All Forum Posts by: Steve S.

A full day is not measured in daylight hours or an 8 hour shift! A full day starts with the job and doesn't end til it's done!

But a 10 x 12 room should take no longer one full day that includes ALL prep and cut work. The previous advice about getting good paint is true. You don't want to cheap with paint. Another item, you don't want to go cheap with the roller! A good roller will make the job a whole lot easier. I personally look for something that will hold a decent amount of paint in it and provide good coverage without pilling.

Don't bother with tape. It's a complete waste of time and money. A good angle hand brush and a steady hand and a touch of practice and you should be good. For cutting I usually dip the brush in a tray of paint, touch the brush approx 1.5 inches above the cut line, push into the brush a little, lightly release then move the brush down to move the wet bead from the brush down to the cut line and run the wet bead along the cut line and once you get the knack you can really do a good and fast cut in.

Cut a door or window I can do in approx 10 min. So two doors and two windows that's 40 min. Cut the ceiling for a room that size is approx 30 minutes.

I would do the ceiling coat (40 minutes) the cut for the windows and doors, the cut for the ceiling, 1st coat (1 hour) wait approx 3 -4 hrs and do the second coat (1hour).

Total painting time approx 4 hours, Total time on the job 8+ hours at a good working pace. On the drying time for the walls I generally do the molding but you need a really good steady hand.

Obviously there's a whole lot more to this backstory.

But let's look at the facts you have given. You landlord wrongfully has tried to evict you. They are now in jail for doing so. This does not make for a great landlord-tenant relationship. 

You are on a fixed income, and have very little in the way of reserves.

It would be in your best interests to move out of your current place b/c your relationship with your landlord is sour. BUT first since you did pay rent and I'm assuming the LL did accept your late payment you're then legally entitled to live there until the end of this month.

If I were you. I would work as hard as I could to find some suitable living arrangement given your situation that you can afford.

You made a mention about your finances where you're paying your sister and friend to be a notary, marketer and business partner. If I was in your situation I would cut that out! You need to take care of you and your immediate needs first. When you're in a situation where you have 3-4 months of living expenses in reserve you may wish to revisit this business idea again. If your sister and "friend" wish to continue and feel there's value they should do so on their own dime and perhaps help support you a bit as it sounds like you're the one in a bad situation right now! 

Step #1.. take care of you first. Move to a new location that is safe where you won't be thrown out or assaulted by your LL.

Step #2... get your finances in order, it's great to help others out.. it really is, but it should only be done when you can AFFORD to help others. I don't think you're in that position right now. YOU DO YOU first man!

Great thread... you just about covered everything on what NOT to do during an eviction process... Also helps that you mixed business with family or friends... Congrats... you WIN!

I think it's all perspective. 

I have heard that true wealth isn't measured in how many years you can live with your money but how many generations the money you have made can help others.

Another way one of my friends put it... "I don't want to live off the interest my money makes... I want to live off the interest FROM the interest"

I have a wife that loves me unconditionally

I have two beautiful and healthy children that are very happy.

EVERYTHING else is immaterial... I AM a very VERY wealthy man!

When I house hacked I ran into similar situations. Few if ever does having an extra person make things go well.

You can be the "nice guy" and allow it to happen for the next 3 months but be ready to deal with issues as they arise with more people in one space.

Or you can hold your ground and state the terms of the lease agreement and that the agreement was written up and imposed for a reason.

From my experiences I am in the "hold your ground" camp.... I think you are to or you wouldn't have gone online to ask advice from strangers. But if you honestly feel that you all can make it work for the next 3 months.. then by all means be the nice guy

"I NEEDED PERMITS! The first plumber did not notify me, did the work, offered 1 year of warranty on the work."-

- a trades person's job is to do the job. If you own the property it's YOUR job to know what needs to be done to protect yourself. If you think it's the trades person's job to tell you if permits are required or not, than you're way more trusting than I am. Simply look at your city/county building codes. Most are now either on line or can be found by a 5 minute phone call or e-mail. Due your own due diligence. 

If the plumber offered a 1 year contract on the work I assume that you wrote up some type of contract detailing the work that was to be done, the cost and all things that were to be covered. 

If you have a contract and proof that it was his work that was an issue, you can easily get your money back with a day in court. At worst case scenario there will now be a paper trail behind this individual so anyone else that does their own research would realize this job ended poorly.

No contract, then you're S.O.L.  - if a person who's doing a "contract" work with out doing a proper contract is a red flag. Don't work with them. 

Lend out my tools!!! Nope never! Not going to happen. I would never expect any other professional to do so with their tools either! I worked in many of the trades. I worked under one roofer who after two years would always sell his tools at auction to get new ones. Reason being he KNEW they would soon fail from the use and abuse they had received and it was just easier for him to get new ones every two years. You may not always know when exactly your tools will fail but you should have a pretty good idea. Having said that if one of my drills or saws failed while I was on the job, I would be getting another one immediately NOT using another person's. 

With respect to the "mess" that contractors leave, that's a great point! I have worked with many others in trades and after I tell them exactly what I want them to do and we agree upon a price, I then start talking about the terms of payment.

Small jobs under 1K payment is always done at then end.

Medium jobs 1K - 5K I usually split into 2 payments very heavily back loaded to the end of the project.

Large jobs 5k + I usually split into 3-4 payments with the last payment being at least 60% of the total contract.

In all situations I ask if clean up is going to be included or not with the work they're doing. If they say they are going to clean up their mess, I expect it. If they say they aren't I use that to negotiate price as I will most likely have to do it myself or pay someone else to do it.

As for the phone issue. That's an absolute easy one! If I'm working next to someone and they answer their phone throughout the job I simply ask if they're focused on the job at hand or more interested in the next one. I tell them if they answer the phone one more time while working they can forget about this job and any other jobs I have on the go.

Perhaps I'm a bit confused here.... are the tenants still in the unit?

If so then you also need to call a sherrif. Or check your local landlord tenancy laws.

Seems that with the change of locks the tenant is "holing" up. And I would recommend that you have the professionals there to make sure you're on the right side of the law.

You can have something done fast

You can have something done cheap

You can have something done well

At best you can ONLY get two of the above three at the same time!

(peronsally I always go for #3... hope for #1 and I don't even bother with #2!)

The house hack option previously mentioned is GREAT! I would also set aside a certain affordable amount each year to do some upgrades to the house or unit. 

After 5 years you will have built up a LOT of equity and added value to the unit. Now you will have two options..

1) Sell the unit take the equity and reinvest into another project

2) refinance the unit for the new value of the unit, rent it out for +'ve cash flow and extract the equity from the refinance to purchase another project.