All Forum Posts by: Shawn K Hicks

Quote from @Keoni Manago:

Does anyone have experience with an agent lying about the state of utilities at a site unseen property. I am a first time investment property owner from Hawaii investing in North Carolina. I was told my HVAC and plumbing was brand new, but after closing and getting a renter into the property found out that the HVAC needs to be replaced and the plumbing is so clogged up that the toilet won’t flush. Now, I’m paying thousands of dollars out of pocket to remedy these issues. Is there anything I can do to keep my agent accountable for his lies? Any advice will help, thank you.

First off, I feel for you. I have to say the high percentage of Realtors would have been honest with you. I did see it mentioned in another comment that sometimes the sellers provide misinformation to the listing agent, but I'd say most experienced agents would have noticed at a walk through of the home if an HVAC clearly was not new. Also, I'm not as familiar with the NC market, but if a seller was to tell me the plumbing has been updated, there is typically signs that are easily apparent to correlate that the plumbing has indeed been updated. Though I do not know all of the intangibles of the situation, it does sound like either you were intentionally mislead, or someone or someones clearly dropped the ball in a major way.

Do you have anything in writing where you were told that the plumbing & HVAC was new? (Texts, emails, disclosures, etc?) If you have something in writing, you might at least have a place to start.

Also, it's been said a few other times on this thread, but always, always get an inspection. Even if you're highly confident about a property you've personally walked through, at least obtain a basic 4 point inspection that at least inspects the items insurance carriers are typically concerned with: Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, Roof, hot water heater.

PS in all likelihood you'll have a much better buying experience your next go around. The rare Realtor that drops the ball or is a sleaze ball ends up making the next Realtor/s you work with that are actually competent seem like super heroes. No where to go but up!

Quote from @Alberto C.:

I bought a 1959 house for 300k in 2018, 2400 sqf, in Gainesville Florida, 1 mile north of UF campus. I live in the house and I work at UF. I paid off the loan in 2021 (inheritance plus good savings from my job, and April 2022 I decided to get a HELOC do a renovation, and make the house modern and fancy (R&Q select oak throughout, modern kitchen, took down 2 walls for open space vibe, modern electric fireplace bumpout with cabinets in veneer wood, bar in veneer wood, remodeled master bathroom, Sonos music system throughout the house. Total cost: 300k. Renovation will be completed in 2-3 weeks. Now the house in Zillow is 466k, but Zillow does not know yet I am renovating of coarse since I am not done. In April (pre-renovation) in-house appraisal for the HELOC came up to 420k (and Zillow was 429k so they were consistent). I asked the appraiser how much the price will go up with those 300k renovation and he said "I am not sure without seeing it, but make sure to show up the 300k receipt to the appraiser to try influence him and bump price up". Should I really do that and show receipt to try to bump price up? Only built-in bar and built-in bump-out fireplace were 70k. On the one hand I would love the property value to go up by 50% of the cost of the renovation (150k, which would make the house value go up to 616k, which seems a lot to me). On the other hand, I dont wanna pay a shitload of property taxes. Should I maybe not show the receipts and get a lower appraisal to save in property taxes, and then in the future if I wanna sell (not before 5 years from now) I ask for a second appraisal and show receipts?

 "Note, I erased my long reply as I reread your post & better understood the context the second time."

Edit: I see now you're actively undergoing a Heloc. I'd go ahead and push for as high of value as possible. I could be mistaken, but I don't know that the County will have access to or use your appraisal for whatever assessment they place on your property's value. 

Quote from @Landon Whitt:

CLASS A & B are no longer cashflowing on the average. I would look into class C and find a manager capable of handling the client load and renovate for bulletproof. Its not snazy but its in extreme demand across the nation right now. Ask your self, am i doing this to look cool or am i doing this to fill demand for customers in the market called housing???

 This was the case in Gainesville FL the last few years. D+ to C+ properties had the best returns. I would ask my clients, do you want something pretty, or do you want something that makes you $. The hot thing in our market now however is many are jumping on the Airbnb band wagon.

As a Realtor in Gainesville FL, I can offer you my subjective opinions while attempting to be as objective as possible:

3 years ago, finding a great investment opportunity was the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Different investors may have a slight variance in how they report their percentage of return, but to put it in perspective, my local investor pool would typically only purchase a property that showed a 15 to 25% return. I even had a guy pass on what I perceived to be a steal a couple of years ago (24 units in a multi family neighborhood) as he said the return was "only between 12 & 13%". I at that time advised him to look at the monthly cash flow and not just the margin. He has since regretted passing on that opportunity.

Fast forward to 12 to 15 months ago. By that time, there were no longer any great buys to be found on the MLS. In the event something worthwhile did hit the MLS, it quickly would turn into multiple offers and the price would get bidded up. The solution was there were several wholesalers that still had some pretty good buys off market.

In todays market, there are not in my opinion much in the way of great buys on the MLS or off market as even the wholesalers are bringing me "deals" at retail prices. When providing this feedback, I am mainly referring to traditional rental opportunities, or flip possibilities.

