All Forum Posts by: Tom V.

Rex - 

What kind of laundry machines do you have?  

Did Shinepay make the installation process easy?  

Thank you, 

Tom

@Laura Williams  "The removing trim multiple times" thing does sound a little drug-related. 

I think some of the "would like to hear the contractor's side" emotion is from people who have done contracting work.  Just as you wound up with a crazy guy working for you, plenty of contractors wind up working for crazy clients.  

I'm astonished about the economics of contracting sometimes.  They commit to furnishing a tremendous amount of work, and what guarantee do they have that the client can/will pay?  I have never had a contractor ask me for proof of funds, yet they subcontract out and commit to paying 3rd parties too.  It is easy to get shafted by a client as a contractor. 

None of that means that the appropriate response to any business dispute is to put concrete down a pipe.  

One final note is that with COVID and people under economic stress, buyers of labor and services should be making every effort to keep their workers paid and in good shape in these months.  Granted your guy had been a problem before all of this, but as a general statement, now more than ever wise investors will take care of their teams.  

Sorry that you are facing this situation.  Cement-in-the-pipes is a nightmare scenario. 

If it is as bad as you describe, I don't know how one could repair it without replacing all of the sewer pipes in the house - cutting into the slab etc. 

I can't see how this repair wouldn't exceed the deductible on your insurance policy.  
If you hired an unlicensed contractor to perform the work, the insurance company may not cover the situation. "In the process of getting an LLC..." You can get an LLC in a few days in California. And an LLC is certainly not a contractor's license.

How much work was the person supposed to complete (in dollar terms) and how much had you paid him?  

How many similar jobs have you run prior to this situation?

@Bill F.  It would probably be helpful, if you're investing in real estate or anything else, to begin to form an opinion about how the world will be different in 1, 3, 6 and 12 months.  

I think a lot of people here are just trying to share ideas, so if one's main goal is to honestly hear from other people, it's a good place to compare notes.  

These are stressful times for many people.  Hang in there and good luck to you.  

@Bill F. You seem to be down on Michael Lenahan for not illuminating his thoughts to your satisfaction in the forum.  What is your opinion given your economics degree and familiarity with people doing "serious work?"  I looked up some of your references.  

Eric Weinstein says humanity needs to get off planet Earth.  Is that the guy we should be listening to in a crisis?  Is that realistic?

Timur Kuran posted some pictures on Twitter he says suggest, "Massive misery even in the best case scenario."  

It seems like those guys would agree with Lenahan's take that the relative optimism of this thread will not age well.  What do you think?

Hi Zeke - I do not live in Columbus and you know your local market better than I do.  I'm making my comments about a likely downturn based on the global pandemic that has already seized global capital markets.  Real estate does not escape from this untouched.  

 When people say, "It's a sellers market" that means there are a lot of buyers, so advantageous to sellers.  

When people say, "It's a buyer's market" that means there are a lot of sellers, so advantageous to buyers. 

You think there are a lot of buyers bidding up, which would imply a seller's market. 

I think your buying pool will be diminished in a matter of weeks, and eventually there will be a lot of sellers, therefore for the buyers who remain it will indeed be a "buyer's market."  But not like what you describe.  

The recession we are going into will be hugely deflationary (asset prices will drop).  

Good for you for selling at the top, but I think being worried about inflation as a threat is misguided attention.  

Securities markets have already priced in a great deal of wreckage.  I would be looking for new investment opportunities in stocks.   

I don't think anyone has enough data to make a reasonable guess as to how his/her local market is doing.  

Wall Street has shredded real estate companies as badly or worse than other industries.  Anyone who things his local single family home market will be unaffected or remain hot when hotels and home builders have been cut in half is IMHO, kidding himself.  

If you can sell something within 5-10% of pre-COVID prices, you should in a hearbeat.  

The place to be buying now is on Wall Street, from panicked investors desperate for liquidity.  If anything, this advice is too early.  

There is "blood in the street."

There are plenty of "fearful" people, so one should be "greedy."

Finally, (sort of a cynical aside, sorry) but take note of the people who said a year ago that Dave Ramsey/Suze Orman types had it wrong and have a lot of debt.  The borrowers won't be the ones buying now.