All Forum Posts by: Samantha Knoll

Hi BP,

I’m looking for feedback on areoseal or other duct sealant experience and costs. I am buying a second home to renovate and move into so I can rent out my first home. (Super excited to finally start my investment journey!)

Our ductwork at the new place is the foundation and does have rust and holes in it. We are getting a quote to seal it and keep using it rather than redo all the duct work and move it to ceiling of the basement. This was suggested by an HVAC company who doesn’t do sealant but could have quoted me to move it all and didn’t think I needed to do that, so I feel like it’s an honest suggestion. He has nothing to gain from this.

Any experience out there on this?

@Michael Baum thanks!

@Michael Baum - so sorry I’m just now getting back on the app and saw this message! We have actually changed strategies since then and are now in the process of buying a second home in town we are renovating to move in to later this year and then rent out our 1st home.

Hope you are doing well!

@Jonathan Goldman - I use Asana at my day job to keep up with workflows, conversations, timelines etc. I love it so much and bet you could find a way to use it. You can invite “guests” aka contractors to each project/property so they only have visibility to the project/property they are working on if you have multiple. There is a free version that has quite a bit you can use and then if you are needing more I think it’s $7-$13 a month per log in.

@Jarrod Willis - I’m new to real estate game, but am in the process of buying a second home to fix up and move in to rent out our first. I just downloaded HomeZada to keep up with projects and expenses. It’s also web based. I’ve had it for maybe 12 hours now, but like it so far. There is free version, paid version, and deluxe version. I just paid for a month to see how I like the features and if I would really use it.

Hope this helps and if you do use it let me know how you like it and any tips you may find using it since you seem far more experienced than me in this business. 😁

Looking for any recommendations for a general contractor in Little Rock, AR.

2020 was the year I set high goals for us to begin our adventure in owning rental properties. Then the pandemic hit and we found out we are expecting our first kid so we backed off those goals a bit, but kept looking.

We’ve said for a while now that ideally we would like to buy a second home, renovate what we needed if needed, and keep our first to rent out. We love our first home and we feel it’s in a great area for rent.

We’ve been very particular about what the next house should have for us to move and we found one in one of our ideal neighborhoods that’s close to mid century modern (our biggest hurdle in finding a second home in our price range) but needs at least $100-$125k of work to get it to our dream home and cover any unexpected finds.

Could I share the listing here and get advice on what an offer should be? It seems priced to sell. It’s empty and we looked under a property search that it’s in a trust so it seems like family trying to offload after a passing.

Or just advice in general on this strategy.

Also with such low rates, should we refinance our current home to pay it off sooner, but then reducing our cash flow? And is there a calculator or spread sheet tool somewhere to help run through these numbers?

Thanks in advance!

@Michael Baum - We are looking to dip our toe in the real estate/rental business as well as find a way to break even or help pay for a lake house. That area is great to rent out all year long because of the casino and horse track during the colder months and of course great for the summer time. 

@John Underwood Thank you! This was very helpful and great tips. I’ll make to add those to my list!

@Sean McDonnell Thank you! I didn’t think to ask other owners through Air BnB and VRBO, but will add that to my to do list. We are looking at Hot Springs, AR.