All Forum Posts by: Ben Skove

I am looking at a house down the street from a current rental I own. The owner of 50 years just passed away, and the closest surviving kin is a nephew. He's looking to move out of state soon and wants the sale of the house to cover an existing, maxed-out $15K HELOC, as well as potential medical/Medicaid expenses from her final days. He's just starting probate, so there are lots of unknown unknowns.

The house is currently worth around $20K. There don't appear to be any significant structural issues - mostly cosmetics and a new kitchen and bath. While I would purchase it as a buy and hold, flip ARV is in the neighborhood of $75K.

While I am able to do all cash, I am intrigued by the possibility of purchasing subject to the existing HELOC. This is theoretical at this point, as I haven't seen the documentation of the loan or other details. I'm able to cover the loan if the DOS is triggered without problems. Assuming that the interest rate on the HELOC is viable, is this any different from a regular subject to deal? What safeguards, if any, can be put in place to prevent the seller from drawing on the HELOC in the future?

Hard to beat a happy, long-term tenant!

Just finished a bathroom with a large wood-framed mirror I got from the Habitat ReStore. Looks lovely, cost all of $15.

Listen to Marcia about the lead rules. Not only do you have to give them the lead flyer, but you have to be RRP certified if you're disturbing more than a small amount of painted area (review her link for the requirements.)

If you need to pull permits, you may also need to get ready to make sure that the kitchen is up to code, plumbing- and electric-wise. This varies by jurisdiction and inspector, but you need to know so you're not having to do more work than you had anticipated.

I've done cabinets and countertop myself before. You may be able to get it done in a weekend if it goes well and you've planned in advance. The thing you have to keep in mind is: what happens if it doesn't?

K. Marie Poe is right - what happens when you demo and find unanticipated problems? What's your back-up plan? This isn't a sarcastic, rhetorical question - have a back-up plan! On an empty unit you're just dealing with carrying costs - with an occupied one, you'll have justifiably irritated tenants.

Good luck!

Jerry, you might want to check out Amazon Prime, since you have such far driving distances. I just had a Toto toilet delivered free to me today, and I suspect for things you don't need immediately you could rack up some savings (gas and otherwise.)

I do HD, Lowes, and Menards, but when I need a specific screw or the like I hit the local Ace. They seem to always have the odds and ends in stock, and they're usually more knowledgeable.

Originally posted by @Annette Hibbler:
They have a nice solid wood countertop that is inexpensive and can be cut to size then simply brush on some oil based clear coat to protect it. Any damages can be sanded out and recoated.

I like the butcher block that Ikea carries, and thought I'd test how well it'd work with tenants. It was a dumb move on my part, thinking I could simply sand and re-oil at turnover. During my last walkthrough, I noticed they'd let enough water stand on it that it swelled and will have to be replaced.

I think it'd look nice on a flip, but be aware that it has potential downsides for long-term.

While I haven't, here are some recent (and older) threads regarding it:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/109847-auctioncom

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/118049-auctioncom

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/81/topics/111552-auctioncom

If you put auction.com into the search box at the top right of the page, you'll pull up more. Hope this helps.

I'm looking at a three family foreclosure that has a billboard on top. Initially I thought it would be an additional revenue source; however, poking around I found that the owner sold a perpetual easement to the billboard company.

The easement is written fairly broadly, and even contains language allowing the addition of antennas and other telecommunication devices.

Two questions came to mind. First, are these companies responsive if there are issues with the billboard that are causing damage or problems to the building? With an easement rather than a lease, it would seem that they'd likely be less responsive as long as the sign wasn't affected.

Secondly, is there any decent leverage to use in asking for a lower price due to the easement? Has anyone had luck backing up a lower offer to the bank with evidence of an easement?

Christian explained hydrostatic pressure well. If there is waterlogged soil outside the foundation with all of that rain, the pressure increases with depth, and it's pushing its way into the basement through the Drylok.

I agree that if it's just wall moisture and that this is an outlying event (i.e., you very very rarely see these 8"+ rain events), you might simply dry things out and recoat.

If it's likely to reoccur, french drains are an alternative. Here are some ideas and pictures for that:

Drain tile system

French drains in a basement