All Forum Posts by: Andy Luick

Totally awesome - you've already outpaced 50% of the folks here.....most analyze, analyze, analyze and never do a deal....same with the investor groups.  Congrats!

What does the lease say?  Hopefully you have a written lease....you don't have to....but a lease will govern most of what happens now.  Is the roommate on the same lease or separate...like we do in shared housing?  Are they paying you separately?  Some people...just like some on BP - are plain nuts or need to be on medication.  You can always just offer to let her out the lease.  With the dog poop...put it in a bag and tie it to the side of her car...she'll get the message...but only after you ask her to kindly clean up after her pet.  Let her know that rent is due on a certain date and you'd prefer not to file an eviction as that will hit her credit.  That usually gets their attention.  Let her know what she owes you in late fees...

We get some disagreements with our shared housing renters...and, usually, I can straighten it out by buying a pizza or two and have an eat-in with them.  It's worked in every case so far.  Luck!

That's a good amount of water.  My guess is that's it's either vent boots on the roof....check the furnace and water heater exhaust vents if you have gas units.  If they weren't renailed properly and sealed after the new roof....melting snow could be the source....it will melt against the exhaust pipe and run underneath.  It's best to nail these with serrated roofing nails with a rubber grommet at the top to seal them.  We then seal all edges of the boot and the tops of the nails with Thru-the-Roof sealant....best long term fix I know of.  This product is ususally available at Ace Hardware and the big boxes usually don't carry it.  DAP also makes a clear elastromeric sealant that is available at the big boxes which can be used  in a pinch.....we just prefer the other.

Don't let roofers use plastic boots....you have to check them on this....use the aluminum based boots for a longer solution and run a bead of sealant around the upper edge of the rubber grommet that seals against the vent pipe.  These boots are used to seal vent pipes for plumbing stacks.

Check your bathtubs and showers.  Most folks forget to seal around the flange rings at the tub/shower valves, divertors and spouts.  You can use a clear siicone for this.  Someone in the shower with the right stomach or body shape will shed water right into the gap around the rings....and it will send a good amount of water into the wall cavity..where gravity takes it where it will.  We had an odd leak sometime back that was exactly this problem.  Short, chubby guy took long hot showers and caused a leak into our basement unit.  It's a property we've had for about a decade and for some reason, we had never caulked the rings....all caulked now and no more leak.

In more modern baths, check the joint at the tub/shower and tile.  Most contractors grout these area and they split open pretty quickly....we prefer a color matched sanded caulk in these areas and it holds up much better.  Just look for the "black" in the grount...will indicate a split, gap or hole.

As the others have written, jetting is great for clearing grease and crud clogs...won't do much to roots.  The new "threat" with renters is baby wipes.  We are now putting a clause in the lease making the renters liable for clogs caused by them.  We recently had a renter burn out an ejector pump beause he only wiped his butt with baby wipes and flushed them down the toilet.....ignoring our notice not to.  We got 2 bids from plumbers to correct...they were in the $3k to $4k range.  We tackled it ourselves and replaced the pump for about $500.  The ejector tank was full of unbroken down baby wipes....nasty stuff that doesn't decompose at all.  Throat to the toilet was clogged with them as well.

We will bring our jetter in on some slow drains where we've already check the traps.  Find a good local guy to do this and avoid the major chains and the 4x markup.  We routinely clean most of our traps once a year to clear them of toothpaste, soap, hair and gunk.  It's a hassle but it helps with costs.  We also require our renters to use septic friendly toilet paper in all of our houses to again minimize repairs....

Adair Park, Capital View, Oakland City and the Westend....all have alluring homes...cute arts & crafts bungalows...the beltline.....but until something is done about the crime in those area....it will fizzle out again.  I spent a decade living down there.....and I totally love the houses in the area.  Just very hard to make it work there.  Eventually it's time will come.  You would think Pittsburgh would be the spot as well....location is great....but it isn't for the same reasons....crime.  Until it's cleaned up, you've got ZERO except a good chance of catching a bullet.  I've been involved in 100s of deals and properties in these areas over the past 20 years.

