All Forum Posts by: Willard Blair

Hello Nicholas Kapner and Jeffrey Tonkin. Later this summer I am going to be trying to organize a group meet up in the Oswego County. The only thing that is holding me up from doing it now is my renovation in Northern VA. I am anticipating being done by July. If there is already a group formed there I would be interested in joining but I have not seen one. So I will start my own, would either of you be interested? I also have a property with 5 doors in that area that is zoned as Class C Commercial. It needs a lot of work. It is located beside Oswego lake and beside 2 Marinas. The main customer base would be fishing tourist. I am open to any and all offers, especially offers of partnerships.

Thanks everyone for your replies, I wish I could reply with thanks to each one individually but I haven't learned how to do that yet. I am wrapping up my renovation this spring and will be launching my Home Inspection business soon after. So I will definitely put what I learned here into practice. I will also benefit from all my lessons learned on the next renovation. It is always good to hear opinions other than your own, so I really appreciate your insights.

I am just curious, Has anyone ever found a contractor via Facebook? Everyone tells me phone books are dead. But, I never seen any posts about how wonderful a certain contractor may be, especially in the last 4 years. I still use the phone book, both physical and online version. 

I think it depends on your end goals. There are pros and cons to both. A tradesman like a carpenter would definitely be better by attending a vocational school first rather than trying to get OJT. It is not because one is better than the other but because the opportunity for advancement will always go to the school trained guy and the OJT guy will still be a laborer for years to come. With that said, if you want to be an employee and climb the corporate ladder then definitely go to college. College does not teach you everything you need to know, I would say it does not really teach you anything but it does show employers that you stick with your commitments and you have a basic understanding of the subject. My Bachelors Degree would have been great for me to get an entry level management job in a business that was already established but it did nothing for me when I started my business. It is great that you have a mentor with an established business. Are you making assumptions that you will one day run things? I would ask your mentor what he/she thinks you should do. Does your mentor have a degree? Does your mentor think you would be a better employee/investor with a degree? Do you make enough money working for your mentor to pay off a student loan? 

In my experience of crayon marked walls, "Magic Eraser" by Mr. Clean works the best. Crayons are made of wax so paint will not absorb into it. Hopefully that is part of the "prep work" plan. Magic Eraser also works on smoke. It is hard to say without actually seeing the walls, but I would want the PM to have the walls cleaned really good before considering painting. Which BTW, should be the prep prior to painting anyways. The cleaning bill should be paid for by the security deposit.

I don't know any Hard Money Lenders, but I do invest in the Oswego area. But, I was going to try to organize a Meetup group for that area this spring. Would you be interested? 

Welcome to BP Bryan. I am invested in Mexico, NY. I also just closed on a property which is 4 unit mini-motel with a house. Both of which is need of renovation so I will be busy for now but I will be looking to invest in Syracuse in the near future. Maybe our paths will cross.

Thanks, @Mark W. I really appreciate your input.

@Mark W. I was meaning the month to month lease. There should not be an end date like in an annual lease, right? So, just writing "Month to Month", instead of writing, "Annual lease starting on a certain date and ending on a certain date", would be sufficient? Or should I put in a "No longer than date" if I want to renovate starting on a certain date and need the property to be vacant? Or would that just contradict the Month to Month?

Thanks for your input.