All Forum Posts by: Tim Hall

@Michael Fitzgibbon that’s like asking how long is a piece of string. There’s so many factors to determine the budget. I’d get some quotes. There are expensive electricians and not so expensive electricians. Same with plumbers, HVAC basically all the trades can cost lots more than you anticipate. So get some quotes, preferably from another investors recommendation. You can have high end finishes and contractor finishes. Sounds like you need to plan first and see if the project is viable. You can do this by finding out what the property is worth after it has been fixed up. You can hire an appraiser to do it or a broker can give their opinion. You’ll need a general contractor to pull permits and they’ll be able to help with a budget.

@Bernadeau C. Hey man I use Jonny Rose +1 (850) 756-1598 he’s good and will get the job done at a price that is right for you. Tell him Tim sent you to him for a better rate.

@James Sloan personally I pay for all the materials upfront and nothing until they show up at the job. I know it’s hard to find contractors at the moment but that doesn’t mean we have to let our guard down. My way is that they’re not out of pocket and neither am I. 50% upfront and it sounds like you’ve had a problem with him in the past. No way mate.

@Sandeep Tyagi hey there, I think I know where you’re talking about. You asked if you could have done anything better at the start. Knowing the actual figures from a rent roll would have been nice. Bank statements can be fudged to make something better than it is. Also, know the area you are buying. It’s one thing to have a lot of late payers but gangs, drugs, felons could make a good book but could seriously damage your health. All that being said, it sounds like you’ve done a really great job turning a s#%t show into a nicer place to live.

So you have 59 lots how about you partner up with a few mobile home movers. Let them use some lots to store their repossessed homes. You could buy some of them or charge a storage fee for letting them stay there. Also as tenants move out find other people who can afford to buy the mobiles and then move them in. Good luck in your endeavours.

@Ryan Agcaoili-Mullins alrighty then, let us know. Thanks

@Marilynne Poumele-Flores get everything in writing. Don’t expect or assume anything and don’t run out of money. Run a tight budget and be fair.

@Rahel Ketema you have to look at it like this. This is the best education you can pay for. You will know that next time there will be no money upfront. There will be no excuses because you’ve heard them all. This will make you stronger, better at negotiating, and more cautious. Education time is over. Time to ditch the dirtbag and move on.

@Wendy Busa hi there, I’ve bought properties site unseen before and don’t have a problem with it. The way to do it is to have very low expectations. If you can’t see it, expect the worse. Everything will need to be replaced. Make a list of all of the utilities and minus these ‘repairs’ off the offer price. What price would make you comfortable buying this place and go for it. You can see it from the outside, so you can tell how well the place is kept from the outside. If there’s lots of junk on the outside 9 times out of 10 the place will be a mess on the inside. However what can you really tell from a walkthrough, everything is behind drywall anyway. Also has the landlord pulled any permits for updates to roof a/c heat, utilities. The one thing that I would be wary of is the tenants getting an attorney to stop you from coming in. What if you need to make repairs if and when you buy it. Are they going to run to the attorneys when you want to perform maintenance on your units. It’s a quick way to turn these places into slums. So in this respect I’d also negotiate to have the property served to you vacant or a deep discount would have to be given for me to take on these headaches. At this point it’s all negotiating, nothing is in writing. If you want to be in the business long term then use this as an exercise, after all it’s where you make your money so you’ve got to be good at it.

@Amey Phatale in my area we still have really low inventory and buyers still wanting houses. My wife is a realtor and listed a house the other day. It was the same as ever, 12 showings on the first day 8 offers and contract in hand by the weekend. As long as there’s a demand and a shortage of houses then there’ll be no crash. Just a stalled market.

@Robert Gamblin from what you said i would think twice about buying this property as a first buy. If you had 15-20 properties behind it and you were adding this to a portfolio then yes no problem but as a first one no way. That is if you want a cash flow property. If you are going after an equity play and the average equity increase increase is 10% a year then heck yeah I’d do it. There will always be a cap ex unless you have negotiated everything and it’s all new and something that no one could have foreseen will raise its head. Like a pandemic, hyper inflation on building costs ect ect. Find out your strategy and then go for properties that fit that. Good luck