All Forum Posts by: Russell W.

Love this and will add too that its WAY easier than Menards' paper version, and generally you receive the rebate quicker too. 

Yes grinding will be your best option. Rent an angle grinder with a diamond blade if you don't have one, and start taking down the high spot. Use a 3 or 4 foot level to lay across the top. Once it doesn't wobble on the hump anymore you'll be good. 

I would be less concerned about the staggered cracking in the block wall foundation and far more concerned about the piers. In the third picture (prior to the "fixes") are those concrete block piers bearing on top of the mounded soil, or do they continue down to a concrete footing below and the soil is simply mounded around the piers? If down to a footing below then I think the fix was likely unnecessary. If, however, the piers are bearing on the mounded soil then I would seriously question the ability to withstand loads even with the fixes. The zone of influence under the pier should extend out at a 2:1 ratio. Over time the wood is going to expand and contract with changing temperature / moisture levels and eventually will begin to bow outward and fail. Like Heath said, not a deal breaker but something that needs to be corrected

Unless you plan to dig down to the bottom there will be know way of knowing what they did. The seller knows this too and probably won't give you an honest answer as to how it was filled unless they can provide an invoice from an excavator detailing the work performed. As Greg mentioned, it will cause drainage issues in that immediate area if the pool bottom wasn't removed (in the deepest area at a minimum). It would be ok to fill the pool with dirt only if it was properly compacted as it was filled. Otherwise the yard in that area will slowly start to settle with rain and over time. You might soon have a pond in your backyard. Hard to say what kind of discount you could ask for.

Since I assume you are working directly with the seller on the terms of the agreement, your offer should be based on a seller financed deal with either a defined "balloon period" or language that simply allows for early payoff (undefined timeline). Typical balloon periods are 5 - 7 years. The seller may not be as interested in the deal if he knows he is only getting 2 years of interest. After two years the interest paid is approx. $11k (according to a amortization table I used). Compare that to interest earned after 5 years or 7 years at $26k and $35k respectively. The seller may decide to raise his price if he knows you plan to refinance after only 2 years.

Hey Nate, welcome to the BP community and congrats to you for making the commitment to getting into real estate investing. There is no better way to jump right in than a house hack, in my opinion, so you're on the right track.

1. I was in your position a few short years ago. I purchased my first house hack, a 4-flat in Irving Park, and have since purchased a second 4-flat; currently seeking a 3rd larger investment. That first deal can provide a launch pad for rapid growth.

2. I'd recommend Landlording on Autopilot by Mike Butler. It's a bit dated from a technology standpoint, and kind of cheesy the way it's written, but it provides very simple methods for tenant management. If you haven't reached them already, give a listen to BP episodes 78 and 132 with Brie Schmidt. Not only does she provide a ton of useful info on house hacking, but she's based in Chicago so it's that much more relatable. 

3. Like others have said, you need to reconsider the price point. $500k in those neighborhoods will barely get you a decent 2-flat. Not saying it's impossible. Like Joseph said, try to get into a 3 or 4 unit property if you can. You'll learn so much more managing more than one tenant, and cash flow trends in a better direction (although don't be surprised if you're still in the red).

Feel free to PM me with any specific questions or if you'd like to connect further.

My first deal was a house hack in Irving Park, it's a fantastic neighborhood and like Henry said- it is rapidly appreciating. Similar to your opportunity mine did not cash flow while I lived there, but I was OK with that. During that time I managed to ramp up my savings towards my next purchase given I was no longer paying rent and my tenants covered my expenses. It's hard to answer what minimal ROI you should seek, as that is an individual preference. But assuming you don't plan to live there forever I would recommend running the numbers to see how it performs for when you move out. Keep in mind, as values in the area increase so too do property taxes. Make sure you account for that in your analysis. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat further.

Is this a basement slab or at ground level? Cracks in slabs are normal, but a crack of this size indicates ground heave (as opposed to vertical cracks in a wall indicating settlement). If this is at ground level, and depending on what your winters are like in Texas, I would suspect this is the result of annual freeze/thaw cycles, in which case there may be no getting away from the problem without serious renovation work. If, however, this is in the basement below frost line, it could be the result of poor backfill of stone base when the slab was first poured. @David Lee Hall, III described the perfect remediation in his first reply to take down the high points and follow with a crack chaser. I would recommend not using backer rod and instead filling solid with a high strength non-shrink grout. Either the slab is still moving or it's not, and if it is still moving no matter what you put in there it's going to crack/pull away, even with the rebar "stitching" method.

If the tenant is willing to stay for awhile longer MTM, it may be worth it as Winter can be difficult to find a tenant. Better to have someone paying rent (even if slightly below market) than an empty unit waiting 'til Spring.

Sounds like a drafting issue, and that appears to be the one solution that has not been tried yet. Do you have sufficient upward pitch on all of the flue pipes from each individual piece of equipment? Do they all share a common, larger flue pipe that takes the gas to a chimney/dedicated flue pipe, and were any of these pieces of equipment added recently without increasing the volume capacity of the shared flue (assuming a scenario when they are all firing)? Just spit-balling some thoughts