Flip This House - The Reality

Parent Cafe
581

<p>Cali. Courts are very liberal their mission is to protect the under privileged. The court will side with the mentally undermined if an unlawful detainer is contested by the defendant. </p>

<p>Here is a true story</p>

<p>I talked and paid the prior owners son out of the house. He had no place to go, so he took a shack in the back yard of a friend of his. It was agreed that he would only stay for three month. Well, it turned out that his friend could not get rid of him and he is still there after year and three months. </p>

<p>Not sure what would happen if you were to evict a section 8, but i would imagine there might be problems.</p>

582

<p>What legal reasons can an owner occupant (that has not paid their mortgage and their house is foreclosed) use with a judge to try to stay in the property? Just trying to learn from others what types of excuses they can use. Do they walk into court and claim they are mentally ill?</p>

583

<p>

It’s rare that you have to evict a section 8 for non-payment because the gov’t pays most or all of the rent. But all the other stuff applies, and they can be evicted just like everyone else.</p>

<p>

There generally aren’t any legal reasons. But the judge usually assumes you (the landlord) have deep pockets, so he would rather screw you than put someone out on the street.</p>

<p>So you tell the judge I don’t have a job, I have nowhere to go, I’ve filed for disability, I’m in therapy because the stress is causing me issues, etc, and the judge will give them a while to try to get their act together so they don’t wind up in a homeless shelter.</p>

<p>It could be a short as two weeks, or 6 months or longer, depending on the judge and how convincing a sob story you can spin.</p>

<p>In MA, a smart tenant can also play games with the health department. Take a hammer to a plug, call the health department to get it cited, stop paying rent because of the violation, and don’t let the landlord in to fix it, and they are un-evictable for a period of time. In extreme cases it can take a year to get them out.</p>

<p>It varies a lot from housing court to housing court, and even judge to judge. Some judges have little patience with deadbeats, some don’t care about the landlords.</p>

<p>It is generally cheaper to buy them out, as repugnant as that is (a cash for keys kind of thing), or bite the bullet and hire a lawyer who specializes in evictions.</p>

584

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<p>^^ Had to examine a residential housing property. 12 units, all section 8. OMG, there is a 3 bed unit and the rent for the tenant portion was only $25/mo, he had at least 6 ppl live there and the rent was not paid for 6 mo.!!! When we got there, there was no light, all windows were papered up and the agent had flash light to lead the way. I took a photo at the kitchen, food was all over the counter and the table next to it.</p>

<p>Because the attractiveness of the selling price, there were many buyers showed up for the tour, one of the lady almost throw up after the tour.</p>

585

<p>One of the trick for a tenant to stave off eviction is to file bankruptcy, usually on the morning of sheriff’s eviction day. You show up at the bankruptcy court at 9am sharp, got a judgement and run to the sheriff’s office, sheriff will not evict you.</p>

<p>I had this tenant filed for 4 consecutive bankruptcies and each one costs me to pay $750~1000 to my lawyer to file some papers so the court will dismiss the bankruptcy and allow sheriff to evict her. I don’t have to pay for filing papers as the judge will automatically dismiss the case, but it might take 4 to 6 month for the judge get to it. After the 4th bankruptcy, the lawyer can file some document and if it is approved by the judge, no more bankruptcies can be filed thereafter. But some times the clerk make mistakes and one more may slip through. All in all, each bankruptcy takes 2 month for sheriff’s action and cost me 750 for the lawyer, 150 or so for the sheriff.</p>

<p>Had I not spend that 750 and wait for free dismissal, it will be 2 years before I can evict the tenant.</p>

586

<p>

Not saying it never happens… on the other hand, it wouldn’t be cost-effective for me to evict over $25/month.</p>

587

<p>As i understand in sec 8 if tenants are in default for more than X month, the landlord has to pay back the government portion of the rent.</p>

588

<p>The pay back rules are disclosed by the agent who represented that 12 units rental property, so the buyer can factor that in the total purchase price. As the bank will not responsible for it, even though they did get the rent from the government.</p>

<p>So, there were some one asked if he, the buyer or the new owner, can pay off that $150 so the tenant will not be in default. Sorry, that is not possible. Apparently, this sort of thing is closely monitored and documented.</p>

