All Forum Posts by: Shaun Palmer

@Hai Loc I was thinking most people would say electrical and plumbing. In my experience these are the areas that most people want to be able to fix due to the costs. I have noticed most do not touch HVAC as well

@Arlan Potter I definitely do not know your market but have you ever considered leaving some of the staining in the floor? We have some older neighborhoods that we leave the stains in some of the floors and seal over them. Some seem to really like this older look.

@Melinda Miller Hi Melinda. I don’t think that you are going to find a “compact” insulation. Insulation derives it’s R-Value from the thickness of the insulation. There are some insulation brands/types that can make insulation more dense (i.e R30C) but in general you need to have a certain thickness in your framinign cavity for you to get the proper thickness. Most likely you would have to scan onto the rafters with additional framing and add insulation. Have you considered covering it up with some type of decorative boards? You may be able to keep the feel of an upstairs area in doing so. Just a thought and hope this helps.

@Kole Kingslien

I went through this same process about 2 years ago.  I have a small portfolio of rentals and I used quick books for a little while. After using quick books, I noticed you cannot really pull reports as they are needed for rental investors. I ended up using Tenant Cloud and it has been great.  You should check it out if you have a small portfolio. 

I am just curious. I have been in the construction industry for a long time and I see many investors struggling with different aspects of investing when it comes to repairs and capital expenditures. I have seen many things in this industry from very good work to very terrible. I guess my question here is if you are a DIY'er, what is the one task you would really like to be an expert at? Thanks.

@John Lee This is a very simple fix. If it were me, I would remove the cinder blocks all together and replace with a treated wood column. You will want to make sure that the beam above supporting the roof is in good condition as well if you are trying to fix the columns using similar materials, you will want to make sure the existing block is structurally sound. Then add a few blocks to the top and you are good to go.

@Jimi Richards

In theory you should be able to just add a leg to the red wire so long as it is hot.  You would definitely want to verify that there are not any other issues but what you are proposing should work.  If you are concerned about whether or not things are correct, I would advise that you do hire an electrician.  However, this should be a simple thing to do if you know basic wiring.  Hope this helps. 

@Noureen A S.

I hear it is 1500 jobs to the area

Hey there @Kendall Mercer.  I agree completely with Jiri.  You need to have this in writing.  Regardless of what you are doing, you need to have a contract with an agreed upon scope of work document (pending on size of project) with every contractor that you work with so that this does not happen in the future.  

At the end of the day, it sounds like this was not completed and as @Jiri B. mentioned, it is your word against the contractors.  One of the worst situations that could result is that the contractor does not get paid and they go to the courthouse to place a lien on your property.  That is a mess because now you have to get the rectified.  If they try and place a lien on the property and you have a signed contract by both parties documenting the scope of work in it's entirety, then you are in the right (as long as you paid them).  

I hope this helps and feel free to reach out with anything else.

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share a very simple Property Mangement Agreement.  I own a few properties that I manage myself until I transfer them to my business.  However, I would like to have a PM agreement between myself and my business during that interim time.  Would anyone be willing to share something very simple?  Thanks in advance

Also, maybe I missed it but I am surprised that there is not a "Property Mangement" forum to post this under.  I did not see this heading with the latest website upgrade at BP.  Regardless, the site is awesome and glad it is here.