All Forum Posts by: Christopher B.

Be wary of peoples motives on this site and why they are giving you the advice/opinions that they are. If they charge obscene amounts of money for their "program" then you should be quite hesitant of their take because they have something to gain by convincing you to agree with them. It's ok to pay a reasonable amount of money (not $50,000 or $100,000) for education to help flatten the learning curve but be careful, there are snake oil salesmen roaming these halls.

Be wary of anyone out there who want to charge $100,000+ for their "program"

If you scan it daily you will find a deal at some point. I was deal hungry a couple years ago, scanned CL 3x a day. After a few days you know what's old and what is new so it takes 5mins to do or 15mins a day. About 2 months in a house with 2 extra lots hit and I locked it up within the hour. I made $100k+ on the rehab and new build that came from that. 

I know a builder that was scanning CL looking for some lots to spec build on. In the description of a listing it said "we'll tear down the old cabin for an extra fee." Long story short, the "old cabin" was built in the 80's in one of the best school districts and most desirable areas in town. He remodeled that cabin and made $125k. The guy was struggling at the time financially, it changed his life. 

Deals can be found there from my experience. 

I've been to Jackson once, just a few weeks ago actually. It's between Nashville and Memphis, I'd say that is about the only reason it is a city. I live in Knoxville, grew-up in the area so that answers my take on that city. Chattanooga has a good scene and has consistently been named one of the best outdoor oriented cities to live in the South. Nashville is poppin and one of the fastest growing major metro's in the country, it is a pretty cool city and if you want the "big city" amenities then I'd look further into it. It is probably 1.5x's more expensive than the other cities you mention though. There are also nice suburbs of these cities, Murfreesboro, Maryville/Alcoa, Lenoir City, Sevierville, Clarksville, Cleveland, etc. All in all, I don't think you have a bad choice, I meet a lot of people from Cali and they love it here in TN. Welcome. 

Tyler is spot on. An engineer signing off on the repairs is a great thing because reality is they are taking on the liability of the repairs providing their stamp thus tend to over engineer things for a measure of safety. I don't want to downplay the value of an engineer, I use them regularly.

In short, yes. If everything else checks out don't be too concerned about the foundation if it is a simple fix. Tyler was right the first time, I gave bad advice saying you should go directly to the contractor. What is $500 for the engineer to provide a report of what needs done and get a reference to his preferred foundation contractor? Cheap really in the grand scheme. Using the engineer the foundation company will do it exactly how he/she has spec'd it and since the engineer is signing off on the repairs he/she will only refer a company who's work they have seen and trusts, cause they are carrying the liability on the repairs.  

The foundation repairs are a good negotiating card for you and with an engineer letter stating what needs to be done exactly done and a quote from the engineers trusted contractor, what argument can the seller make? 

Engineers charge differently. So just to clarify, they may charge to come out and then send another bill to get the stamped paperwork. My total last foundation repair I spec'd was $750 I believe. Good luck.  

Find a reputable foundation contractor in the area to give it a look. Engineers are great but they will charge $400 and hand you off to the foundation contractor that will do the work. 

The stucco is cracked on both sides so there has likely been some movement. How bad... can't see enough to tell. They have laser measures that can tell how much a house has dropped, if any. The downspout to the left there has no extension and may be the culprit. Proper slope away from a house and gutter extensions can solve about 90% of foundation issues caused by water is what I have learned from my foundation guys. If it needs piers, around here helical piers run about $1500-2500/each, just for a point of reference. 

With REIT's and Uhaul aggressively expanding into secondary and even into tertiary markets what do you see for the future of this biz? The level of competiton in the industry is unprecedented, even my 79yr old grandmother has noticed the massive influx of SS facilities.

Case in point. I recently looked at a facility but passed due to a local chain opening a new facility down the road. A month later Uhaul announced they were dropping a 100,000sf CC facility next door to the facility I analyzed effectively saturating the market. This was a town of 26k people. 

The scalable operations side of the business are attractive but it seems the business is becoming saturated due to low barriers of entry and consolidation by the big guys. 

There is a big difference in knowing how it is done VS how to do it. 1st rule of construction: it always looks easy when the tools are in the hands of people that know how to use them. 

One can make more money knowing how it is done than you will doing it. Just something to consider. 

This is the correct answer. 

No offense to others but if they are not providing the same advice as Eric here then you should ignore them. In an expenisve market? Figure it out. Housing is the biggest line item in our annual expenses, utilize the power of real estate to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, this expense. Doing so will be life altering and a BIG boost in helping you get more financially fit. 

The additional benefits you get?

- landlord experience (seasoning helps with future banks loans)

- loan amortization (paid by the tenants, hmmm, isn't it better when others pay your debt for you?)

- increased savings rate (capital for new investments)

- cashflow? (Who doesn't like to make money?)

- etc.

Ask me how I know..  

Tallent Title

Paramount Land Title (they wont do assignments but can handle double closings and are very efficient)

Admiral Title