All Forum Posts by: Shane M

Got a property that is in great condition upstairs, even has some new appliances, but they never winterized the house and some pipes in the basement busted. Water is at about 1/2 inch when I checked it out, saw water lines about 5-6 inches up at one point. Basement has a drain, why didn't it drain out? Concrete floor. There was condensation on the windows in the whole house, you can smell mold in the basement, not so much upstairs(its been sitting like this for a week or so now).

My first thought was: "not worth it, there are always less complicated deals". But I'm wondering what your experience is. My thought is that in the long-term you could have a lot of problems come up. For one, there were some minor cracks in the cement floor, which have absorbed some water. Plus mold can popup anytime.

I was checking out some other posts on gut rehabs, people talking about 25-50sq/ft. What if we are talking a completely cosmetic gut? Floors, cabinets, fixtures, sinks, toilets, tubs? (No electrical, plumbing)

Do you prefer carpet or fake wood (pergo, etc)?

Also, does a normal gut include windows, doors? Appliances? Furnace/AC?

Thanks!

Correct me if I'm wrong, a wholesaler needs to be able to walk into a property and determine an offer price that takes into account a profit margin for themselves and for the person they wholesale to (usually a rehabber of some sort).

Shouldn't you attempt to get some really good estimating experience BEFORE trying to wholesale on your own?

Even with a little experience you may be able to qualify a home yourself to determine if it is worth looking into, at which point you could contact a contractor and get some estimates for repairs to confirm your qualification.

But if you are having a contractor confirm your qualification, wouldn't you want to have it under contract before you had the contractor come out?

Before you make an offer, you better have a pretty good idea what a property is worth. Of course you can always put in conditions that allow you to back out, but the more conditions you have the less respectable the offer looks.

nationwide, some pockets of the state consistently perform better than others. Obviously those not tied to the automotive industry have a bit of a buffer. Although everything is connected. Still there are opportunities.

Tiara, do you have the article about that? Sounds interesting

Hey Ali, fellow Michigan resident here. I am also curious as to the long term effects. I believe ultimately rental rates will go down because of increased competition. You get a bit of a rental boom when people can't live in homes anymore, etc but as soon as the flood starts to plateau people will shop around.

Also a lot of people are now moving out of Michigan, granted not everyone will move out, but that should also play into things.

Steve you are absolutely correct, although I'm sure there are some pockets that are doing much better than others. Fortunately over in Ann arbor its not nearly as bad as the D, but it's still not great.

Yes I was just reading about that on this forum as well!

I'm thinking about checking out some local banks in Ann Arbor to inquire about their lending requirements anyway (for my small business as well).

Remember that you still want to qualify tenants via credit check, etc.

For our market right now if you buy you are probably going to be holding regardless of what you think you are lol.

But to answer your question, buy and hold. Although I've yet to put a deal together because I need to get financing and we all know how that is going right now.

Neighborhood A:

Crime reports indicate in 2008 there have been 6-7 burglary in the neighborhood, 1 arson, 6-7 assault and battery (domestic).
No sexual assault, no armed robbery or car theft.

No murder so I guess that means no chalk outline lol.

Quite a lot of the houses have junk in the back yard (not many in the front). But many are in need of cosmetic repairs (a couple people got REALLY artistic with the bright colors, but apparently got distracted and never finished).

I didn't notice no trespassing signs, but I did notice a lot of beware of dog signs...

p.s. Why don't people throw away all their junk? The neighborhood would look 10x better if they did.

There are a couple of units for rent that are not maintained at all, I guess that makes them slum lords?

The neighborhood has potential but there is another neighborhood around the bend that is a step up from this one. There are less homes for sale there but they are going for much more. It is maintained better and has had less crime too. But as a starting investor the price difference may be too much.