All Forum Posts by: Shalay Cano

Welcome to BP! I am in Utah as well. :) 

This is all great info. I had planned on talking with my board's legal counsel. Also, I would never do anything without discussing it with my broker first. I just wanted to make sure I had a clear understanding before speaking with them. if it was something that I did not understand, then I wouldn't see the point in pursuing it to begin with. @Craig Jones What you explained is more along the lines of what I was looking into. I would want to make it a win-win for everyone. I may want to speak to you about it a bit more. Thanks for all the info everybody! 

@Ned Carey Thank you very much! That is exactly what I understood. I will do some more research. 

@Ned Carey Can you give me any more info as to how it works? I just want to make sure that I am understanding it correctly. Any info you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I am attempting to begin my real estate investment business. I have been getting mixed reviews on whether the practice of wholesaling is legal or not. I've read that the benefits are that you need very little capital to do it,and  that you can receive a finder's fee of sorts. I'm also told that it is not ethical or it is fraud to put a house under contact that you are not able to buy, and are not truly intending on buying. How exactly can you do this legally and ethically? I am a real estate agent, so I want to see how that factors in as well. 

If you bring a Realtor with you that is familiar with investment properties and rehab situations, they should be able to give you at least an idea of the possible costs involved. Be sure to look for leak spots on the ceiling, possible foundation issues ( cracks, weird warping, uneven ground), strange electrical issues, plumbing issues, HVAC issues, and windows problems. You can then relay what you saw to your contractor. For the most part, those will be your big ticket items. If you are new to investing, try to find a property that has mostly cosmetic issues (kitchen rehab, updating bathrooms, paint, baseboards, carpet, other flooring, light fixtures, etc..) You will more than likely have an easier time with renovating these, than the previously mentioned problems. 

@Jonathan Wilks is right. Those would all need to be checked out. 

Whenever I am nervous about purchasing an older property, I always get a contractor to come take a look at it. They will be able to get a better idea of things that may need to be brought up to code. Before purchasing, I would strongly suggest getting someone to assess the situation. Those problems could bring your profit margin down below what you may feel is worth your time. From the numbers you provided, it appears you currently have some wiggle room, but I would not risk it. 

@Marcia Maynard is correct. If you are going to allow the tenant to make any of these changes, it would be best to oversee all activity. You should always get everything in writing without exception. You want to keep your tenants happy, but you want to keep them honest as well. Often, when damage occurs to a property ( and proper documentation was not made prior to move-in), a tenant will claim that it was done before they moved-in. Even the most seemingly harmless tenants will make such claims. Having oversight on projects is the best way to protect yourself and your property. In regards to painting, one option would be that you need to approve the colors. However, sometimes people want to be able to personalize the house more than a color pallet you might choose. It may be beneficial to explore if having the painting done by you or someone you trust, would improve the unit and be a feature that you can keep. If not, then you can make the deal that she would need to have everything restored back to the original paint at her expense upon move-out. With apartment complexes, we had too many units to allow everyone to go crazy with their painting and personalizing. But, if is a small amount of units or a single dwelling, you may have an easier time allowing minimal personalizing.