All Forum Posts by: Robert Leonard

I'll add to what Brandon said, that you need to be sure to get title insurance (whether you need lenders title insurance or owner's title insurance, will be determined by how you set up your "partnership").  You also need to be named as "additional insured" on any/all insurance on the property if you are the lender.

Now a few words from "The Devil's Advocate":  

- Real estate is not a liquid asset.  It takes time to sell or refinance (when you can refinance). Do you have big plans for what you will do with that money and or the proceeds in less than a year?

- Refinancing to get your money back is only an option if you qualify for financing.

- If you qualify for financing, why would you sink all of that cash in the deal instead of using leverage?

- All partnerships start in agreement.  Be prepared for the 4 BIG D's - Death, Divorce, Disability & Disagreement - what happens if either of those commonly occurring life events happens to either or both of you?

- Almost every experienced investor I know has experienced a "Flip" that ended up taking over a year.  That's never "supposed" to happen, but it's one of the things that can go wrong.

Look up Steve Doucet with Carrier Construction.  It was about 2 years ago when he did a septic install for me in Carencro and he did an outstanding job at a very competitive price.

Hello @Shawn Adair, welcome to BP!  Updating your profile will help you make connections and get to know other investors here.  Your profile is a good place to say a little about your background and who you are.

Listening to all of the podcasts is a great way to get smarter about investing, I've done that too. There are a whole lot of active investors you can connect with if you join the Baton Rouge REIA/The RING that you can find on meetup dot com. It's free to join, but you "pay as you go" for meetings. I am a member there, but I don't have an form of paid affiliate relationship with the group. I highly recommend joining to make connections and do business with local investors.

Welcome to BP @Patrick Occhipinti and welcome to Lafayette!  Hope to see you around.

I think the smart money is in getting smart on the flood insurance program (FIP).  Do you know what "flood zone X" is?  What is a special flood hazard area?  What is an elevation certificate and what are they used for?  

Are you aware the whole flood insurance program is set to expire at the end of September 2017?  It will be reauthorized by Congress, but the program is woefully underfunded.  I think the timing of this event will have a huge impact on the likely reforms that come with the next version of the FIP.  The nations sentiments will be sympathetic to those in the flood planes due to the current broad impact of such a large population center.

https://www.gao.gov/highrisk/national_flood_insurance/why_did_study

As far as what to expect in the market, that is largely determined by market conditions.  The economy and market in New Orleans in 2005 was very different from Baton Rouge in August 2016.  And Houston in August 2017 is very different from both of those.  You can learn a lot from history, but real estate is very local.

The correct answer is a matter of the law.  Seek legal counsel or the right answer.

There is no quick fix for dealing with a flooded house.  Open it up and run fans and dehumidifiers for about 8-12 weeks and you will start to get to the moisture content levels that allow you to start replacing insulation and closing walls.  Some forms of sheathing create additional extensive repair costs/time because that sheathing may have to be replaced too.  Can you believe there is such a thing as gypsum sheathing!  The same stuff that we know as sheetrock used as sheathing on the outside of the framing!  It exists!

The tenants will get FEMA assistance and relief. As a non-owner occupant, if you don't have a flood insurance policy, you will only be offered SBA loans (based on eligibility/qualifying) unless some other special type of relief is created that is not part of the usual programmed relief.

Hey @Casey Faul, @Robert Hudson nailed it.  You have to measure the house.  Even if the seller told you a number, you always want to measure for yourself to verify the square footage.  If you don't do it yourself, have somebody do it as one of your first steps in your due diligence during your inspection period.

Our parish (same as counties elsewhere) do not have the level of detail that shows square footage or even number of BR/BA of properties in any of their records.

Is the property in flood zone X?

Hey @Shannon Cannon, locally, I would call Kyle Carmouche at the agency that has his name in it, or @Amy Verges at their family owned agency for quotes.

You can also get a quote from NREIG.com pretty quickly and easily at their website or 800 number.

I know these people and company and I have no affiliate relationships with them.

Thanks @Dave Foster!  That's the clear answer I was looking for.  It will take two transactions to keep it clean.  Thank you!