All Forum Posts by: Clayton P.

For reconnection : you'll want to make sure the A) gas valve is working well B) the thermocouple is working well & sending signal to pilot without effort C) the igniter is working well OR, the tenant can reasonably easily reach in with a match or BBQ lighter to light the pilot. I've replaced these items from supplyhouse.com, & honestly you're probably better off replacing these items from the get-go & it'll be (relatively) problem free.... especially if you run them a 2-line thermostat to make things easy for the tenants. These items I mentioned are the only real fail-points, since the rest of the heater is essentially just a metal bladder and burner. Make sure there's no kinks or leaks in the supply line.

thanks Joe. Yep, drum for the area & edger for, well.... the edges :) . You should absolutely try it - if we're talking about a rental, and you're not renting it to CEO's.... Saving 75% of the cost of a pro, how bad could it possibly go? 

**that said, check the existing depth of the wood you intend to sand. Make sure it can stand a few grit levels. Hang up plastic sheeting on walls & across room thresholds to make your cleanup easier, don't trust the bag on the sander to catch it all. 

For rental properties - hands down, TrafficMaster Allure vinyl flooring. Even in Bedrooms - if they want a soft surface, tenants can put down an area rug. HD frequently puts the stuff on sale, for my recent reno, I was able to get their Pecan color for .79/SQFT. I mean, come on. Can't beat that price and it's super resilient, stays sharp looking, very water resistant and easy to clean.

This would be a new kind of buy for me, which gets me real pumped up. (It's actually a property that I've eyed for a couple years, just daydreaming, & reached out to the owner llc during that time but never heard back). 

tl;dr My idea so far to purchase would be a short term 12-16 month hard money loan, 80% purchase w/ 100% renovation, with private money coming in to fund the 20% & points, refi'ing into a conventional note with my local lender who I have a decent relationship with when the first note balloons. 

Since I'm a little new to the commercial arena, I'm curious if there's some other ways to do this outside of the very obvious, vanilla way I stated above. Any other creative ideas? (Seller needs the equity out asap, so seller-financing is out)

As for the deal itself: 

      Located a few towns over from me (but not far enough where management would be a hassle), right near the better part of the borough, near the middle school, very close to stores & very close to where new construction is being planned & the area is on an upswing.

• 2 - 2 bedrooms (1150-1200/each)
• 4 - 1 bedrooms (850-900/each)
• Going inside it this week, but from my walks around the outside, I'm ballparking about 100k in reno
• Seller asking for 200k
• Taxes as-is about 6500
• Seller states all zoning approvals & site-planning have been completed, only thing left to do is pull permits and put nails to wood

As of right now, my immediate plan would be to sit down w/ the commercial people at my lender's, assess my standing, and start all the other due diligence common with a typical, residential purchase. Are there other items I should be thinking about that aren't common in residential but are a factor for this deal?

Brian Huber , Perry Marshal is the chief at this. Read his book on Adwords, and 80/20 sales & marketing. Before you go dumping any cash into Adwords, even if you've done it before, each campaign has its own results so split testing your ads before you commit large $ to them is critical 👍

@Harlan Cox , I'll never forget when I walked into my RE attorney's office when I was first getting going, and explained to him my wholesaling plans, and he stared at me blankly and said he didn't know what I was talking about. That's a true story. He's still fantastic but for that area, I consult attorneys that are referred by other active wholesalers in my state. You can always do the same thing - google "cheap houses, wholesale houses, sell my house fast", etc etc, and just hit up a few wholesalers and ask them what attorney they use. 

As mentioned, call your local title rep (or 2, 3, etc) explain double closings, double escrow, assignments of contract (PS, these things are different from each other, be aware of that) and see if they vibe and have done those transactions.

Ken Martinez this is easily one of, possibly the, best post I've seen anybody make on BP in the time I've been on here. Finish the list, it got cut off. As a younger guy still only a couple years down the path, I appreciate what you're saying, it definitely hits home.

Home Depot, Barclays (from financing a Mac, just stepped into it), Discover, a credit line at WF & that's about it. Having a couple accounts can come in handy, & I'm a fan of having at least 2 main accounts: an account that you can draw cash out of at a cheaper rate (vs a cash advance from a CC) like a bank credit line, & having a solid cash-back/miles card that you can put your expenses on. Pay it off in full each month, take the benefits/miles and keep it conservative as far as opening excess new lines

I know someone who actually owns one of these - two duplexes on one lot that are zoned as 2 SFR's. As you can imagine, it cash flows very well from that lower tax bill. The point about a fire etc wiping the place out is an interesting one because of it was paid via insurance to be rebuilt they would absolutely build it as a duplex, & if you bought based on a 4 unit income and still have to foot that bill, that is a laaaarge problem

And to top off all the other comments: if nothing else at all, you'll build your equity quicker! Silver lining.