homebuying fun (caution: stupidly wide .jpg)

[flyboyx]

I think that depends on where you are, in Tulsa and OKC (where I just bought a house) the market is absolutely nuts.

I had to come in above asking price, the day the house went on the market to get it. I'd lost plenty other houses, or they'd go under contract before I could even look at them, etc.

congratulations on your new home man. post up some pix.

i do have to say that what is happening in the housing market now (i believe) will slowly sweep across the country at first. its gonna pick up a lot of momentum. maybe it won't be as bad as 9 years ago....maybe it will be worse. i know nothing of the market in oklahoma. i do know there are a lot of places that are exponentially overinflated to a much higher degree than they were during the '08 debacle. denver is my control experiment.

i don't think it looks good. you can quote this in 2 years and either say i'm and idiot or the opposite thereof. all i'm saying is that i'm not buying anything right now.

[z31maniac]

congratulations on your new home man. post up some pix.

i do have to say that what is happening in the housing market now (i believe) will slowly sweep across the country at first. its gonna pick up a lot of momentum. maybe it won't be as bad as 9 years ago....maybe it will be worse. i know nothing of the market in oklahoma. i do know there are a lot of places that are exponentially overinflated to a much higher degree than they were during the '08 debacle. denver is my control experiment.

i don't think it looks good. you can quote this in 2 years and either say i'm and idiot or the opposite thereof. all i'm saying is that i'm not buying anything right now.

Yeah, I'll grab some here in a bit and post them up.

This part of the country never really sees the big booms/busts that other areas do.

I bought a 3/2/2 that's just over 1800 sq ft. Completely renovated (smoke damage), new floors/paint, 18ft vaulted ceilings in the living/master, wet bar in living room, cathedral ceiling in dining room, new black granite in all wet areas, etc.

$156k.

[MR E30 325is]

flyboyx,

Here's an interesting thread about a 'bubble'

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/488958-are-we-in-a-housing-market-bubble-that-is-likely-to-burst

I am continuing to purchase buy and hold properties for cashflow. If it makes money when I buy it, I'll hold it long enough to ride out any bubble, as you really only realize losses (if you have any) when it comes time to sell.

Gambling/speculation, i.e. flipping houses, is a game I am not currently playing, as profitable deals in my area have all but disappeared. I don't recommend others to pursue this approach, unless they are stable/secure.

[flyboyx]

Yeah, I'll grab some here in a bit and post them up.

This part of the country never really sees the big booms/busts that other areas do.

I bought a 3/2/2 that's just over 1800 sq ft. Completely renovated (smoke damage), new floors/paint, 18ft vaulted ceilings in the living/master, wet bar in living room, cathedral ceiling in dining room, new black granite in all wet areas, etc.

$156k.

i think homes in that size/price range will be relatively insulated in most markets. that sounds pretty similar to the home my wife and i live in and just paid off 5 months ago.

flyboyx,

Here's an interesting thread about a 'bubble'

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/488958-are-we-in-a-housing-market-bubble-that-is-likely-to-burst

I am continuing to purchase buy and hold properties for cashflow. If it makes money when I buy it, I'll hold it long enough to ride out any bubble, as you really only realize losses (if you have any) when it comes time to sell.

Gambling/speculation, i.e. flipping houses, is a game I am not currently playing, as profitable deals in my area have all but disappeared. I don't recommend others to pursue this approach, unless they are stable/secure.

this doesn't sound bad either. once again, i assume you are not buying 400k+ properties.

at one time, i had 5 rentals. we have sold out of them except for one waterfront in the galveston area and the home we live in now. how many do you have now?

i always figured that i needed to make about 400.00/month per home to come anywhere close to making it worth my while. renters usually suck. they fuck shit up, they sometimes don't pay. they blatantly break things and then call you and expect you to drive an hour in the middle of the night to fix their screwup. i guess you could say that i got pretty tired.

i could hire a management company, but then there goes all your profits and you still wind up writing a check when something breaks.

[Powling]

Speaking of rentals - this is something my fiancé and I are looking to get into. I'm 30 yrs old, been a home owner for the past 5 years and my dad has been a general contractor / carpenter for 40+ years.

I'm not a big risk taker when it comes to money, but I like to idea of having a rental property with long term income.

Anyone care to share their insights and thoughts? Given each market / region is different, I'd still love to input and insights from people who have done it before.

[MR E30 325is]

Speaking of rentals - this is something my fiancé and I are looking to get into. I'm 30 yrs old, been a home owner for the past 5 years and my dad has been a general contractor / carpenter for 40+ years.

I'm not a big risk taker when it comes to money, but I like to idea of having a rental property with long term income.

Anyone care to share their insights and thoughts? Given each market / region is different, I'd still love to input and insights from people who have done it before.

