All Forum Posts by: Christopher B.

 You are describing every business friend. I have seen the inside of a lot of businesses over the years; equipment and party rental, paper goods retail, video store, check cash, doctors offices, liquor stores, temporary halloween stores, remodeling businesses, etc. Every single one of them have their pros and cons. Every business, regardless of industry, will fail if not operated properly. What you are describing is not unique to real estate investing. 

Raised by a family of entreprenuers and one myself I appreciate your sentiment. You're not wrong in that the big guys will always toss their weight around. It's just the American way. It's a game though, we just have to figure out how to play it better. I do share your disdain for the corner cutters. In markets like this it makes it harder for those of us not willing to operate that way. It's the right thing to do though and will pay off in the end. 

 What is your deal man? What is the point of your actions? What do you feel you are accomplishing? 

It is apparent that you are convinced that you are more intelligent than everyone around you. Highly unlikely, but what if you are. Does that validate you being a jerk to others because they have a different opinion? Purposely being a tool bag accomplishes nothing and I suspect that is exactly why you have to be on the jobsite often because subs don't like or want to work with you. I can guarantee that subs don't like engineers and you are the walking stereotype of everything they, and everyone else, do not like about engineers. 

Also, 1 masters degree in engineering is completely worthless much less 2, so you need to stop pounding your chest like a child. I get it, you lack social skills. Most engineers do on some level. I know many engineers, see it a lot. Overcompensating by being a pretentious jerk accomplishes nothing though. Maybe one day you will grow up and be an adult. Good luck on that and your investing. 

- Closing statement to bookkeeper

- ensure all receipts have been captured and entered into books

- close project files; for me this is things like deleting/tossing any documents no longer needed, making sure all lien waivers and needed docs are scanned, entering final #'s into KPI sheets, and transferring my digital folder to a storage drive.

If people are getting paid hourly then what is their incentive to work faster? 

Water leaks can be tricky. You mentioned a downspout is on the outside corner, is it dumping water directly on the ground or is it taken away from the house via a gutter extension, under ground drain pipe, etc? If it is dumping onto your foundation then I would start there. 

Cracks can be from natural settlement and no big deal or from foundation issues, which can be minor if found early enough. I'd recommend calling a local foundation company. They can assess the water and the cracks and give you a solution. Once they give you an assessment I would recommend calling a couple other companies. This way you can see if they are pulling your leg on what needs to be done and determine if they are giving you a fair price if it does actually need work.

Water is the no.1 enemy of any building, make sure you find the issue.

Unless you have a unique or expensive property it's honestly as simple as taking professional pictures of a 100% complete and well cleaned house, writing a good description, and listing it on the MLS at an appropriate price. 90%, I am sure there is research to back that number up too, of buyers come from the MLS. The majority of buyers will also peruse the mls, zillow, trulia, redfin, the public mls, etc on their own as well. I've sold many houses where I get a call from an agent and they say "my buyer saw your house on xyz..."

Not to downplay agents. A good agent is worth the commission, a great agent is worth more. 

 This is a similar progression I have made and is a pretty natural progression for the avg. investor imo. There are success stories of people growing faster and when I look back I see where I could have grown faster, but you don't know what you don't know. 

You may work 100hrs per week in the beginning, I did, but it gets better and more efficient with time. As that happens your time commitment will shift away from the sites and to the business side more. You will find more opportunities and delegation will come as an obvious solution to take advantage of them. 

I have personally gone through that cycle and am now at that point where I see delegation on the horizon. I think you are smart in thinking about that early. 

The first house I ever restored had the same issue and I was adamant about keeping that chimney for its aesthetic value. The chimney was essentially ratcheted back to the house and then tied into the rafters. I would talk to an engineer before doing anything like this though. 

Have repaired a few basements and foundations. 

From what I can see theblock looks fine to me. First, see what is going on outside of that wall. Is the downspout carried away from the house? Is the dirt sloped appropriately? Etc. I have made friends with my basement/foundation specialist and have learned that many cases can be resolved with simple fixes. 

Since you are keeping the property you can try these lower cost fixes first. If it's a leak into your foundation you can install a sump pump or excavate around the perimeter of the house and complete repairs, water proof, and install foundation drains. 

There is no simple way. Grind. You have their numbers, call them