All Forum Posts by: Chris Christianson

You're going to get responses all over the board here I'd expect.  We pay our private investors 8% simple interest.  We've had people scoff at that since they're making way more than that with their other investments yet others have come to us saying, how can we get a piece of that pie since our investments aren't making us 8%.  If your experience and knowledge level is sufficient to instill faith in the would be investor you should be able to lure some in around the 8% range.

That said, we are also taking on the whole of the risk.  If we were to lose money on a project, the investor does not.  They get their money back with interest all the time.  We make money, most of the time.

That would be my recommendation, yes.  Find an EPA Lead Certified contractor and go for it. 

I do these things ever day @Nick Brubaker.  I'm lead certified and do the processes in a safe way.  It doesn't cost me much if any more, just some plastic, masks and paperwork.  As for the asbestos, a 50's build home will probably have some in floor tiles.  I bust them up all the time as well I just take it slow and try to remove them intact.  Never heard of anyone hiring out an abatement outfit for that.  Furnaces, sure but that's about it.  You probably have forced air HVAC so there shouldn't be any there. If you're removing a chimney you could encounter asbestos transit pipes, take them out in full chunks and you're off to the races.

People make this stuff out to be much bigger than it is.  If you hire a contractor that's worth there salt, they'll take care of it all legally, safely and for very minimal added cost.

If it was built in 1952 then there IS lead and asbestos in it.  Inspections are great if you have money to waste and want to make the seller cover unnecessary costs of abatement, which they won't.  You'll lose the deal.

The deal is, a couple coats of new paint over lead based paint is how you fix it.  The only exception to that rule is double hung windows.  They're supposed to be replaced if there proves to be an issue.  As for asbestos, if it isn't disturbed, as in busted into pieces and going airborne, it's not considered a problem, nor is it a problem.  Nothing needs to be done. 

My house has asbestos wrapped pipes all over the basement and has since 1920. I do plan to remove them this summer but it's not due to asbestos, it's due to moving the pipes so I can finish the basement.

I'm going to scan a great advertisement I purchased off ebay a year ago to show you what all we put lead into. If you're flipping the property, make sure you contractor is lead certified and don't worry about it.

Hope this is the right forum for this but we're looking for a new accountant/CPA in the Minneapolis area.  Anyone on here looking for new clients of can you refer someone.

That looks like a whole section of shingles right up to the ridge cap missing.  Looking suspiciously like installer error but of course, can't tell for sure from an image.  Wish I could zoom in.  Is the felt installed vertically?  If so, that too is wrong.

And I would agree with @Dustin Strahle.  The adhesive strip prevents the shingle from lifting up in the wind.  Once the front of the shingle lifts up in a 30 mph wind, you're odds of losing a three tab are pretty good.  That is why it's not a great idea to shingle in the winter months if you live in northern climates.  It takes heat to adhere that strip.  Any chance the lost shingle is from the north side or a shaded part of the roof?

On the top of your "Post a Reply" box, click the third icon from the right.  It will say "Insert Image" when you mouse over it.  

Thanks for the input @Dan Coleman @Travis Sperr and @Omar Sprandel.  This house was a bit of a challenge given it's size and configuration but we have finalized a design and we have excluded the suite.  It's going to be a 5 bed, 4 bath home with two fireplaces and three entertainment areas.  A large great room on the main floor which will include the kitchen, a fireplace and two siting areas.  A man cave in the basement which will have it's own exterior entrance, a bathroom, a wet bar, AV system and access to a lower level single stall garage.  Right outside this will be a good sized game room with a fireplace, sitting area and sufficient space for pool table or other games.  Off to get my permits.

We're about to start a large rehab project in the inner Minneapolis suburb of Golden Valley.  We've completely gutted the house which was close to 5500 sq/ft when we purchased it.  Thanks to the new fire suppression law in Minnesota, we plan to finish as close to 4500 sq/ft as possible but not more.  $10k for fire suppression isn't in the budget.  

Question is, this house was configured with an inlaw suite in the walkout basement.  We're not sure if we want to keep this one, possibly two, bedroom suite or lose the second kitchen and add walkin closets to the lower bedrooms.

Any insight on the value of inlaw suites