All Forum Posts by: Chris Christianson

Thanks @Derek Lacy.  Guess I made the foolish assumption that renters liability insurance would cover renters liability.  Don't know what I was thinking.  

The tub issues still sounds like renters liability (albeit not covered by insurance) issue to me but I'm probably lacking some of the facts, like I was in my insurance knowledge.  

I've actually been thinking about waterproofing the bathroom floors in the rental properties I rehab and adding a floor drain.  Probably a schluter, tileable drain so it looks nice.  That would put an end to the issues with tub and toilet overflows and depending on the level of the rehab, wouldn't add much cost.

I want to own as many doors as I can, that requires leverage.  If the numbers work, ie: your making money off each door, and you're taking into account the ramifications of a standard market downturn on the type of property you're buying, LEVERAGE!

Just my two cents, now leverage it and turn it into a dime.

I would hope that your tenant would have a renters insurance policy that should cover this type of thing.  If the overflow is working, how did they overflow the tub?  Only scenario I can imagine would be to fill the tub to the overflow then quickly submerge enough mass to run it over or more probably, just splash a bunch of water out.  Sounds like a renter liability to me.

That said, I'd fix it then look into the ways to recoup my money.

Good luck!

I think a large part of North Minneapolis is a DIY/Handyman neighborhood.  Lot's of tools disappear and the profit margins working on houses with values below $100k aren't worth the risk for a fully licensed and insured contractor in the Twin Cities.  I heard one story shortly after the Tornado ripped through there a few years ago about a contractor that was up on a roof inspecting the damage.  Two guys came by, kicked his ladder down stranding him on the roof, and grabbed all they could take from his truck.  Last call that company took to North.

Good luck with your project though and don't leave ANYTHING unattended.  

I'd be willing to discuss your projects @John Graham.  I have a good roofing crew and we can talk about the rest.  

I received a great document from @Bill Exeter on 1031 exchanges.  I'd start by reaching out to him.  Good luck with your deal!

Good luck, I'll give you about a 20% chance of getting the odor out.  Wood floors are installed with tongue and groove strips.  This leaves a space between each two pieces.  I've pulled many a floor up and found the stains on the subfloor.  I also know that this cat smell is not just on your floors.  Cats have the ability to crawl all over a house and once they decide they can use it for a bathroom, they seem to use all of it.  My parents purchased a home some 25 years ago that was cat urine stink.  They completely gutted the house.  Walls, carpets etc.  18 years later when they sold the house you would still occasionally pick up the smell of cat.  It gets in the duct work, the sub floor, even the framing.  

I wish you all the luck in the world.  When I buy a cat house, I make sure a complete gut, subfloor, insulation and all are budgeted in.  Nothing against cats but if their owners don't take care of them they are VERY destructive little creatures.

I agree @Micki M., it's a twin home, side by side but we only own one side.  When we acquired it we thought we'd try to purchase the other side as well but rents in St Paul arent heading in the direction we had hoped and now we're looking at a better deal in Minneapolis.  The property is on the very edge of what's called Summit Hill.  It's a neighborhood with the largest number of preserved Victorian Mansions in the country.  This is a gorgeous property but not easy to figure the likely customer.

I'd agree with @Adam Bartomeo and @Rich O'Neill for the most part.  Take door number 3.  One thing I'd add is that lots of people miss the fact that time IS money.  If your father in law is on the site doing or managing work, he is investing whatever money he could have been making elsewhere with that time.  Typically, investors in the price range you're working in are expecting labor for border line slave wages.  $8-12/hr.  That's why most, quality contractors are not interested in work for fees on these projects.  The only way I can hope to make the money I would have made with my time/money is by either getting a cut of the profit, which is a risk I'm willing to take if I have a say in the buildout, or getting paid my full rate, which isn't going to happen.

My accountant bills me at $120/hour.  My mechanic, when I use one, runs $95-110/hour.  Realtors want 6% of everything I payed for on the front side and the equity I built with my time and experience.  Then there's gas, tires, tools, licensing fees, insurance, continuing education...  Someone wants to pay me $500/week for all that plus 20 years experiance...thanks but no thanks.  

I might have taken my response a little off topic but hopefully you get the point.  If you found someone that's willing and capable of investing their time/money for 25% of the profit on that size deal, take it and consider yourself lucky.

So I'm trying to make a leap in my investment business this summer.  The goal is to purchase a vacant double lot in a decent B+ neighborhood and build a mixed use building.  Preliminary plan is two commercial spots on main floor and 10 one bedroom apartments on upper 3 floors.  I'll be GC'ing the project and bringing in an investor or two.

Now the real issue, We have a single family, twin home, in St Paul.  We have some equity in it now so I'm thinking about selling it and rolling the proceeds into this apartment deal to reduce investor participation.  It's currently rented, lease is up in July, so my question is, should I get the lease renewed for another year and put it up for sale rented, or list it for sale first in case someone wants to move in themselves.  I'm guessing the value is not going to be much different...but I'm guessing.