All Forum Posts by: Ben Skove

@Shaun Reilly I just noticed that about the REIA 2% program - I was really surprised to get a $25 GC when I'd only had a handful of purchases that quarter.

I'm going to hijack the thread just a little. The property I'm looking at tomorrow has, according to the agent, the electrical service for a billboard which is located off the property. The owner, now deceased, was getting "a hundred or so dollars" in rent a year for the use of the property. While I'm going to find out if there's a contract, etc, I'm curious as to whether anyone's run into anything like this?

Obviously, the value is going to vary from market to market, but I'm curious if it's something that might be more valuable if renegotiated.

That's surprising about inspectors dinging the 2-prong outlets. That's pretty much what you expect when you're looking at a house of that age that hasn't had a complete re-wire.

George is right - either GFCI or 2-prong. Or you can fish a ground - is it one story or two?

Ah, glitter. The lice of the craft world.

I just finished doing PEX in the SFR rental rehab I'm doing. First time playing with it, and it was no sweat (literally). I wasn't nearly as fast as Rob K, though.

The materials are awfully cheap, plus it's much easier than copper or CPVC in a rehab, given that you can snake and pull it through tight spaces.

I've only had old houses thus far, and I second what everyone else is saying: make sure to factor the expense of making it safe into your bid. There's also a difference between being old and being broken: plaster walls, for instance, are great unless you need to tear 'em down.

You'll also want to become familiar with the lead paint RRP rules - this can really bite you, especially if you're doing the work yourself.

Welcome to BP, Khadijah. Sounds like you're getting off to a great start!

Reposting from another thread:

This is HUD's contigency plan for this shutdown:

portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=HUDContingencyPlan2013.pdf

From a National Council of State Housing Agencies press release,

During the briefing, HUD officials confirmed that Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments (HAP), contract renewals, and administrative fees for October 2013 will be paid on time, due to advanced appropriations allocated for this purpose.

Given that there is no mention of November, unless specific (and unlikely) legislation is passed a la carte (in the same way that provisions were made for paying military personnel), all bets are off for November voucher payments if the shutdown continues long enough.

This was a new one for me, too (even having lived with wells for many years in the past.) Here's what I found:

http://inspectapedia.com/water/Jetted_Wells.htm

"Wash well" seems to be a local, New Hampshire phrase for it!

I can't speak for prior years, but this is HUD's contigency plan for this shutdown:

portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=HUDContingencyPlan2013.pdf

From a National Council of State Housing Agencies press release,

During the briefing, HUD officials confirmed that Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments (HAP), contract renewals, and administrative fees for October 2013 will be paid on time, due to advanced appropriations allocated for this purpose.

This clearly doesn't answer your question about future months, though. According to this article, during the 95-96 shutdown, "Local HUD officials reported that their agency had enough remaining funds to pay Section 8 rent vouchers through the end of December, but there was some question about the status of the January payments." Given that there were two shutdowns, the first partial shutdown occurring in mid-November, and the second at the end of December, it isn't clear if the remarks were made after the first - in other words, they had enough for the following month.

It seems to follow from that experience, as well as from what HUD is saying now - don't count more than one month ahead.