All Forum Posts by: Ben Skove

Welcome, Chris. If you're interested, Cincinnati REIA's Vendor Night is Thursday, May 16 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Fairfield Receptions. No membership necessary...it looks to be a good chance to rub elbows and meet people.

If it's a pre-1978 house, you'll want to consider testing the paint for lead before sanding it.

Plumbing, by far.

On the other hand, quarterly inspections, along with a written maintenance plan to keep my disorganized self in order, have kept all calls to a minimum.

Geez, I see the same thing now. Failing roofs and hanging gutters.

Some houses have romantic names like "Whispering Pines" or "Cedar Ridge". The last one I looked at is probably named "Deferred Maintenance."

Best of luck, Terry - I wish you well. I hope you keep us updated as you work on this.

Terry, what's the long-term plan for your business? Old REIs already have preferred contractors. New ones who use your service will find a contractor they like and use them directly thereafter. Having them performance bonded is useful, but I suspect that once the customer is comfortable with the contractor, they'll cut the middleman out.

You'll need to factor in needing a lot of marketing to bring in new customers to replace the old, if that's the case, and have a large enough market to support the churn.

Shelby Reed - be aware that the sequester has affected S8, with the possibility that voucher amounts may be reduced for current holders. Each housing authority is making their own decisions, so be aware of what's going on in your area.

I second this. My best tenant is low-income with a trashed credit history. On the other hand, she's had the same job for seven years, she hasn't had any recent credit problems, and no evictions.

Pet damage is no fun. My last rehab was one in which the dogs were kept inside the majority of the time.

I'm overly aggressive when dealing with it - washing, soaking with an enzymatic cleaner, then priming as needed. Zinnser is good, and I've also had good results with the oil-based Kilz.

Max is right about Bac-A-Zap...I did use it way back when I ran EMS. One tip from EMS when you're dealing with odors that nearly drive you out of the house, and you don't want to use a respirator: a dab of vicks vapor rub under your dust mask.

Tim G. The price point was something that I heard from a lender at a seminar; he also pointed out that using a 203K can push the loan amount up to where a conventional lender will consider it.