All Forum Posts by: Scott Mac

Hi Patrick,

Look into Slab Jacking.

There are two methods they can use. 

Small piles of goo under it placed strategically, and goo under the whole thing.

Good Luck!

Hi Robert,

Maybe make sure the shower has grab handrails.

They might not be needed now, but if they are, he won't be tied up in a wheelchair for weeks.

Cheap and easy.

Good Luck!

Hi Doug,

Water going through a slab?

It could be a crack in the slab.

If it were mine, I'd pull up the laminate and have a look, because you can't let this go on.

In the mean time, a wet dry vac would probably handle the water.

Or, since it's a corner maybe the water came in where the home meets the foundation, maybe pull off the trim at the edge and have a look inside and outside.

Good Luck!

Hi Sylvia,

If it were mine,  (and if I wanted to spend the money):

I’d leave it all white and,

1. Put black shutters on all front windows
2. Get rid of the cement circle in the front yard.
3. Berm the driveway with soil to the grade of the cement (liability issue)
4. Paint the utility box on the left side white to blend in.
5. Paint the front door black
6. Paint the breather medallion at the peak black
7. (Spray) white on the porch railing and uprights.
8. Add some  low maintenance evergreen bushes to the left side that are just above porch floor height.
9. Rewire the over garage light to 3 lights (1 to the right of the front door, one on either side of the garage) and use brass classic looking carriage lights.
10. Convert the over garage light to a motion sensor with 2 flood lights for tenant safety and tenant retention.
11. Put Large Brass house number to the right of the door at an upward angle.

Good Luck with your decisions!

@ Marc Izquierdo

Hi Mark,

Obviously the subleters are paying more than the legal tenant.

You should talk to your attorney about,

maybe vetting the subleters (for free), and if they qualify executing a new lease with them for the amount they are paying now (no turn cost, no down time losses).

and concurrently evict the tenant for subleasing.

If your lease prohibits subleasing, and the tenant did that, it might be fraud on the subleters.

They simply begin to pay you vs. paying the tenant.

You should talk to an attorney about this.

Good Luck!

@Jillian Sidoti

Hi Jillian,

Too bad they don't allow the sales pitch and then the weeding out the wheat from the chaff using the accredited investor qualification form.

It would mean more business for us and for you to.

I guess it's up to congress as to how that goes.

But it would be a nice boost to have it that way. Like weeding through job applications.

I guess this way, the voters who they prohibit from participating don't know what they are missing and will still vote for them.

Just my 2 cents.

Scott...

HI Jack,

Check with you city and see if they allow rooming houses (or whatever name they call them locally).

In some areas they may have to have lockable bedroom doors, and in some areas they may prohibit lockable bedroom doors.

There will be codes for this, as well as zoning, and the all important parking.

Another concern is tenant type should match the neighborhood, and that's for your ability to keep tenants as well as the neighbors not filing endless complaints against you for everything they can think of.

What I mean is if you start a halfway house for recovering derelicts in the middle of Beverly Hills the neighbors will probably cause you endless legal trouble until you close it down, and you will not have a lot of prospective tenants wanting to rent there because a cup of coffee is $18 and there are no pawn shops or liquor stores around.

So even if you can do it, the question is should you do it there.

just my 2 cents on this.

Good Luck!

Hi RJ,

If you are going to pay these people to learn pretty much ZERO job skills, realize that

they all teach pretty much the same  useless stuff as it relates to working.... one set of useless knowledge they make you pay for vs another set of useless knowledge they make you pay for. 

It makes sense to choose the cheaper one if that's a hoop you have to jump through to get the type of work you want.

My vote would be Washington Huskies because the Alumni connections will probably be better, and that just might get you a better paying job somewhere later in life.

And if they have some kind of construction fraternity or club there, join that and seek a leadership role in as quickly as possible. That will also give you a boost up in getting a job. Not because you demonstrated anything special or learned anything, but because you are more likely to know "the right people". <-- (and that makes things go a lot smoother)

Good Luck!

Hi Willie,

That's 11,500 per door, it must be in a tough area.

Try this, call some:

• Local Savings & Loan Associations,
• Local Federal Savings Banks; or
• Local Mutual Savings banks.

Whatever name they go by in the city where the property is located.

Some of these places will do a commercial loan locally on tougher assets to keep the area from further degrading, 

and may lend on easier qualifications than federal loans. 

Good Luck!

HI Adam,

If it were mine, I'd:

1. Replace the blue color with a trendy (light) avocado-ish green (the lawn is green and the bricks look good with that).
2. Replace the all of the white including the garage door with a darker color to contrast (or blend) with the green (experiment a little).
3. Move the house numbers down one board to make the house seem bigger.
4. (budget ?) Add shutters to all windows to accentuate the horizontal-ness of the home.
5. Paint all shutters black, which will probably go well the darker bricks in the brick blend.
6. Paint the two small white utility boxes on the front to match the brick, or move them to the side of the house.
7. Replace the porch column with a rather plain square one.
8. Get rid of the shrub in front of the column.
9. Trim that bush near the driveway to about 1/3 the height of the bricks or get rid of it.

Good Luck with your choices!