All Forum Posts by: Todd English

Hello BP!  I'd like to get any recommendations for a property manager in Virginia, MN.  It would be great to connect with someone who has rental property there.  Thanks in advance, Todd

I'd say every 3-6 months.  Our property manager has it written into the lease for quarterly with 24 hours notice.  I've tagged along with the property manager on occasion, it helps me get comfort things are going alright.  

We found 3 more people moved in to the property without notifying the property manager that way.  It was a good opportunity to raise the rent :)

Thanks, Gents!  Nobody bats 1000.  

I could really go either way. I'm comfortable with dropping price more if needed or keeping it as a longer term rental.  If the latter, I would re-fi cash out, pay off my family, pay off my credit line, put some cash away and look for another deal... there is always another deal!  

Hopefully, the next one will be more profitable.

What do you guys think about buying HUD or REO homes? Should we avoid going forward?

During your 10 day, bring in an electrician and a plumber and see how involved it is to get the units separately metered.  Might be quick and easy or might be a chunk up front, but it will help your cash flow immensely going forward.  Anyway, helps to know going into a deal.  Good luck!

Thanks for your input @Christian Wathne!  It's great to get feedback from others and their thoughts. 

Hi @John Knisely, thanks much for your input.  Agreed on all counts.  It was a good learning experience regardless of the financial outcome.  I think it is important to share the challenges equally as well as the successes.  I'll highlight a couple of hurdles we encountered:

1. House was purchased from HUD, they provided a Property Condition Report (PCR). Later learned first hand it was garbage. Boiler didn't work. Water main was busted. Report said both were fine.

2.  We expected to spend about half of what we did on rehab.  Due to #1 and a new roof, it doubled.

3.  Borrowing from family can be challenging.  The family member I borrowed from surprised me.  As John said, it can work, but also can strain relationships.  Be prepared.  Fortunately, that piece has been manageable for me. 

4.  Things ALWAYS take longer and cost more $ than you think.  Plan on it.

Even the best laid plans can go awry sometimes.  We weren't real estate novices, but had never done a true flip before. 

We skinned our knees on this one.  We'll do it again.  And probably again :)

Any thoughts on recourse for HUD's B.S. PCR? The thought has crossed my mind that perhaps a good R.E. attorney might be worth engaging to try to recover some of the expenses associated with the bogus report. Not sure if I have much of a leg here though?

SO, my wife and I began our venture into investment real estate approximately 2 years ago with a buy and hold strategy.  We decided this year to do our first flip.  We bought it for $114,500, put about $50-55k into the rehab, just listed it for sale at $199k, then reduced it last week to be more in line with price per square foot to $189k, less realtor selling commissions and closing fees we'll end up not that great - about $7k in the black, then we'll pay taxes on it leaving us with even less.  It's been on the market for about 2 weeks with decent traffic.  We were able to purchase with cash, lines of credit and money from family.  We're getting pressure from family to get rid of it and get them paid back.  I'm considering holding it as a rental until the Spring when the market picks back up.  My concern with that is, that we'll end up putting more time and money into it in the Spring. 

Is it better to keep the family at bay and stay the course for a sale or should I entertain renting it for the next 6-9 months (assuming I can find a qualified tenant willing to do a shorter term)?  Any thoughts or suggestions welcome.  Thanks in advance!

For sure.  The circumstances are long and twisty, but the short story is, yep, I should have insisted or passed.  Either way, wish me luck on the venture!  Crossing my fingers it will be profitable in end :)

Thanks all for the helpful guidance on things to consider whether this is a potential DIY project for me!  I'm pretty handy and can do a lot of things, however, after talking with several local contractors, it sounds like this one is just too big a project for me to take on in addition to the other work around the house.  I've decided to hire a pro.  Thank you again for the helpful commentary!

@John Woodrich, awesome, thanks for sharing your experience!  Good idea to pay for leak detection first, possibly be able to repair it rather than replace the entire line.  I have a couple of guys going out to the property today to get bids and we'll see what it runs.

Unfortunately, we've already closed, it was a HUD home and not disclosed, perhaps unknown to them at the time they had it inspected. The home has been vacant for a few years. Probably tough to argue with them about it at this point.

@Account Closed genius tip!  That would not have occurred to me.