All Forum Posts by: Stephen Shelton

Tip 1: if replacing lower cabinets never use particle board. It is an unacceptable material in areas where it could be in contact with water. My particle board/formica computer desk has swollen and cracked where I lay my arms because it's that good at absorbing moisture to destroy itself.

Tip 2: if replacing lower cabinets and flooring do the flooring first and go wall-to-wall. Why? When the inevitable happens and you have a sink or dishwasher leak (you won't have a fridge leak because you should never connect water to a fridge. EVER) guess what happens in your kitchen where you saved $75 by not tiling under the cabinets? The happy water molecules seek out the lowest point and find that you have created a little 1/4" deep swimming pool for them to live in, and sitting in that little pool are your particle board cabinets ready to soak up those happy water molecules so that they can destroy themselves. So now that $75 in savings results in water-soaked rotting deformed cabinets. Had you tiled the floor completely not only wouldn't your cabinets be sitting in a pool of water but that water would have flowed into the main floor and the residents would see it and say "oh I have a water leak!"

I'm a landlord and a pet owner. A decade ago I had 3 breed cats which means the breeders focused on their look at the expense of their health. I think the family tree of these cats had branches like a telephone pole if you know what I mean.

They vomited frequently and their poop was liquid. When their kidneys started to fail they peed in convenient places.

Life got immensely easier when we removed the carpet and replaced it with tile. Tile is virtually non-absorbant and grout is to when compared against carpet.

Moral: design your properties defensively. If your tenants want carpet then they can buy their own little carpets. My 3 rentals are all tile, and I wouldn't have it any other way. It takes a while to install DIY but it's worth it.

I wouldn't even recommend that trendy laminent wood flooring either. What happens if a pretty pees on it and it isn't cleaned for hours? It has to wick through those cracks and sit underneath where NOTHING can clean it.

For what it's worth, I recently tried to use my HELOC to fund an investment that I backed out of. The minimum monthly payment would have been 1.5%. I found a property that I liked, but I would have needed to use this for the 25% down and keep it long-term and it killed the numbers.

I think a HELOC is great for a distressed property so that you would have the HELOC debt short term and then change to a full standard mortgage one repaired.

I have a property that has a well: they're great for home owners but are a PITA for landlords. 

I'm in warm sunny Florida so everything is outside: the well (obviously), the pressure tank, and the pressure switch. The switch is a PITA and a notorious problem with other well owners down here because the switch is outside and exposed to the elements and fireants and frequently fail. The "fix" is to wack the switch so it works again.

In 2 years I've replaced it 3 times. I can't use pesticides because it's above a well! I'd like to get a heavy duty version but can't find one.

Maybe I'll coat the pipes with Vasoline to keep bugs out.

I bought 3 cheap and unloved homes during the 2008-2016 economic problem, but now that that problem had been disposed and good times have returned I'm stuck! I've been trying to find a new property to renovate and rent but with housing prices rising so rapidly I can't find one that works, at least locally. I did find some viable properties in Daytona Beach, but the government overlords in that city aren't landlord-friendly so those properties can continue to rot for all I care.

I think with flipping all that really matters is a healthy economy. Even if housing standard or even dips slightly you can still profit: i.e. no matter what the price is so long as it at least isn't dropping rapidly you should at least make some profit. Local markets may differ, but nationally I think this is not a landlord friendly market.

A couple paragraphs in I was thinking what kind of landlord would allow pipes to leak, apparently indefinitely, in one of their houses? A dead one does fit the description.

Being frugal makes sense, but not at the destruction of the property! Drywall and carpets can quickly be ruined, baseboards are scrap, and particle board cabinets are destroyed even faster. Studs, with prolonged exposure, can develop mold colonies, and metal (like nails and screws, metal bathroom fixtures) will rust. The only good thing is that affected wallpaper must be removed.

It is true that most molds do not cause medical issues, but why risk it on a poorly managed rental? 

I'd love to go to one of these meetings, but they always seem to happen when I'm at work.  Anthony's Pizza is literally walking distance from my house!

First off, I don't understand why BP doesn't show me notifications of replies to threads I create.

Second, today my real estate agent and I were liking at properties and we stopped by to see if she'd like to sell. My problem is that I do not want her to sell at all.  She has 2 houses; this and the one in Puerto Rico her ex now lives in.  Both are paid off. The PR house somehow survived the storms fine but is worth less than this Florida house. The judge in their divorce is making them split the properties equally which means that she will have to pay him $20K. I asked if she could take out a loan on the property to pay him back and she said she couldn't. The judge's final decision will be in August.

She loves her house, and she gets along great with my tenant who lives next door. She's even interested in renting it if she had to sell and sells it to me. That would be a bit awkward honestly. I'd rather pass on this and see her find a way to keep her house.

I've bought a few houses with a realtor and drove around from house to house too and I never got in her car. It never even crossed my mind as something to even expect. 

BTW I thought this was funny - I've been seeing an ad for a local car dealer who is advertising the lease price per day. I. E. "Lease the new so and so for only $9.39 per day" 

So I was at my first rental today doing a little touch up, when the neighbor came over to talk with my tenant. In a nutshell, she has her house here and another in Puerto Rico. She kicked out her husband and he fled to the house in Puerto Rico, now they are splitting and he wants the Florida house sold and half of the equity. Oh and he wants the house in Puerto Rico - from what I understand fared the hurricane well. 

So she feels forced to sell but is going to do it. I want another house and can't get over how great it would be to have 2 side - by - side. Not that it's happened, but I worry about neighbor problems. 

It seems like a solid basic house : slab, block walls, single story, post-lead paint construction, and town water (wells are a Pita). It sounds cliche to say but it literally is extremely close to all sorts of stuff - it's got all that and not only does it have no HOA is somehow unincorporated county land. It even has 1 less level of government ruling overhead!

The kitchen would be a gut, but over the 5 years I have never heard her complain about a meaningful problem with the house. 

Her ex mentioned seeing it was worth $125K online which would be a bit tough considering it needs a new kitchen, and even though I've been inside a couple times I don't even know if it's 1 or 2 baths (Zillow & Realtor say different things) 

Oh I'd love to have two contiguous properties!  2 more after that and I can replace them with a hotel, right? 

And this happens the day I sign my docs for my HELOC. Coincidence?