All Forum Posts by: Trey Gartner

@Brie Schmidt Do you mind sharing a link to where you get the updated lease each calendar year?  Just wondering if there is a way to access it without being a member of C.A.R.

Thanks!

@Ceasar Rosas  thanks for the insight!  I would say that the market in this area is more of a seller's market, and this property in particular had several offers on the table.  Luckily, I was able to prove to the seller it was a real issue and got some quotes to support my argument that it is not a cheap fix.  They are motivated seller's and accepted my counter-offer of a $7500 credit, so I'd call it a win-win!

Thanks for your input @Jeff Burdick! I weighed the options as you said and still thought the property was a great deal, even with the issues.  The added benefit here was I was able to take back a couple quotes from GCs in the area and negotiated an additional $7500 seller credit for me to do the work myself.  Definitely won't cover all the costs, but was a great little extra icing on the cake to make me feel more confident the deal will work out.  Maybe I'll get burned, most likely I won't, but I think the most important thing is I'm doing something and learning my lessons first hand!

Thanks @Robert Leach! This is a 3-flat.  I definitely agree that with the age of most Chicago homes, I will probably run into this quite often.  I appreciate this input. I will be negotiating a seller credit based off of the information I received back from a few different contractors I contacted.

@Jim D. Thanks for the input!  I am lucky to have had an inspector that detailed out all the issues with the plumbing and electric, as I would not have caught this with my current lack of experience. I'll definitely follow up with a few contractors to get an idea of what it would cost and factor that into my numbers before moving forward.

@Brie Schmidt The house was NOT marketed "as-is".  This was just the language their attorney used in response to our request for repair.  Also, thanks for the info in point 2 - it's always good to know what the market norms are when approaching any sort of negotiation.  

Great, thanks for the input JD and Aaron!

In the meantime, I had my broker follow-up with the seller to see if they would be willing to discuss a credit and it sounds like they are.  Now to go about landing on a reasonable number for both parties... 

@Chris T. 

Thanks for the input!  I see you are in the Chicago area as well.  Do you happen to have a contractor you would recommend?  The house is up in the Irving Park neighborhood.

Also, is an inspection report enough for a GC to put in a bid?  The house is fully occupied with tenants, so I don't know how feasible it would be to schedule several walk-throughs

Hi All,

Long time lurker here on the forums and with the help from all you folks, I finally made my first step in real-estate investing and got my first house under contract!

My question is regarding the second round of negotiating I am currently undergoing.  I received back my inspection report and it detailed out several electrical and plumbing issues that were serious enough to warrant repair prior to closing.  Among other things, the biggest problems seem to dial down to shoddy workmanship on the electrical components and several exposed galvanized steel pipes that looked to be at the end of their life-cycle.  This is just what can be seen from a non-intrusive inspection, so I am sure this is just a small portion of what is going on behind the walls.  This is an old house (100 years old), so I expected there to be issues, but I'm wondering how much should I expect the Seller to offer up repairs to these components.  In our initial attorney review letter back to the seller, we asked that the seller make necessary repairs as detailed out in the inspection report.  Their response was simply that the house was to be sold "as-is" and no repairs will be made by the seller.

So my question is... where do I go from here?  Is it reasonable to counter with a proposed credit to the selling price so that I can perform the repairs myself?  Here in Chicago, plumbing jobs alone on a house this size can easily reach $15k+.  If they are unwilling to perform any repairs, is this enough to walk away from the deal?  Any and all ideas are welcome!

I was asking a similar question today and came across this article:

http://affordanything.com/2016/11/01/rental-house-...

Cheapest option is to buy granite tiles - you'll get the same effect for a fraction of the cost.