To not be all doom & gloom, I want to transition to some positive points:

Though at the market prices properties are now selling for, the numbers are less appealing for traditional rentals,-AirBnB has caught fire. In particular, there are a couple of local property managers that specialize in & only handle AirBnb properties. This has opened up new opportunities for investors, as the numbers have many investors downright giddy. (I will say there does need to be taken into account that our city council & Alachua County in general have a bit of a reputation for overreach in government. There is some concern as to whether in the future there will be any new taxes, guidelines, ordinances, etc that could impact the ease & profitability with AirBnb. For the time being however, let the good times roll.)

@Jenn BaronaTwo local resources I highly recommend to interject with some further feedback for you are: @Jenn BaronaIn spite of the market getting tougher to find "deals", Jen has continued to hustle and find deals. Jen's family I've observed has still had success with a couple of flips of their own,-and is still entrenched in the Real Estate investment community.

Also, Jen Turner a local investor who has had success with house hacking and a couple of BRR properties is always glad to help and offer insight pertaining to vendors, contractors, etc.

Quote from @Mike H.:

Quote from @Shawn K Hicks:

Quote from @Thomas J. Clifford:

Quote from @Shawn K Hicks:

Yes, our city/County it's ironic that they for years have been poor money managers that have continued to operate at a deficit, but in their infinite wisdom they don't mind also over extending their authority to make other counter productive measures to hurt our pockets as well. Actually, maybe this is not ironic at all. Based on their track record, this is to be expected.

It's not all gloom and doom however. There are still some good returns to be had. Also, there are a couple of property managers that have gotten efficient & specialized with Air BNB. This has opened additional investment opportunities as the numbers are pretty exciting if you purchase in the right location.

 BP only lets me upvote this once, but it deserves 1mil likes. CoG is nuts. I'm considering moving toward the outskirts to avoid GRU alone!

 Many are doing just that. At the very least people are moving out of GRU territory to where either Clay utilities or other electric co ops are available.

What is the issue with GRU ? I’ve not heard anything negative about them. I mean it’s utility how could they be that bad ? 

 They are the second or third most expensive utility company in the state. The short version is they continue to increase rates to offset some poor financial decisions that have been made in the last decade. Though the population of Gainesville continues to grow,-many home owners are choosing to move on the outskirts of town to where Clay utilities is the power company as they are significantly cheaper.

Quote from @Thomas J. Clifford:

Quote from @Shawn K Hicks:

Yes, our city/County it's ironic that they for years have been poor money managers that have continued to operate at a deficit, but in their infinite wisdom they don't mind also over extending their authority to make other counter productive measures to hurt our pockets as well. Actually, maybe this is not ironic at all. Based on their track record, this is to be expected.

It's not all gloom and doom however. There are still some good returns to be had. Also, there are a couple of property managers that have gotten efficient & specialized with Air BNB. This has opened additional investment opportunities as the numbers are pretty exciting if you purchase in the right location.

 BP only lets me upvote this once, but it deserves 1mil likes. CoG is nuts. I'm considering moving toward the outskirts to avoid GRU alone!

 Many are doing just that. At the very least people are moving out of GRU territory to where either Clay utilities or other electric co ops are available.

Yes, our city/County it's ironic that they for years have been poor money managers that have continued to operate at a deficit, but in their infinite wisdom they don't mind also over extending their authority to make other counter productive measures to hurt our pockets as well. Actually, maybe this is not ironic at all. Based on their track record, this is to be expected.

It's not all gloom and doom however. There are still some good returns to be had. Also, there are a couple of property managers that have gotten efficient & specialized with Air BNB. This has opened additional investment opportunities as the numbers are pretty exciting if you purchase in the right location.

Up until the last 2 to 3 years, home owners insurance in Gainesville was dirt cheap. For example, an 1,800 square foot home that is 25 to 40 years old with the Roof, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, hot water heater etc in generally good condition, you could expect to pay 850 to 1,500 (1,200 being the sweet spot) annually depending on coverages selected and deductibles. Now, you can raise those figures by 15-20%. Also, many carriers will not cover roof related issues if for example a 3 tab shingle roof is over 15 years old. Some carriers the cut off mark is 10 to 12 years. Some carriers the same goes for hot water heaters & HVAC. They can be working perfectly, but if they're over 15 years old, many carriers will not insure unless they are updated. (Architectural shingles up to 22-23 years old can still pass with an acceptable 4 pt inspection.) 

Insurance on a new construction comparable square footage home though still more affordable, those costs have gone up as well.

Quote from @Karla Simmons:

I keep hearing that homeowners insurance is high in Florida because of hurricanes, which makes sense. I am assuming it is not high state-wide, but in the areas that have history of hurricane damage to homes. Is this true? Would somewhere inland such as Orlando or Gainesville have less expensive insurance? And can someone quantify what high insurance cost is? An example possibly? Such as a $300,000 home has annual or monthly premium of $X amount.

Thank you!

@Karla Simmons You bet! Glad to help.