All Forum Posts by: Pamela Rickey

I am sorry I haven't been back to respond to your posts. I kept meaning to, but I have been somewhat overwhelmed the past few weeks getting bids, etc. and everything lined up. Plus, attending a couple of three day seminars.

Regardless, it was inexcusable for me to ask the question and then not respond to those of you who made the time to respond. Please accept my apology.

I think all of you gave good advice and seem to be in agreement so I will try to work it out. The floor plan, however, will be complicated to make work because of being a story and a half with sloping ceilings and the small room being in a wing that is not as wide as the rest of the house. Meaning it will be hard to connect it to the room that should be the master. Also, Gary Marcotte made a good point that I will definately take into consideration.

Dylan, I would love to take you up on your kind offer to help. It will take me a little time to get it drawn out to proportion and then I will be in touch. Thank you so much. I will be interested to see what your ideas are. Thank you to all of you who responded.

I am in the process of buying my first house to flip. It has 2,000 sq. ft. and was built in 1921 in a neigborhood that has been gentrified. Mostly Yuppie couples. Most of the houses that have been remodeled sell fairly quickly for $100k-$125. I bought this one at auction for $36k (including fees) and am aiming to sell for about $95k.

Upstairs, the house has one medium sized bedroom and three more smallish bedrooms--all have very limited closet space. There is also 1 large bath.

One of the small bedrooms you can only get to by walking through another small bedroom. I am wondering if I would be better off tearing down a wall to make three bedrooms instead of four. That would enlarge two of the bedrooms. I could then build more closet space and, possibly, add a master bath. 

I did think of just making the fourth bedroom a bonus room, or a closet/dressing room for the master, but that doesn't seem like a good option because it would put the master in the smallest bedroom. 

Any advice? Would  four small bedrooms bring in more money than  three larger bedrooms with nice closets, even if you have to walk through another bedroom to get to the fourth? Would I lose money on what it would cost me to tear down a wall and build closets? And lastly, would it be worth it to build a master bath next to the existing bath? I already have some fixtures I can use.

Just to introduce myself...

I am a military daughter, wife and mother, having seen my father off to multiple wars, my husband off to Desert Storm and, twenty years later, my younger son off to Iraq. After returning from Iraq and graduating from college last spring, Scott was commissioned a Lt. in the Air Force. Now, months of waiting for orders are finally up and Scoff left yesterday for Laughlin A.F. Base to begin his training as a pilot--something he has worked towards since 7th grade. 

My older son and his wife are both successful software engineers--a path David chose in 6th grade. (Isn't it great when both your kids achieve their dreams and you can finally give a sigh of relief and know you must have done something right?)

As for myself, I never really could decide what I wanted to be when I grew up...so I did it all. My careers included accountant, insurance sales, entrepreneur (retail...successful, but took too much time, so sold so I could spend more time raising my boys), software developer, college instructor, college administrator, and instructional designer (curriculum developer).

Over the years, my husband and I rehabbed a few properties for rentals, which we later sold, so now that I am at loose ends again (the college I worked for the last 10 years gained a new administration who decided to lose a few hundred employees), I decided to try my hand at flipping. Saturday, I bought my first property at auction and am excited about bringing an old house back to life and finding someone to love it again (and making money in the process).

So glad I stumbled across Bigger Pockets and looking forward to getting to know you and learning from you.

Pam

Just to introduce myself...

I am a military daughter, wife and mother, having seen my father off to multiple wars, my husband off to Desert Storm and, twenty years later, my younger son off to Iraq. After returning from Iraq and graduating from college last spring, Scott was commissioned a Lt. in the Air Force. Now, months of waiting for orders are finally up and Scoff left yesterday for Laughlin A.F. Base to begin his training as a pilot--something he has worked towards since 7th grade. 

My older son and his wife are both successful software engineers--a path David chose in 6th grade. (Isn't it great when both your kids achieve their dreams and you can finally give a sigh of relief and know you must have done something right?)

As for myself, I never really could decide what I wanted to be when I grew up...so I did it all. My careers included accountant, insurance sales, entrepreneur (retail...successful, but took too much time, so sold so I could spend more time raising my boys), software developer, college instructor, college administrator, and instructional designer (curriculum developer).

Over the years, my husband and I rehabbed a few properties for rentals, which we later sold, so now that I am at loose ends again (the college I worked for the last 10 years gained a new administration who decided to lose a few hundred employees), I decided to try my hand at flipping. Saturday, I bought my first property at auction and am excited about bringing an old house back to life and finding someone to love it again (and making money in the process).

So glad I stumbled across Bigger Pockets and looking forward to getting to know you and learning from you.

Pam

It has been quite awhile since I have been a section 8 landlord. The list of items they would give us were always nit picky and not overly expensive, although they can add up when the list gets too long. For example, replacing a ceiling fixture because it was not designed to have a cover over the light bulbs. Really? Someone is going to burn themself on a light bulb 9 feet up?

You may want to think about whether you really want to be a section 8 landlord. Eventually, we decided not to do it anymore. It was nice to not worry about the rent being late, but, while the HUD rates for one bedrooms were ok, the rates for 2-3 bedrooms were lower than we could get on our own. And all the risks are still your own. We had a section 8 tenant vandalize our house, then walk out on the lease. HUD just continued to pay his rent elsewhere, leaving us holding the bag for repairs and finding a new tenant.

I just finished reading Mark Evan's book on Virtual Real Estate Investing (i.e. wholesaling) and am am puzzled about one thing. Mr. Evan talks about having a homeowner sign an option agreement, preferably for three years. What would the motivation be for a homeowner to sign a three year option? What do they get out of it? Wouldn't they be better off just listing with a realtor?

Also, I am wondering if a real estate license is needed to wholesale. Or, does holding an option on the property negate the need for the license. Does it work differently in different states? I am in Indiana.