589

<p>OMG!!! It’s getting even more glamorous. Arrived at project this morning to find raw sewage flooding out of a sewer clean out in the middle of the sidewalk. Turds and wads of toilet paper everywhere. Running down the street.</p>

<p>I’ll give full update later, still dealing with it.</p>

590

<p>Today has got to top anything that would make flipping houses a desireable occupation. I showed up to the project at 9am after a run to Lowe’s to get that dang extra 2 pieces of tile that we were short to finish tiling the Master Shower. I step out of my truck and notice that the street is flooded and it appears that water is running from our sidewalk. I think “Oh, the guys must have watered the new landscape”. I look closer (2 inches of water) and realize that there is heavy wads of toilet paper at the curb. I look even closer and I realize that there is poop everywhere! OMG!!!</p>

<p>I run into the house and ask my lead… what the heck is going on?? They know nothing. We then go out and realize that water is flooding out of a City Box in the sidewalk that is labeled Water Meter located about 1 foot into the neighbor’s property. We get some long crow bars and flip open the top of the box and the sewer line cap comes floating out.</p>

<p>At this point I’m thinking ‘The City Sewer Line is not capped off and everything is flowing into the street, this is an emergency!!’. I run in and call the City, who of course is having their ‘every other Friday off’. The automated message says ‘If this is a sewer emergency, call the Police Department’. I put down the phone and, thinking this is a major health issue, call the Police Department. They tell me they are going to have to call in the City Public Works for the emergency. I run next door and start banging on the door because we have a shared sewer line and I want to make sure the ladies are OK and I shut off the water to our house to make sure that no one creates any more raw sewage to flow out. Of course, as soon as I shut off the water I start having a panic attack because I need to use the restroom, but I can’t go anywhere because the City is coming any minute to fix this problem! Any minute!</p>

<p>1 hour later big huge City Public Works trucks pull up in front and start analyzing the situation. They immediately start telling me that this is the homeowner’s problem because they have sent out letters moving the responsibility for every single lateral line out to the main sewer line - 16 feet out into the middle of the street. He actually thinks it is the responsibility of the neighbor’s because the box is located in front of their house. I keep asking “But it clearly says City Meter on this box, how can it be the homeowner’s responsibility that the sewer cap is off the line in the City Box???” He didn’t care, he just kept repeating the mantra that it is the homeowner’s responsibility. Bangs on the neighbor’s door and goes all around her house trying to get her out. She is a renter so there is nothing she is going to do about it. </p>

<p>I realize that I have the owner’s phone number in my phone calls about 2 weeks ago and miraculously I figure out which phone call on my cell phone it was and start calling the owners. This owner goes ballistic on me and wants to start telling me that the prior owner of my house was a jerk and this has been happening for years and the prior owner would never cooperate with them about getting it fixed. I start seeing major dollar signs going on here - can you imagine trying to tear up a City street to get to ‘homeowner’ line to repair??? I am in full panic, standing in poop.</p>

<p>Somehow I convince the City that little old ladies walk up and down this sidewalk and they need to do something about cleaning the mess up. They wash it down but they have to vacuum it up because they will get a huge fine if anything goes down the Storm Drain. He continues to tell me that they will get a huge fine. Then they disinfect everything, Thank God. But the final word from the City was that they will be ‘checking’ in front of the house from now on and if there are any further sewage spills, we will receive an official citation from the City. OMG… I realized that I have called the City on myself and now they are going to be watching every inch of construction we are doing at our project. How can I be so stupid??? I went into the back yard and threw up.</p>

<p>Now I am in contact with the owner of the house next door and they seem to be two partners. Both of them come over separately and start reaming me out about how they aren’t going to pay for anything, prior owner was a jerk, yada yada yada. But, they called the local plumber to come clear the drain. He’s coming any minute… did I mention I REALLY have to go to the restroom at this point?</p>

<p>Hours roll by and no plumber. All water is turned off, workers peeing in the back corners of our yard and I am miserable. Plumber finally comes at 2:30pm, trailed by the owner of the other property. He runs a small rotor down and determines it’s soft paper stuck in roots. They run the large rotor down and everything is fixed!! This guy has been the local drain plumber for 30 years and starts to spend over an hour telling me how the City is really being ridiculous, everyone in the neighborhood is getting told they have to pay to fix the City lines. </p>

