All Forum Posts by: Thomas Forsythe

@Kellan P. Thanks man! That inquiry pulled up the building permits I used for my renovations! Neat! Can possibly use it to scope out other properties to see permits have been pulled. If you find a house that has been renovated but no permits were issued might give you some leverage on negotiations?

@Matt Geerts Thanks Matt! I'll have to use their services when I go about looking for distressed houses in the coming weeks. 

Has anyone looked up who owns a property using land registry office or any other source that gives that information? Let's say I go out driving for dollars and I see a distressed home, I write the address down and then would like to know who owns it. Would I just mail a letter to the address or try to look up who owns it incase it's a rental. I know it's possible, my tenants gave fake rent reciepts to another landlord when I was trying to get them evicted and he looked up who owned my property and my name came up. 

Hey everyone,
I recently went to a free seminar and bought the package on impluse. As a new investor from Canada I don't think it was a smart move by me. I tried to get a refund but they only gave me 50% back. I was giving a username and password to login to register but i have not yet activated. Is anyone interested in buying it from me? Is that possible? 

@Doug Thompson Thanks for the Welcoming! I'm so glad some one mentioned to me about BP on a Reddit post i did a week ago talking about a Real Estate Guru workshop I took part in. I've up to podcast 17 in a week! not to bad! 

@Dave Vogt I look forward to flipping houses too! I'm confident in my ability to do the work, not so much finding the deals and finances but that starts with education!

@Samuel Sedore Sometime life forces you to learn! I've contacted the group and i'm planning on attending Tuesday.

@Kellan P. Thanks! I like documenting my work. Helps to keep a track record of what I've done. I got tons of pictures of all the remodeling work I've done over the years. My favourite remodel was turning a garage into a recording studio all done in tongue and groove pine. I've noticed a few of you have computer backgrounds, I do too! I got a 3 year diploma from fanshawe for Computer Systems Technology. I didn't like a deskjob, getting dirty and working with my hands was more my style.

Hey everyone! I'm new to BP and have been a landlord for one year now with only one property. I plan on coming this Tuesday to meet some local real estate investors! I will be a licensed carpenter within a year so i have a construction background to bring to the table! I look forward to meeting you guys!

Hey NOW! My name is Tom and I'm from London Ontario Canada. I work as a Carpenter apprentice at the moment and will be fully licensed within a year, 5200 hours under my belt when done. I'm very handy and have all/access to the tools required to renovate homes. I bought my first home in June 2014 and planned on renovating it my self within 2-3 months (evening and weekend work) with an $8000 budget. After demoing many problems arose that needed to be fixed, structural, electrical, plumbing, hvac. I initially wanted to do cosmetic work but all the problems required Permits, which added more time/scheduling to the project. Permits required drawings, which required a designer which required an engineer, wasn't sure how to support a load bearing beam on a brick wall foundation which all required more money! Hah! 10 months later and roughly $20,000 invested got me a nice looking rental unit. I've had the property rented out for 1 year now and that alone has been a roller coaster ride! 5 months in they wanted to move out because they didn't have enough spending money at the end of the month, at the end of 2 months notice they asked if their mother/boyfriend/brother could move in to help offset the costs. Sure, new lease, they now pay for utilities which is good because the hydro was more then I was expecting. Several months later drama arises between the first 2 and the new 3 and the first 2 move out suddenly leaving an unpaid hydro bill which doesn’t get paid and hydro is cut April first. First week of April we had very cold weather, below freezing and the house isn't heated and 3 people are living there... rent isn’t paid so I issue an eviction notice for the amount owed. We work out a deal and they came up with the money owed and a 3rd lease is now signed for the 3. Great! Rents paid, no vacancy issue and now these 3 are taking better care of the property. It's been quite the ride but honestly I love it and the rent checks coming in with a positive cash flow of 500-600 a month is GREAT! With what I learned on my first deal I KNOW my 2nd one will go much smoother and now that I’ve discovered Bigger Pockets I know where to come for advice! That's my real estate investment story! Here are some links to the renovation projects!

Sorry, I took ALOT of pictures!

http://imgur.com/gallery/IFs3P/new

Video walk through before renovation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoupbG2msjw

Video walk through after renovation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLboU15mLWg