All Forum Posts by: Ted L.

 Yes please! 

I have been stuggling with thus myself, but I don't believe the expense will be recovered. Think of it this way, brand new stainless appliances cost me $1,350 for a kitchen. This assists in creating a kitchen that has an emotional connection with the buyer. Are you really creating the same value with the washer and dryer?

I'm creating a product list of all of the items I'm getting from lowes for my current flip project. Does anyone else have a list to share that includes product numbers?

I'm happy to share my list when I complete it so let me know if that is useful. 

 It is a 30 year note. How good of a rate could I actually get on a rental? I have seen rates of 5% or so for that. 

Now that I have purchased a couple of good deals (flips), I know I could buy a better deal than this, but I doubt I could ever get this good of a tenant. 

 Seems like a logical approach.  I did try to take into consideration selling costs, but the 20k number could be less if it were to sit vacant or I don't get the price I expect.

I have a property that was previously my residence and I have been renting for a couple years.  I need to decide if I should keep it or sell it.  If I sell it before July, I will be able to take the small gain tax free.

I have it currently rented to an A+ tenant. This is probably the only reason I'm considering keeping it. She sends her checks and contacts me about once a year. When the hot water tank broke she offered to pay half. A+!!

Rent: $1,450

Mortgage, heloc, tax, insurance: $1,573

before maintenance or any reserves etc., I am cash flow negative. I repaired literally everything in the house when I owned it, so maintenance has been minimal recently.

However the house is in a good area with potential for appreciation and I'm 10 years into the mortgage now, so I'm paying down about $350 a month in principal. The rate on the mortgage is 6.125, I might be able to get a little better rate but I don't want to refinance if I'm getting rid of it.

If I were to sell, I would net about 20k after expenses and I could use that toward a better cash flowing property.

So what would you do? Sell it or keep it?

Have you considered refinancing the car loan? When I had a car loan I did it many times. There are no closing costs so it's worth it for even a small drop in rate. A credit union should be able to do 2 or 2.5 percent.

If a contractor is on site at 9:00, I would take it as a positive. I'm not sure why it matters if a guy is having a beer while he Is doing your work, as long as the quality doesn't suffer. 

Contractors follow the money.  Hold enough money back that it's worth their time to complete the work. 

I love when it when a penalty clause is suggested. Has anyone ever had a contractor agree to this? The only time this is implemented is on large scale commercial projects. Legally, if they have to pay you $1,000 for each day they are over schedule, you must give them $1,000 for every day they finish early.

 I have one rental currently and I am looking to add another next year! I am picky when looking at deals so this has limited the number of investments I have been able to make, but also limited my risk.

These floors were not in terrible shape to begin with and they needed what is called "buff and polish". Luckily I know some great hardwood guys who have a floor machine. Basically they sand the floors, but only the finish layers, they don't actually cut the wood. Then vacuum. Then apply a coat of Minwax semi-gloss polyurethane with a lambswool applicator. That took about 3 hours for two guys to do four rooms. They came back the next day and applied another coat in about 2 hours. So I was able to get all of that done for $400 including the expensive polyurethane. This would typically cost much more but knowing the right people is how I added value to this project.