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Real Estate Investing

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So, I’ll be getting married next year and then we plan on buying a house afterwards. We currently own a condo together and have debated whether or not to rent it out. She has experience being a landlord before (used to own a house she rented out then sold). Her dad is a general contractor so that definitely helps and he helped us update our kitchen. So that should raise up the value big time. Thoughts?
 
The house is definitely dated, I can PM the listing. There's some electrical work that needs done, shed roof, house roof is going on ~22 years. Furnace and AC are old, kitchen and baths haven't been updated since probably the 90's. Landscaping is kind of a mess since we haven't been living their this summer. Deck needs re-stained, pool needs re-painted (but functional).

TL;DR - originally listed house at 210 at beginning of summer, various deals fell through (most recently from inspection saying it needs $1000's of work), now have an offer at 190 but have an open house scheduled on Sunday. House is dated but perfectly livable.

i flip houses and have a couple of rentals on the side. I can see why an initial inspection came back saying there needed to be 10k worth of work if the roof was that old, and the Furnace and AC are old. That said I think home inspectors do more harm than good. Real estate agents just take whatever the inspector says and hand it over as a list of things the seller should do in order to have a sale go through. FUCK THAT. The inspection is done for the good of the buyer to be made aware of the condition of the house, and things they should do as upkeep, not as a to do list for the seller*. My experience when presented with the to-do list of the house is pretty much automatically tell the buyer "im not doing that" for about 75% of the things (especially the expensive ones). Almost always the buyer backs down, if they dont you didnt want to deal with them anyway.

Stupid shit ive been ask to do over the years

1) Install ADA qualified handrails on narrow 3 step deck stairwell
2) Replace a roof that had "5 years of life" left on it
3) Get a licensed plumber to completely re-do the drain of the kitchen sink (a connection was loose and needed to be tightened)
4) Have a full termite treatment done to the exterior of the house because a rotted board was in the trashcan**
5) replace sidewalk because there is a 1 inch difference in height between the sidewalk and driveway.
6) Clean the gutters

*The Seller to-do list should be things that a potential buyer needs done in order to make the house habitable. Maybe their is a wiring issue, a chimney is collapsing, the AC doesnt work, there is a leak in the roof. Not "clean the gutters"

** I went to go clean up the woods next to the house of any trash and amoung the objects i picked up and threw in the trash can was a rotted board and was awaiting trash pick. However any sign of termites within 10 feet of a house requires a termite treatment, even if it was something a stupid like this. I went back and forth with this one for a week. Trying to explain what happened, and that the buyer didnt actually want the termite people to go through and drill holes throughout the driveway, front walk, and front patio to treat for termites that werent actually a probelm. I lost the argument and had to pay 800 dollars for a termite treatment, but you shoudl have seen their faces when they saw the 25 holes that were drilled in their front walk.

edit: I forgot to mention this, I dont deal with FHA or VA loans anymore. If someone comes to me with an offer with one of those loans I give them the option to find financing else where or let them walk. Those loans have so many requirements as far as a condition of a house its not worth dealing with
 
You cant close on a government loan with an empty pool anyways, they are really never meant to be empty. The appraiser would have made the appraisal subject to pool inspection.

Like i said, your realtor should know this type of stuff, typically allot of them don't, thus why I have very little respect for most realtors.
real estate agents (especially for sellers) are absolutely and totally fucking worthless. They get 2.5-3% to take some pictures and list the house, then they do absolutely nothing else.
 
real estate agents (especially for sellers) are absolutely and totally fucking worthless. They get 2.5-3% to take some pictures and list the house, then they do absolutely nothing else.

Alot of times their assistants are doing this part of the job for them too. There are alot of real estate agents who are just doing it for fun and they have money from some other sources.

From my experience you can walk into realtors office and there might 15-20 of them who work out of that office but there might be 2 or 3 that are actually good at their job. They are the ones who do the vast majority of the selling for that neighborhood or area.

If your realtor doesn't have their name all over the houses for sale in your area, you probably don't want to go with them.
 
This is my third experience with a realtor...

