All Forum Posts by: Paul Ewing

My biggest issue is that the forums are extremely resource intensive. Actually the whole site is pretty heavy and having more than one or two pages open at once really drags my laptop down.  It is a pretty decent machine with 8GB RAM and a 500GB solid state drive.  It is not uncommon to check and each browser process for BP pages is gobbling 300-500MB of memory and 10-50% of the CPU.  I am not sure if it poor site design of having too much going on in each page with lots of dynamic ads or just poorly designed ads themselves but it has gotten more cumbersome in the last couple years.

I think the key is which do you have more of time or money?

I usually do it myself for the types of properties I am buying.  I have built a home from the ground up and done repairs and upgrades on them for 30 years so I know a lot about what might be needed.  If I have a question on something like HVAC or roof I will bring in one of my specialists or just estimate in a replacement and if it ends up not needing it then I have a nice little bonus.  I wouldn't recommend this approach on your first couple houses, but follow the home inspector to learn the skill because it is valuable. 

That said, if you are using conventional lending, most likely they will require a licensed home inspection no matter what.

That is some very cheap land. At those low rates I don't think you will find anyone willing to give a mortgage type loan. I would go to some local banks and ask for a personal loan. They might give a better rate if you offered the land as security or they might not want to bother. Also places like Prosper, Discover Personal Loans, Lending Club, etc have fair rates for little loans.

I specialize in rural and semi-rural areas and have had good luck in them. Mostly mobile homes on an acre or two lot.  I wouldn't really recommend that to a remote person since local knowledge of the area plus very good tenant management is key. Good solid long term tenants are what I aim for and people looking for larger lots seem to fit that bill well. If they talk about putting in a garden and chickens during the interview that is a big plus.

Many investors are agents because they can save on commissions, get better access to properties, etc.  If the price is right I wouldn't worry.

At first I tried to maintain a $5k reserve for each property.  Now that I have more properties I am maintaining one reserves fund that does not anywhere near equal the total of that.   One reason is they are fairly high cash flow properties so if I need to do repairs or have a vacancy the cash flows from other properties will cover it.

Welcome to BP.  Personally most of that is stuff I would do myself.  That really is the advantage of a live in flip. 

This is a major issue with older (1960 and before) houses.  They just were not set up with wiring to support the massive loads of electrical things that are now considered must haves.  Back then a 60A service was plenty for a house.  Now houses are being built with two or three 200A services.  I would have an electrician get you a quote on bringing some of it up to modern standards and a GFCI outlet in the kitchen and bath would be priorities from a liability standpoint. 

Yeah I forgot that. Don't cut your renters grass unless they are paying you to do it!