All Forum Posts by: Shaun Palmer

Lara Nicole Have you ever had to clean smoke from walls and carpet? Carpet gets replaced and walls are not fun. The nicotine gets onto the walls and creates a film on it. I once flipped a house that had a long term smoker and we literally had to wash the walls down with a chemical. When you sprayed the chemical on the wall, it literally dripped like it was caramel. This is an extreme case but gives you a good example of what could happen. I don't allow smoking in any of my units. It's not worth it.

Nick Brubaker Not even a question in my mind. License is required

Trudy Ellison Trudy, check this post out. Might provide some insight in your house search

David S. Think of your contractor as your partner. If you were in a partnership in a business, would you not spell every detail out of how the business (you and your partner) operate the business? Why should that be any different for your contractor? If you want to pay in increments that's fine. Provide the training for doing so. But make sure that your contractor is meeting your expectations. If they are, make sure they are whole at the end of the day so it's a win win for everyone. I constantly read on BP about how terrible contractors are but you do have to realize that there are also a lot of investors that are not easy to deal with. Personally I think the reason is people have expectations in their mind and don't adequately explain them to their GC's. Nor do they put it on paper in detail. I guarantee that if you don't consistently try to beat your contractor down on price and develop a relationship with them, then things will work out. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great to be cautious with your contractors but make sure you are taking care of them as well. I am in both sides of this equation so I do have a good understanding of where both parties are coming from. You need a contractor as much as they need you. I recommend paying contractors in increments (whatever makes sense to both parties). I don't recommend deposits upfront. I do feel that if you have a strong contractor, they should not need a deposit upfront. Just remember if it is a big project with large upfront costs, this could change the incremental pay schedule to be earlier on the first draw. Again, keep everyone happy on the "partnership". Hope this helps.

Also, review your state laws as you may be required to hold the previous tenants personal property for some duration of time. Make sure the tow truck isn't going to take it to the junk yard. That's my non-legal 2 sense. Hope this helps

Carlos Zapata Not sure if this is the right thing to do by in my mind it would be to document your correspondence to the previous tenant (assuming lease is up). I would then consider this situation similar to a broken down vehicle on the side of the road. It eventually gets towed because it cannot stay there and is not on the owner of the vehicles property. You have a similar situation where it is most likely affecting your ability to get the unit ready for showings. If it were me, I would do the following: - record every piece of correspondence letting the previous tenant know your intentions with dates and times of when things will be happening and that you expect reimbursement for the tow. I would then call a towing company and tell them to impound the vehicle. At least you will have properly noticed the previous tenant of your intentions and the vehicle will be off your lot so you can get it easy for showings. Of course your laws will probably be different than mine but that is what I would do.

Thomas Robb All depends on your market and your criteria. I like to think that my criteria is fairly high so it takes 2-3 weeks. We turn down a lot of people that don't meet our criteria.

Richard Salazar Find properties and evaluate them everyday. Really dig into the numbers to determine how the deal changes with slight changes to a potential offer. Oh yeah, and before you do all of this, figure out what your goals are. Then start to identify a road map on how to get there. You will be amazed at how much you learn if you go slow and make sure that everything you do is time well spent to achieve your goals. Always keep educating yourself. BP is great for just about every aspect of residential investing.

Trudy Ellison What part of town does she want to be in? $900 could get a 2/2.5 townhouse 20 minutes outside of Raleigh. Let me know and I can recommend some areas to look.

Lana Lee I agree with Thomas S. that you should review the laws. They are very easy to find. Stay positive as it is a long but good journey. Their is a lot to know and none of us will ever know it all. It will change anyway. Ha! Once you identify your goals, learn the laws and then Develop a process. Once you have a process, right it down and repeat it over and over again. It will help but it will take some time.