From my limited research regarding Toronto real estate, it seems incredibly painful to be a landlord. Very Tenant friendly, making a landlords job very, very difficult. The people I read about/talk to in that market that make it are very very good at what they do. You really need to have a firm grasp of what's going on regarding your laws, in your market.

Go to biggerpockets.com and go to the landlord forum. There is a literal vast of information for you to discover. Their podcast is pretty rocking as well.

[e30austin]

personally, i'm not going to buy shit until it really goes to hell if it does indeed go that direction.

Exactly where I'm at with it all. Can't afford to pay 2-3x what something is realistically worth - just to have to walk away from it in a couple years when I realize my overpriced house isn't worth jack shit now. Hoping I can in the next year or two.

[joshh]

Makes you wonder who's buying all these homes. I have noticed many people own extremely modest cars compared to the home they purchased.

The Portland market is interesting because there isn't enough housing and new homes are being sold in foundation stage by large builders in many cases.

I'd love to get back into a home but this market is crazy.

While you can find homes in this area for 250k that aren't falling apart, they aren't what I would consider fixer uppers either. The ceiling for remodeled homes seems to be capped while new homes are selling for god awful amounts. That's a bit general but that's what the market seems to be doing up here.

[mjimport]

Does anyone have a recommendation for wifi alert system?
Looking to get moisture detection, power failure, and maybe something that's expandable to accept multiple inputs like cameras and door/window sensors.

I'm trying to decide to either go cheap and just get wifi moisture detection for now($100?), or spend a bit more money but would want an expandable platform ($500?)

[evandael]

Update: I am about 6 weeks away from completing a gut renovation on the place I started this thread about.


Glad to see this thread continued in my absence!


Here are some pics (sorry, iPotato/instagram)..







the reason I gutted it.. tons of water damage/general shittiness




pointed front/back, new parapet, all new steel lintels.. significant cost!










my favorite modification: widened this rear opening for a roll-up window at bar height, really opened up the kitchen and engaged the rear courtyard space for gatherings/entertainment




framed in all exterior walls for insulation/chases and new interior walls for bathrooms




found in the ceiling




we installed all the windows/doors.. was a fun time, honestly! marvin ultrex/wood casements and thermatru fiberglass doors. flashed with dupont tape. oh and lots of shims (we built the bucks as true as possible but still needed them)












all new plumbing from soil to stack. 2 full baths, laundry, kitchen. gas dryer and range.




all new electrical from the panel. my favorite contractor! if anyone is doing home reno in Pittsburgh with electrical needs, PM me and i'll get you his name.




fully spray-foamed insulation. closed cell on all exterior walls and roof cavity.




basically a before/after pic




laying the cement board for one of the bathrooms. you'll see the shower pan at the bottom right. it's cement-reinforced XPS foam. barrier free.




some products:

finger-jointed walnut hardwood and butcher blocks for the whole house. still waiting to be installed...




heat pump hybrid water heater. went this route because i could not vent gas from the laundry room (abuts sidewalk).. expensive piece of equipment, but they're way more efficient than resistance electric!




speaking of heat pumps, i also went with a heat pump minisplit system for heating/cooling. again, went this route due to ducting issues. no pics, but they work amazingly well so far, and we've already had some cold nights (15*)


polished the original slab in the kitchen. it almost looks like terrazzo. i sealed it (and the exposed bricks) with a matte sealer




here's a shitty shot of the cabinets. there are more cabinets than this, but i seem to have forgotten to take any pictures. the granite is installed. i'm going with open shelving. there will be an island on casters.




some materials/finishes






the whole house is painted (not too many pics). i went with a brand of paint carried at Construction Junction. it is recycled latex and covers quite well, washes up easily, has a great palette of colors, and is amazingly 1/3 the cost of a comparable paint from Behr or Glidden.





currently the electrician is in there tying up loose ends. remaining work includes kitchen/bath tiling, plumbing the fixtures, replacing the stair treads/risers, laying the hardwood, and trim/touch up stuff. 6-8 weeks is my timeline, because i do this after work and on the weekends with help from family/friends!

[MR E30 325is]

Excellent work!

[TeXJ]

wow, really nice!

[ajhostetter]

Awesome work!

[mrsleeve]

Wow that is awesome work, I know your not planing in selling/flipping, but are you at all worried by the end of this that you will have an order of magnitude more into this place than your neighborhood can support if you were to need to get out of it.....

[evandael]

sleeve, great point. i would not have gone to the lengths i did in this project if my market didn’t support a profit. as it stands comps are showing that i could have nearly 50% ROI.. part of that was i got lucky when i bought it, but also that i have a RE license (so no commission loss on the listing side), and of course shopping hard for subcontractors and the value of sweat equity!