All Forum Posts by: Nathaniel Walker

Good luck to you. I use to own and rent out a condo in downtown Providence until last year. I loved Rhode Island.

I absolutely love, love, love the waterfront and would do it without question again.  It is beautiful and relaxing. I look over the Maumee river in Ohio at its widest point.  I am in a C+ area so it is not the best but because of the waterfront I get much better than average rent.  I inherited two boat docks with the house but they are in disrepair and covered with vines.  That will be my next project. For the contractors I typically look for a set price less materials. I pay for the bulk of materials directly to get a discount and have it delivered to the site. I used Home Depot's Pro Xtra Account and have them send the order to what they call the bid room which typically will get you a 10 - 20% discount if it is over $1,500.  There deliver is either free or flat $79.  Since I buy materials I usually do not do anything upfront. If I have to reserve their schedule I will do 5 - 10% depending on the total labor cost. I then pay installments for milestones with final payment due at 24 hours after completion. Most want to be paid immediately when they are done but you really need a day to absorb the work and see the details. Normally when they finish you want them out of your house and in the rush you may miss something.

Time to make lemonade from lemons. If this is your first property yo should be using your losses and other investor related expenses to decrease your tax bill back to profitability in the short term.

Hello. You start reaching out immediately but be honest with where you are in the process.  It is going to be helpful to you to learn your market.

The designer always loses in those type of arrangements when things go sour unless it is very well managed from day one. The moment you take your eyes off the ball you and your reputation are at risk.

Unfortunately the odds are stacked against you and he will screw you unless me provides you with collateral on your loan with an asset of equal or more value than what you are providing. An example would be interest in the property in excess of the loan.

Hello. I lived in Detroit for 15 years and owned close to that area.  Those homes appear to offer significant value but only if you are local, have good contractors and are willing to assume the risk of riding out the areas in hope they recover as other investors join in. I am in Toledo know which is 45 minutes away and I would not do it. The rules of flipping have changed in this new era. In the past you could buy cheap and renovate.  Now due to labor and material costs and other challenges I recommend spending more and finding a property already rehabbed in a C+ or better area in Detroit. 

I use homewyse.com.

Congratulations and good luck. I have a riverfront duplex in Toledo that I have renovated. The biggest issues were finding reliable contractors even when they were referred from good friends and through my church. Even large national companies can be problematic. If you are committed it will get done. The question will be how stressful will it be. To avoid stress my lessons learned were get all of the specifics in writing even minor items and changes. My experiences are that 9 out of 10 contractors will be problematic if not managed correctly from the very beginning. I recommend establishing your criteria for contractors and sticking with it and getting a disinterested but knowledgeable advisor as a sounding board.

I recommend you visit. The flights from DFW roundtrip if you plan a little in advance is under $100.