-only terms, seller carryback, etc. 

For example, if you got an interest only bridge loan that funded 80% of purchase and 100% of renovation, with a 20% carryback (aka the seller holds the note/seller financed), with a refi into a 30 year at year 1 once the property is stabilized - then you would essentially have gotten in with 0 down. Or you could bring in an equity partner for the 20% and it's out of their pocket instead of yours. There are infinite number of creative ways to structure down payment assistance, but I think step one may be to become well-versed in the investment financing terminology and strategies.