Vine City is starting to get a ton of money behind it...but I think a bunch will go down the drain as well.  Beyond the new stadium and whatever becomes of the GA Dome, you have an area with entrenched crime, drugs and general nastiness.  Again, if your timing is right....you and your investors will make money.  It will be interesting to see how it shapes up.  Luck!

Ask the seller to have it cut down.  From the pic, it's a huge tree.  I'm surprised you don't have issues with the foundation.  It appears to already be leaning towards the house.  If the seller refused, I'd pass on this one.  There are plenty of other deals in your area....luck!

Depends on how long he has been a tenant with you and the history.  Most times when you help a tenant, you should expect to get kicked in the shins.  It's hard when you have a good heart but remember, it's business.  You don't want you renter thinking of you as their bank...and many of them will.  However, if you spell it out in an addendum but also add a clause that if they fall behind again then the waive their right to an eviction and will immediately vacate & hand you the keys upon demand.  No - it's not enforceable but they will usually agree to it.  At that point, you tell them you don't want to file and eviction as it will go on their credit and keep them from renting another place.

We did about 12 workouts in 2015 and the majority of them did stay up with their payments and continue as renters with us.  One, in a very high-end shared home, lied to us every time we saw her.  We ended up evicting her and getting a judgment against her. This is all shared housing though so we tend to have a more personal relationship with our renters.  When we did all single family rentals, our success rate on workouts was very poor.  You have to be a cynic but it's smarter if you are in single fam rentals.  It also pays in those situations to just pass yourself off as management and not the owner....you tend to find out the real deal when you work for the man...as opposed to when you are the man.  Plus, you can always say you have to answer to someone.  Let us know how it works out for you.

Nashville is a great little market and fast becoming the east coast silicon valley.  It's a great market for our shared housing program so we're headed there this year.  Plus, it's just a great place to live!

@Alex Franks- I guess it might depend on where you are in the country.  We've never tackled anything as large as your projects though likely will at some point later in the year.  We're looking at some smaller apartment complexes.  Even with family at Lowes, you still had problems.  I've never had major problems with Lowes ever...little stuff here and there. But most of what we would use them for is always in stock....you were ordering cabinets from them and I would think a bunch of that is coming in from overseas....therein lies the problem!

Crossing my fingers for you in 2016...I think it will prove to be a great year....2017 will likely be a different story.

@Account Closedand others have written elsewhere...you can find the deals but you have to get away from the computer and the mailouts and hit the STREETS...talk to people and let them know what you are about.  Some of our best off market deals have come from just walking around and talking to people.  Be friendly.  I'm usually in a fully decked out handyandy truck so readily identifiable...you might consider the same....but at least get a decent business card with a nice logo to pass out.  We rely too heavily on technology and lithmus tests when in reality, the best deals are made face to face with people who like another at some level.  It's all about networking...I kick out decent deals every month to others in my circle....i come across way too many that either don't meet my parameters or are not in areas of interest.  By networking, you will find the same.  

Treat your agent well and be someone who ALWAYS closes and you will be first on the list.  Treat your contractors and subs fairly and give them a kicker if they send you ad deal....let them know up front that you will.  One of our electricians sent us a deal once with another investor who was tanking AND getting divorced.  EVERYONE out here is on the computer trying to do same as you....find that great deal.  In most markets, including mine, there are 1,000s of people who want to be investors....and guess how many deals they do?  ZERO to the ONE that killed them.  BP is a great place to get yourself an edge but you can't follow the herd....the view sucks and you might end up running straight off a cliff if and when you get that first deal.  Think and be prepared to do OUTSIDE the box...be a maverick and either get a great lesson a great return or both.  Most of our properties are getting double and triple the net rents of properties in my market.  We've had some dogs too but fortunately those days are mostly behind us.  Great stuff...thanks for sharing.