All Forum Posts by: Susan Lisman

my husband and I considering a brrrrr property and there is water in the basement and nary a sump pump to be found.  All of the other homes I have visited this age have had them in place - but I know little about them and even less about installing them - better yet, having them installed. 

Meanwhile the current tenants were running the drier while we were there, and all I could think of was the liability of have electric components and puddling water.

I have now been to this home twice, the first time there was some dampness and today in a real rain there were actual puddles in the basement  If anyone has any advice on this, I would love to hear it.  I should say that this does not scare me off yet - it is an older home and I get that this is not an abnormal issue, i just want to know what I am getting into.

I am also open to other solutions - sealing the walls and so on... any advice welcome

the money would be from a line of credit - I'd only have to pay interest on until I refinance

I will reach out to the neighbor if I decide to pursue the deal. I am trying to determine how much a demo and a rebuild will be if I move forward with it and I think it may put this project in the red as both a brrrrr or a flip. I have looked up so pre-fab double garages and they are about 12000 - with the additional work, I think pushes my rehab budget too high

I'd likely take the refinance loan to cover the cost of the line of credit and keep the remaining equity in the house.  That way I restore my line of credit to use again and I can hold the equity in my property until I need it

This may be a ridiculous question - 

I have been using the BP calculators as I examine my options in the Philadelphia area.

I will be drawing my full purchase price and repair costs from a personal line of credit and intend to refinance once I get a renter in the space.  When using the calculator should I be entering in the complete amount or just the purchase price.

For example - if I am buying a property at $150k and using an additional $30k from my line of credit to rehab - do I enter the loan amount at $150k or $180k?  I have been using the larger number, but I want to be sure I am not skewing my results. 

Hi Everyone, 

This is my first post  and I hope someone can help me.

I am looking at a foreclosure with manageable repairs in a Philadelphia suburb.  I have had the property inspected and I know that the issues in the house, aside from knob and tube which obviously has to be immediately replaced, can be fixed.  Unfortunately, the real issue with the property seems to be the shared garage.  I had it inspected as well and basically the structure is unstable.  Demoing the garage would not be the biggest deal, but as I said it is shared.  It shares a roof line and and interior wall with the next door property.  While I am not sure that their side is in a similar state of disrepair - I presume that it is also pretty bad and stabilizing their side may be nearly impossible.  Tearing down my side will likely damage theirs and even if it doesn't, it would be a poor and unstable structure next to my newly paved drive way or new garage.

Starting a first time project with a possible legal entanglement is less then appealing.  Has anyone dealt with a similar issue?