<p>But the good news is that it cost $40 to clear the drain, the original clay pipe lateral is in fair condition and what we are just going to have to do is just disclose to the new owner that the drains need to be cleared about once a year. It is root invasion and it is City trees that are causing the problem. But the City will not let you remove the trees!</p>

<p>Came home, stripped off shoes and everything straight into the laundry and had several stiff drinks!!!</p>

<p>Promise I will have a new update, budget update and photos tomorrow evening.</p>

591

<p>Wow! What a yukky day. Glad the problems are resolved.</p>

592

<p>Ugh, that’s terrible coralbrook. We’re having a somewhat similar issue with sidewalks up here. The county recently abdicated its responsibility for taking care of the sidewalks. They’re now considered the owner’s problem, even if the damage is caused by city trees you’re not allowed to remove.</p>

<p>I was able to convince them to remove a tree from the front of our lawn which is in the beginning stages of breaking the curb, is planted 4’ from the water meter, and is growing completely through the power lines (it’s a pretty large oak). I was so lucky they told me if any damage that occurs to the sewer lines (my side or theirs) I’m liable for. Our neighbors across the street actually had a leak on the city side of the meter, and the city sewer workers told me the county was full of BS and they often just say those things to scare homeowners into taking care of things without trying to cost the county money.</p>

593

<p>Our town says owners are responsible for sidewalks, but at least they pay if the city trees destroy them.</p>

594

<p>The local plumber was really on a roll. He actually called me on my cell last night and told me that I probably should not go into the City and complain about anything or ask the City to do anything. He says I should lay low because several owners on the old streets have had a few floods back into their houses. The City actually had the gall to issue ‘citation letters’ to these owners and required them to dig up their sewer lines and raise them six inches to create better slope into the City system, at a huge cost. And these owners had to do it. So, he said the last thing both of us owners want is the City demanding we redo our sewer lines.</p>

<p>The clay pipe lateral we were working with yesterday was only 12" down at the sidewalk, when installed by the City 80 years ago. This means there is only a 12" drop from house to sidewalk, and who knows if it goes any deeper to connect to the City main.</p>

595

<p>Happy to have a septic system! What a mess, Coralbrook.</p>

<p>We used to have two very large old maples set back about 10 ft from the road in front of our house. They were within the right of way, barely. The town did some road work, widening it to include a bike path and cutting down the hill to comply with state rules. (We are on the brow of a hill. Apparently this is to enable people to speed with comparative impunity, since we are in a 25 MPH zone. :rolleyes: ) Anyway, in doing this the town cut away a significant amount of root. Next year, both trees were obviously dying. I called up the town, and said “You killed them, you cut them down.” They did so. I then called them back and asked when someone was going to be around to grind the enormous stumps. They complied. :D</p>

<p>There was no way in hell I was going to pay several thousand dollars to take those trees down. I was prepared to wait until they fell down, taking the power lines with them and blocking the road. Luckily, they were too far away to hit our house and unlikely to hit our neighbors across the street. But you can’t just wait when it is a matter of raw sewage!</p>

596

<p>Update on the potential buyers that came through the house 2 weeks ago. The guy called me on Thursday morning and said his parents were coming in on Friday and they were very anxious and wanted to see the house Saturday morning. I told him I had volunteer work on Saturday morning and could they please come on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. No, he said, they are very anxious and it has to be Saturday morning.</p>

<p>So I told my lead that some elderly people were coming through the house while he was working and he was not happy about it. He tried to tell me I needed to cancel my commitment on Saturday morning and be there. I was worried about liability too, with elderly people going through a construction zone.</p>

<p>After all this angst about what to do, I kept my commitment. I get a call late this morning… “Oh, we drove by and decided it is too small. Thanks”. Glad I didn’t waste my time standing around waiting for them.</p>

<p>Onward and upward.</p>

597

<p>Well, glad you didn’t wait around, but too bad they’re no longer interested.</p>

598

<p>UPDATE:</p>

<p>At the end of every week I walk around and try to figure out what I should take pictures of for the update. I am thoroughly convinced that nothing got done and I am always dismayed. Here is what we accomplished this week:</p>

