Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Update for February
Rowlett Property - Short sale, so not much new to present. Bank appraiser met my realtor out there this week to determine the market value. I'm sitting on this one for now.
New Properties.
Found a FSBO in Hamilton Park. It's an area bounded by LBJ on the North, Greenville Ave on the East, Forest Lane on the south, and 75 Central on the west. A low income, mostly black neighborhood. Five sibling have inherited it, and want to sell it. They're asking $65,000. It's not in bad shape, but needs some work. ARV is a little tough. Tax rolls have it at 97k and one of my evaluators has it at around $110. I think it would be good to get it at 45-50. Not sure what they'll take. They say there's a home equity loan of 45k against the property. Their uncle showed me the property, he says they're getting tired of messing with it. I might be able to take it off of their hands for what's owed on it. Spend about 5k on it and flip it. Rentals would be around $900 a month so I could maybe cash flow about $400 a month. I'll let them wait a little while then make them an offer.
Looking at a house tomorrow in a hot area of Dallas. . . Bishop Arts District. Only 1527sf, built in 1923. ARV= $240k! Asking price is 129k. Rehab est is around $50k. One of my evaluators says it may go as high as $250k! However, at $236k, I would profit about $30k on a flip. Take me a 4-5 weeks to rehab and DOM varies, but I figure a couple of months with the buying season creeping up. I'm looking at 2pm tomorrow and I'll have to work fast to secure this one, if I'm interested. I may not move fast enough to get this one, since I don't have the financing in place to decide quickly, and the wholesaler wants $5k as non-refundable earnest money. That alone may keep me away from the property. I only have $500 up on the Rowlett property and nothing up yet on the Hallum FSBO.
I'll let you know the results. I will be going out to the Rowlett property this weekend, if anyone wants to tag along with me.
Later.
New Properties.
Found a FSBO in Hamilton Park. It's an area bounded by LBJ on the North, Greenville Ave on the East, Forest Lane on the south, and 75 Central on the west. A low income, mostly black neighborhood. Five sibling have inherited it, and want to sell it. They're asking $65,000. It's not in bad shape, but needs some work. ARV is a little tough. Tax rolls have it at 97k and one of my evaluators has it at around $110. I think it would be good to get it at 45-50. Not sure what they'll take. They say there's a home equity loan of 45k against the property. Their uncle showed me the property, he says they're getting tired of messing with it. I might be able to take it off of their hands for what's owed on it. Spend about 5k on it and flip it. Rentals would be around $900 a month so I could maybe cash flow about $400 a month. I'll let them wait a little while then make them an offer.
Looking at a house tomorrow in a hot area of Dallas. . . Bishop Arts District. Only 1527sf, built in 1923. ARV= $240k! Asking price is 129k. Rehab est is around $50k. One of my evaluators says it may go as high as $250k! However, at $236k, I would profit about $30k on a flip. Take me a 4-5 weeks to rehab and DOM varies, but I figure a couple of months with the buying season creeping up. I'm looking at 2pm tomorrow and I'll have to work fast to secure this one, if I'm interested. I may not move fast enough to get this one, since I don't have the financing in place to decide quickly, and the wholesaler wants $5k as non-refundable earnest money. That alone may keep me away from the property. I only have $500 up on the Rowlett property and nothing up yet on the Hallum FSBO.
I'll let you know the results. I will be going out to the Rowlett property this weekend, if anyone wants to tag along with me.
Later.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Beginning of February
Well, ladies and gentlemen, February has begun! As of yesterday, I started my new job as a loan officer with Nations Reliable Lending, located at Coit and LBJ in the Park Central area. Our office is just East of the huge Watermark Church east of Hillcrest. So far, so good.
While I've been continuing to look for properties, my contract on the property in Rowlett, the short sale with BofA, continues to stew in its juices. BOA is now projecting a 4/13 close date, if they accept my contract. Remember, I offered $90k on a house that should have an ARV of around $175-$180...that target percent of 50% of ARV. I'm still waiting on the foundation bid, called MBR and asked why it's taken so long. Surely the Superbowl didn't cause a delay? Did your team win?
