All Forum Posts by: Owee Nicolas

Hi Everyone. Based on the number of posts on this thread, looks like my chances our low. But I'll still give it a shot :)

Looking for 1-2 tickets. You can reach out to me at 412-708-5810. Thanks!

I'm doing a rehab on a duplex in Milwaukee, WI. Majority of the work is done. However, the cabinets have been delayed for months. My contractor said the supplier (JSI) hasn't provided a date when they can deliver the cabinets. The reason is due to supply chain issues and that they were upgrading their system. Are you guys also running to similar supply chain issues in your area? If so, any advice on how to handle it? Do I reached out to the supplier directly or do I start looking for other suppliers? My contractor said it will be the same situation for other suppliers. I'm planning to do a refinance after the rehab so I need to work done ASAP. Appreciate the any help guys! Thanks!

Hello,

I'm currently doing a rehab remotely for a multifamily property in Milwaukee. Contractor and I agreed to make the draws based on milestones completed (25%, 60%, 75%, 90%, 100%). We also using a Title Company as escrow. From the start, I have a good working relationship with the contractor. He provides me regular updates on what's happening (calls and photos) and the challenges they were seeing. He's also very responsive to my inquiries.

Last week contractor said they've reached the 25% milestone and requested for a draw. The Title Company sent an inspector to look at the property. Title Company called me and said that they're holding off the payment since there was not enough work completed to meet the 25% milestone.

I called the contractor. He told me that said he's frustrated with the title company since their inspector only spent a few minutes on the property, took some pictures and didn't even try to understand the full scope of the work that was done. He said that there's a lot of work that was already done (i.e. demo on the drywall, finding leaking pipes, etc) but because they're not yet finished, the inspector might think it's just simple demo. He was going to set-up a call tomorrow to walkthrough me through what was completed.

My question is how do quantify the work completed based on milestone? Initially I thought of using scope of work as basis but I also know not all the line items on the SOW are equal. Some may take longer than others. So is it based on what was completed or the effort they spent? Any recommendations/best practices to track the work so we can avoid this confusion moving forward.

Appreciate any help you guys can provide.

Thanks,

Owee

8-12% commission for Property Manager is pretty typical. I give 10% commission to all my Property Managers. With regards to your concern if the Property Manager will do the work for you at that rate, you need to make sure to look for a good Property Manager since they are not all created equal. Get referrals from your realtor, check the credentials of the Property Manager, check the properties they managed, etc. Basically do your due diligence. This will save you the headache later on. Good luck!  

Educate yourself first. Read books and listen to all the BP Podcasts. Once you get through this first step, your following steps will be clearer. Good luck! 

Thanks for sharing @Michelle S. It's so scary how sophisticated they are in disguising themselves as legit and secure emails.  

Thanks for the tip @James Ma! I've transferred my transactions to my other laptop where I have the latest anti-virus software. 

Thanks @Peter Walther! I'm reporting this to IC3 today. I hope they catch these scammers. I can only imagine the financial and emotional damage they're causing to investors and families everywhere.

Thanks @Scott Wolf. I agree. That's my biggest takeaway from this experience. You need to be vigilant and confirm with all parties. I'm more at risk because I'm investing out of state but there are steps that can be done to prevent this from happening. 

I'm about to close on my first out-of-state rental property investment when I received an email from the Title Insurance Agent that I need wire the closing funds to avoid delay. The email had my property details and realtor copied so I didn't think anything out of the ordinary. I also did a quick google search on the Title Insurance Agent and he checked out correctly. So I wire transferred the funds. Since it was after 5PM Eastern, I figured it will it be transferred the next business day. The next morning, a person from the customer protection group of my bank called me to confirm if I made the wire transfer. I thought it was just part of their regular check since it was a large sum of money. I told her that the amount was for closing costs of a real estate investment and that I also did research on the Title Insurance Agent. But when she told me that she had concerns on the name of account that I'm transferring the money to (i.e. the person is not an attorney or involved in real estate, etc), that's when I got suspicious. I told them to put the transaction on-hold while I verify. I checked with my realtor about the email and he confirmed that they were all fake emails including his. I immediately called my bank to cancel the transaction. In the end, I was able to save my money. I was very lucky that my bank did their verification.

I'm sharing my experience to warn others about these scammers. They are very good. They had my property, realtor and even title insurance agent information. They even knew that I was about to close on my property. I honestly don't know how they get this information. Here's a good article I found that tells you how you can protect yourself from these scams: https://www.consumerfinance.go...

Stay vigilant. Feel free to share any additional tips you may have. 

Thanka @David M. This is helpful!

I've recently started by journey to financial freedom thru Real Estate Investing. I used to use Zillow for checking for properties. But switch to Realtor.com when I saw that Brandon used it on his webinars. Recently, I had friends who also recommended Redfin. What site do you guys use? Does it even matter? Thanks in advance!