<p>Patch the front of house and stucco front of house. Because we had to wait for the stucco we could not work on the front porch this weekend. We are getting a final fog coat over the entire house to try to even out the color, and get the color closer to what it is supposed to be.</p>

<p>Kitchen Island installed and the very difficult plumbing for the dishwasher in the island was completed.</p>

<p>More lighting installed and electrical finish work done.</p>

<p>New tree in front yard, some plants landscaped and a really nice flagstone front walk. Tore out old concrete path and moved it into the growing trash pile in the back.</p>

<p>Half of new giant back deck is completed.</p>

<p>Master shower all tiled, grout goes in on Monday. This took forever because it is a strange slope ceiling, lots of difficult cuts. But, on top of that my tile guy has decided to just be a slacker. He was showing up to work about 11am, then rambling off for 1/12 hour lunches, etc. On Thursday he did not show up until 1pm. I had a big talk with him and he suddenly showed up at 8am every morning since then. Almost had to fire the guy and then we would have had a big mess trying to finish the shower tile.</p>

<p>TIMING:</p>

<p>My goal for this project was to be done in 12 weeks, about October 25th. Well, I know we went at least two weeks over trying to get the plumbing done. </p>

<p>My biggest issue (well, besides poop all over my sidewalk) is that my H and I have already purchased tickets and rented apartments for a long Empty Next trip to Europe, starting October 25. We bought these tickets about 9 months ago, and I just never know what stage of a project I will be in. I was SURE we were going to be done with this before that date and I would have the house on the market. Well, it is not going to happen and I have put myself under a lot of stress to try to make this happen. I am really panicking about this.</p>

<p>Today I had a long talk with my agent about how we were going to get to the point of taking photos for the Open House and she said “You just have to let go… resign yourself to the fact that we are not going to market until you return”. I have given up, admitted defeat, raised the white flag, you name it. I will have to continue to pay my lead while I am gone to get things done. Unfortunately he really really does not like to do things design-wise without my viewing the stuff and making decisions. Not to mention the mounds of money I am going to have to leave for paying the guys and last minute purchases.</p>

<p>So, I have decided that we need to focus on only those things that I need to finish the design. For example, I am going to put out a bunch of flooring samples and make my decision on flooring and have everything at the project. But, flooring will have to go in while I am gone. I can live with that.</p>

<p>I also do not trust anyone to get the house as clean as it needs to be for photos and Open Houses. </p>

<p>My lead is very optimistic and thinks we can get done in two weeks. I know that we cannot.</p>

<p>BUDGET:</p>

<p>In general, here are some astounding numbers that we have spent:</p>

<p>$5,100 for demolition and dumpsters. This is just unbelievable. We still have another dumpster needed to demolish the collapsing garage.</p>

<p>$5,860 for plumbing (including tankless water heater). Again, I just cannot figure out what happened. We were using some ‘helpers’ with my lead and I think they were just freaking sitting around getting nothing done. He fired one of the guys.</p>

<p>$4,450 for electrical and still more electrician labor to come, probably another $500</p>

<p>But, somehow have saved a bundle on my original estimate for kitchen and baths. $15,000 for kitchen and I think we have only spent $5,300 (I know… this just seems crazy) and that includes the granite. Probably another $1,500 needed for granite install and finishing touches. However, a lot of the plumbing and electrical work in the figures above were for the kitchen.</p>

<p>I had budgeted $8,000 for two new bathrooms and we have spent $4,500 so far and probably another maybe $500 needed. Once again, the plumbing and electrical above really belong in this number. </p>

<p>We have spent $22,000 in materials and labor just for ‘stuff’ including the stucco, decks and landscaping.</p>

<p>All in all, I wanted to keep to $75,000 total and it looks like I will run over $5,000 and spend $80,000 for a complete overhaul of the 1,000sf house and a big yard.</p>

<p>New photos are on our group website.</p>

599

<p>Gotta say, one close encounters with raw sewage and I’d be outta the business. Fortunately, have other options for livelihood…</p>

600

<p>Shower looks great!! Stucco looks good so far, but I can’t wait to see the finished front door area.</p>