All Forum Posts by: Stan Hill

 Excellent, Roy. The first thing I thought was potential tax consequences for operating as a hotelier. Logic tells us the hotel industry is a pretty powerful lobby that will want to do everything they can to limit competition. A great way to do that is to lobby tax jurisdictions to tax AirBnB operators as hoteliers.

 Opinions vary. On the stock market, mine is that we have been in a very long bull market that probably can't go on much longer. Of course, I say this with the disclosure I am certainly no expert on the stock market.

I read two of Than Merrill's books on real estate investing. Contract, contract, contract. Verify the contractor's insurance. Have a specific draw schedule that is based on specific tasks being completed. Make sure there is financial incentive for the contractor to complete the job and get the last draw. For example, if the last set of tasks is 20% of the job, make sure you are withholding a higher percentage for the final payment. Have specific performance expectations, with penalties for not reaching them. If a contractor squawks at your expectations, you're probably dealing with the wrong contractor. Make sure you have the contractor sign a release of all rights to any lien on the property once the job was finished. When I fired a contractor earlier this year, he wanted me to make the final check to someone else. i insisted on writing a check to him, with the memo stating it was for work on the specific address and that the work was paid for in full. That's short of a release of lien, but likely enough to keep him from putting a lien on our property that I suspect he was planning, given him wanting the final check written to someone else. Due diligence!

We have found this part of investing to be the most difficult. In our state, all it takes to be a general contractor is a small permit fee to the city in question. Buyer beware!

Look at Google and other reviews. If I had done so with a project last summer, I could have saved myself a lot of grief. I also think it's our duty as consumers to review people we do business with- whether the experience was good or bad. I posted a scathing and truthful Google review of a partner we did a JV with. Several months later, I looked at the review. Four people had found it helpful. I'd like to think that my speaking up saved four people a lot of grief.

@Amit Patel

Great job! $190K in profit after six months would be difficult to turn down. 

Excellent. While I have not paid any money to "gurus", that does not mean it is not a good decision for others. To each his own. I have read many books and gotten a lot of excellent information off BP. For me, that has been sufficient. I think that in addition to "to each his own", a person's personality is a big factor in making these decisions for themselves.

 Andrew, we have also found that running the ozone generator kills roaches and other insects. We put it in front of the HVAC intake, turn on the fan and ozone generator and let it run for a day or two. Of course, we air the place out well before entering after the ozone generator has been running. I usually take a few deep breaths, hold it, go in, open a window and put a fan in the window blowing outside air in. I go back outside, take some more deep breaths, then go in the opposite side of the dwelling and open more windows. Then we sit and wait for about 45 minutes. 

I would have scrubbed the walls and ceilings with detergent and water and rinsed well with cloths before priming/painting.

I would call the state motor vehicle department and let them know the situation. There has to be a procedure for a situation like this in place. As it likely varies from state to state, I would go straight to the horse's mouth.

 A mutual fund is an investment vehicle where investment companies, such as Vanguard, Fidelity and others pool resources from many investors and invest that pool of funds into particular investments. Quite often they invest in stocks, though can invest in bonds and even real estate ventures. They typically have a particular strategy, such as municipal bonds, large cap stocks, small cap stocks, certain sectors of business, etc.

 I'm glad you brought up this angle, Kyle. While there certainly reasons a person may need a place quickly, logic dictates those looking to move in 30 days are more likely to be good prospects. A recent exception I ran into- tenants who have a 3-bedroom apartment, with the apartment allotting for two vehicles. The tenants moved a relative in, adding a third car to the equation. The complex has the right to be strict on this. 

Anyway, your point stands and this is an aspect of renting we have become more conscious of recently. Why does the tenant need a place so quickly?