1) Buying a house. Completely clueless and useless, effectively just opened lockboxes for us.
2) Buying a house. Friend of a friend. Did a great job, knew her stuff (including inspection type stuff that even I missed or didn't consider), had to make a difficult decision regarding how much to offer (we figured we had to go over asking), ended up being the perfect offer - actually got outbid on price but we were more flexible.
3) Selling house. Hard to say because hindsight is 20/20 but I feel like it's been a mess. I think we went in too high, she basically did a VERY brief walkthrough, checked square footage, and came up with a number. Every time we listed we got an offer that she recommended accepting immediately - maybe not the best strategy considering we have had three offers fall through, and now we are at the end of summer.

Also regarding pool. Turns out you need it filled and operational to fix the light.

So basically...

- House wasn't selling so realtor says I should open the pool.
- Filled pool up but not operational. Got an offer. Discovered leak.
- Drained pool to stop leak.
- Finally got ahold of someone willing to repair and they need it filled.
- Currently filling pool back up.
 
As far as the VA loan...we already got the appraisal inspection so I know what needs done...nothing huge. But man are they stupid.

Threshold/stair nose needs installed on steps going to basement. Previous it was bare tile transition...but the actual corner was grout/mortar...and it was rounded over and super smooth. So I install a threshold that protrudes a bit, creating MORE of a trip hazard...OK.

I also had to weather-seal a pocket door that goes from dining room to three-seasons room. Eg an interior door, granted the three-seasons room doesn't have HVAC. How the hell do you weather-seal a pocket door? I ended up gluing some door jam weather stripping on the side/under the door. Super janky.
 
So, I’ll be getting married next year and then we plan on buying a house afterwards. We currently own a condo together and have debated whether or not to rent it out. She has experience being a landlord before (used to own a house she rented out then sold). Her dad is a general contractor so that definitely helps and he helped us update our kitchen. So that should raise up the value big time. Thoughts?

Your fiance at least knows how it is to be a landlord. The right tenant is key. The right person will never bother you. The wrong person will talk your ear off and find things wrong for you to fix.

I think it really depends on how much better the property is than the rest of the condos in the area. If you have spent alot updating it and think it's better than the majority on the market, it might be better to sell. Renters tend to not take care of the place like an owner will. If you rent it out for years, the updated kitchen won't look updated anymore.

You also need to do the math to see if it makes sense to rent it out and if you can afford to eat some rental income in-between when your tenants leave and you find a new tenant. Be realistic how long that might take and the area you are in with the type of people you will rent to.

Also look at potential other places you can invest that money into as a rental. You might find a better property or properties for renting for the same price or just alittle more.
 
Your fiance at least knows how it is to be a landlord. The right tenant is key. The right person will never bother you. The wrong person will talk your ear off and find things wrong for you to fix.

I think it really depends on how much better the property is than the rest of the condos in the area. If you have spent alot updating it and think it's better than the majority on the market, it might be better to sell. Renters tend to not take care of the place like an owner will. If you rent it out for years, the updated kitchen won't look updated anymore.

You also need to do the math to see if it makes sense to rent it out and if you can afford to eat some rental income in-between when your tenants leave and you find a new tenant. Be realistic how long that might take and the area you are in with the type of people you will rent to.

Also look at potential other places you can invest that money into as a rental. You might find a better property or properties for renting for the same price or just alittle more.
A similar condo that had an updated kitchen went for maybe $15-20k more than what we paid. Probably a good idea to sell then yes?
 
A similar condo that had an updated kitchen went for maybe $15-20k more than what we paid. Probably a good idea to sell then yes?

It's hard to say. A good chunk of that 15-20k could be eaten up by the realtor's commission. Then you have to assess if it's a good time to sell in the area. If the building as a whole is in good condition. As buildings get older the HOAs go up and the value of the property will suffer in relation to newer buildings in the area. Also is the area somewhere that will appreciate in value well.

How you are going to use that money from the sale could factor into it to. You are going to buy a house regardless, if you sell the condo will that money get you a better house or are you going buy a different property to rent or put the money in something else.
 
Investing in USA real estate is a good idea.
Firstly Know your market price well.
Luxury homes may hold a key
Its not just what you are renting,but who's renting
 
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I am considering investing in real estate too. I originally was looking for property managers and after talking to a few, and even taking one on I didn't think I was getting my money's worth. So I fired them and I'm managing the property myself eventhough I live out of state. Just consulted a coquitlam realtor that knows what he's talking about
 
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Anyone have any experience with fundraise?
 

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