All Forum Posts by: Zane Paul

I had the slab jacked up and piers installed. Guy did an A++ job, the old cracks in the wall fit like they're zippered. 

But in the master bedroom there was a small problem and the subfloor buckled, so there's a spot about 2.5ft by 8 inches that's bulged about 1/4 inch. The piers there were doubled up to the sides so it's not going to be an ongoing issue.

I'm planning on laying the tongue in groove laminate but I need to address this first, obviously. What are my options for leveling it out? 

This is my first rehab and I'm not really sure what would be best. I don't really want to use self leveler since it's directly to the side of a doorway, so I think any slight grading would still be detectable and possibly become a trip hazard. Is it possible to just grind it down? The slab itself is about 8" thick so I don't think 1/4" inch should be a problem but I'm not sure.

Any other ideas?

Thanks for your time 

Hello all, I purchased my first home as a personal residence in March and I got what I thought was a pretty reasonable deal at 20% below market.

It had been a rental for 12 years and came with a lot of deferred maintenance, but nothing absolutely horrible, mainly just neglect and poor upkeep. So original intention was to slowly fix it up at my own pace for a year or two then purchase another house and rent this one.

Well, things have been pretty wild the past few months and I'm noticing comparable home sales with finishings that are just a touch above rental-grade are suddenly selling for quite a bit more. It's a small town located directly between 3 growing metros, so I think it might be a bit of the covid fever driving people out of the cities and I don't want to miss out on the boosted appraisal value.

I've shifted my strategy from DIY to ASAP, I estimate the remaining rehab to cost about $40k using other people's labor. Problem is, I only have $20k I'm comfortable with spending at the moment. 

Current loan amount on the home is 75k and comparable home sales are hitting between 170-190k. I was planning on approaching my local bank about getting a personal loan for the other $20k. I've priced most of the work except the pouring of a new driveway (but I know the neighbor had a similar one poured 4 months ago and I have that price and the contact) so I'm fairly certain the cost will come in right around $35,000. I have close contacts in plumbing, ac, cabinet installers, flooring, counter tops and tile work so I'm confident I can save a big chunk on labor there, but I'd rather over borrow than under borrow. I also have an additional $10k that I could use if I blow the budget as a backup fund.

My idea was to go to the bank with a pdf showing the other homes in the area that recently sold, showing the finishings, current photos of my home, my estimates for cost, and my income history as well as my expenses (I have about 45% of my income unspent each month). The problem is I'm a fairly low income earner (less than 60k) and my wife is unemployed. I'm not sure if there is a way I could get approved for an unsecured loan of such a relatively large amount compared to my income. I was considering maybe using my $20k in cash as collateral somehow on a $40k loan, because somehow I feel a bank would be more comfortable lending that way even though it's the same amount of money overall. I just feel like a 50% secured loan would be easier to swing than a 100% unsecured. 

What do you guys think? Do you think the bank would be willing to lend me the money for 12 months on the condition that I repay the entire balance in full before the 12 months by refinancing? I have enough bandwidth in my DTI to support refinancing the home for the maximum amount but I would only refi to pull out enough to pay back the $20k.

No sir, about 80% of the town is damaged. Only reason I didn't file the next day is I wanted to get an estimate of the damage before I wasted a claim. Turns out I know nothing about estimating repairs after a tornado (what a shocker 😒), the contractor said $80-90k in damage. The appraised value was $93,000 when I got the loan, estimated replacement cost is $144,000, so we'll see which way insurance wants to go. 

Thank you for your reassurance.

The policy is indeed for replacement value and thank God it is, because I was ready to select depreciated value for the lower premium when I was shopping around. 

Bought a fixer upper. Started doing some remodeling, then a tornado came and tore the roof. Water poured into the attic. Soaked the insulation. Ceilings collapsed. Walls were dripping. Cabinets coming off, garage door broken, ac no longer cooling, gutters gone, window seals blown... Contractor estimated the repair cost to be roughly equal to the appraised amount. 

I'm nervous to file an insurance claim. I don't know if it was due to the pandemic or what, but neither the lender or the insurer sent anyone out to inspect the property during the purchase. I probably shouldn't have been approved for a loan, given the condition of the property (major foundation issue). Obviously I need to file a claim, but I'm nervous about what they might say upon their first time seeing the property. 

It was livable at the time of purchase. Only major problem was the foundation. Roof was good, no leaks, windows were good. I didn't lie at all when getting the insurance (never asked questions about foundation) and the lender never asked me anything after the appraisal. So I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just nervous because I've never made a claim before, and the damage is so extensive and it's so soon after moving in. 

Can anyone help me understand what I can expect in the claims process for a situation like this? 

Far north Texas area, Grayson County 

Got the property very, very cheap. It was currently rented when I went under contract by a 5 year tenant. Many, many homes in the area have foundation problems from 4-7". I have toured some other units being rented and noticed the slab ones have faux-granite countertop, new cabinets, and decent sinking of the floors, and the pier homes (even the ones with repaired foundations) are wavy and all over the place.

I got the home $30,000 below appraisal. Not sure if it's worth fixing the foundation considering the condition of other homes in the area. 

I got 3 quotes from 3 contractors all suggesting different methods. 

1 - $23,000 - 47 concrete piers with rebar

2 - $6,500 - 38 concrete piers with steel support beams 

3 - $11,000 - no piers (more on that below), polyurethane injection 

Contractor 3 said piers aren't necessary as their is clear evidence that piers had already been installed previously. And the current foundation issue is a result of the piers on the east and west side being set too high, causing the home to "bow" which you can see by looking down the grout lines in the exterior brick. 

He recommended NO foundation repair, considering my plan to use it as a rental. Instead he said invest the money in re-grading the lot and replacing the driveway (currently cracked and sloped towards the home). That was already on my list of things to do, and he said it would be a waste of money to do any type of foundation repair until at least 12 months after the drainage issue is taken care of. 

So I plan to patch the cracks in the walls (some 1/8" or larger, diagonal from windows and door frames in one room, cracks appeared to be quite old), mud over the texture, scrape off the unpainted popcorn texture, and rip up the peel and stick floors to see what condition the slab is actually in. After all that and replacing the floors, as well as correcting drainage and replacing the driveway, and some other minor replacements I'm looking at about $10,000 in repairs. 

I don't think fixing the foundation is a priority for the next several years, I think I'm better off fixing the causes, putting makeup on it and waiting to see what happens in the area in 5-7 years, but I'd like some other opinions. 

Plumbing has been redone, it's all pex and the sewer line is pvc. Roof joists are solid, no cracks and the roof isn't pulling apart from the middle like is evident on some homes in the area so I feel like it's relatively stable as is. 

Under contract for a property, the purchase price is 80k on the contract. The loan is for 75k. I'm about 2 weeks into the loan process and found out the repair costs are going to be larger than anticipated. The seller agreed to give me 15k at closing, but I'll still be about 10k short. 

I was wondering if there was a way the seller and I could modify the purchase agreement, raise the purchase price to 90k (home appraised for 95k), and then have the seller give me the 15k agreed on plus the other 10k in increased sale price?

Would doing something like that cause a red flag for the bank and extend the loan time?