All Forum Posts by: Ryan Fox

@David Shaun- Amazing work!  How did you get the insurance so low - it works out to $1,253 per month for all properties.

@Bo Bond- That's great info.  Do you have any projections for what will happen with the insurance market for this year, or is it even possible to project?  It's kind of disconcerting when I can only raise rents by 5% but insurance is increasing by 10% to 15% per year.  Of course I can increase deductibles or otherwise decrease coverage, but that is only putting off the inevitable expensive insurance claim.

@Orlando Johnson- If you were going with 6% real estate agent fees the $12,500 number is incorrect.  It should be $15k.

@Brian Stinson- I go between $2,500 and $5,000, but I'm in a different Midwest market so the pricing in probably different.  Sewer line backup, ordinance & law, and replacement cost coverage are coverages I include.  I would look at it in terms of whether you can afford a worst case scenario where you're covering the deductible and have a credit line or cash to front the re-build cost and getting reimbursed from insurance afterwards.

@Richard Schubert- Yeah, I'm glad I brought the engineer out because 2 foundation contractors looked at it previously.  One quoted $20k to put piers on 3 sides of the home, and another quoted $10k to put piers on one side.  Because of the difference in opinion, I decided to bring out the engineer, and he's actually saying piering isn't necessary at this point.  

Next time I'll start with the engineer.  

@Henry Clark- Yes, your ideas are pretty much exactly what the engineer recommended after he inspected the property.  

House was built in 1953.  Some of the cracks in the walls have been epoxied, but not all.  Engineer didn't note if there were frost free footings.  Below is what the engineer recommended, along with fixing foundation braces that were installed in another part of the foundation.

● Monitor the drainage on the north, south, and east sides of the house. Improve the grade if water flows toward or pools near the house. An addition of soil, a swale, or a French drain may be necessary.
● Part of the patio on the east side of the garage has a negative slope. Hard surfaces should fall at least 1 inch per 48 inches from the home. Mudjacking, polyjacking, or replacement may be necessary to achieve the proper slope away from the foundation.
● Monitor the gutters for overflow. Clean, repair, and/or replace as needed.
● Extend all other downspouts at least 6 ft from the house. Ensure discharge flows away from the foundation.
● Replace missing elbow and extension on the downspout on the southwest corner of the house.
● The soil around the foundation should be watered with 1-2 inches of water per week during hot and dry weather patterns.

@Trent Davis- This is on a slab foundation with a crawl space.  There are foundation cracks near the area in question, but I haven't received any reports of water intrusion.  The engineer wanted me to mudjack part of the patio near the foundation in question because it has a negative slope.

@Dennis McNeely - my concern with getting a soils study is if it shows there's something really wrong with the soil, such as expansive soil, I would have to disclose that fact when I go to sell the property.  My hope is to sell the property in 3 years without putting a whole lot into foundation repairs.

@Trent Davis- I bought the property last December and didn't notice any foundation issues at the time.  I learned the drywall was cracking in October, but I'm not local to it so I wasn't checking it regularly.  

I recently used a structural engineer to do a visual inspection of one of my single family rentals.  I haven't used this engineer enough to know if his opinions are valid, so I wanted to see if any investors find his opinion questionable.  The property has had about 2" to 2.5" of downward settlement on one side of the house, which has caused drywall cracks and uneven floors.  His opinion is that we don't need to install piers right now, but we should focus on making sure water doesn't flow towards the house from the outside.  Does this sound right?

@Alex Tang- Sorry to hear about this. I've faced some large insurance claims in the past and a public adjuster may be helpful in maximizing your insurance payout.