Remember this property has a pool. I wouldn't deal with a pool if I was going to hold the property as rental, but since I'm flipping, I think it will be fine. If I get a chance I'll head back out and take some pix and vids of the property and let you have a look at it in my next post. Let me know if it's something you would like to see. If not, then I won't go to all that trouble! :)
It has become tough finding SFR's, but I continue to look each and every night. I've decided I might step into some commercial properties and see how they might work out. Examples: car wash, laundramat/washateria (??), small apartment complexes. May be less competition in that area. These deals are harder to do without cash and credit. As I'm lucky enough to have both, I can proceed somewhat cautiously, and at least take a look. Let me know what you guys think about that, what you've maybe heard or not heard.
I know some of my readers have been going through some changes in their lives. Not to sound trite, but the door was closed, and I believe a window, or windows, has/have been opened. To me that's the only way to look at it. That, and it's a time to find out who your real friends and family are. Please keep me posted on each of your progress as life changes your mountains to climb and responsibilities to upkeep. I may not have the answer, but I will lend a compassionate and understanding ear.
Bye for now.
While I've been continuing to look for properties, my contract on the property in Rowlett, the short sale with BofA, continues to stew in its juices. BOA is now projecting a 4/13 close date, if they accept my contract. Remember, I offered $90k on a house that should have an ARV of around $175-$180...that target percent of 50% of ARV. I'm still waiting on the foundation bid, called MBR and asked why it's taken so long. Surely the Superbowl didn't cause a delay? Did your team win?
Remember this property has a pool. I wouldn't deal with a pool if I was going to hold the property as rental, but since I'm flipping, I think it will be fine. If I get a chance I'll head back out and take some pix and vids of the property and let you have a look at it in my next post. Let me know if it's something you would like to see. If not, then I won't go to all that trouble! :)
It has become tough finding SFR's, but I continue to look each and every night. I've decided I might step into some commercial properties and see how they might work out. Examples: car wash, laundramat/washateria (??), small apartment complexes. May be less competition in that area. These deals are harder to do without cash and credit. As I'm lucky enough to have both, I can proceed somewhat cautiously, and at least take a look. Let me know what you guys think about that, what you've maybe heard or not heard.
I know some of my readers have been going through some changes in their lives. Not to sound trite, but the door was closed, and I believe a window, or windows, has/have been opened. To me that's the only way to look at it. That, and it's a time to find out who your real friends and family are. Please keep me posted on each of your progress as life changes your mountains to climb and responsibilities to upkeep. I may not have the answer, but I will lend a compassionate and understanding ear.
Bye for now.
Monday, January 28, 2013
New week Monday
Last post I was telling you about the houses I looked at in Rowlett.
House 1 the Short Sale - The owner accepted my offer of $90,000, with financing. So now it goes to the bank to accept or deny or counter. An all cash offer of $100k came in right behind mine, but snooze, you lose, because the seller/owner already accepted my offer and now all other offers have to wait until mine is declined and the house is back on the market for their offers to be considered. Today, MBR is reviewing the foundation and giving me a bid on it's repair. This will probably take a little while, but I'm prepared to wait...no hurry here.
The other house, on the same street, is a FNMA FC, but isn't on their website nor MLS. May be a "shadow inventory" product. Brenda is trying to get through to FNMA and find someone who might be willing to entertain an offer on the property.
The other two...one I rejected, the other I was outbid.
My brother Gregg and I went to the Real Estate Expo in Hurst this Saturday and ran into a lot of people I know, mainly in the booths. If you missed it, you missed a good experience to get to meet and visit with the kinds of people who might have a sizable impact on your future. But there will be others. Keep all of this in perspective and in context as to where you are in life right now. Always know what are the important things in life that will stabilize your day-to-day existence. Then, you can venture out and do some extra-curricular activity, both time-wise and money-wise. And when you're ready, I'll be there to help you the best that I can.
On Saturday, I talked with a young man who is the rep for New Western Acquisitions for the Dallas area, and realized he's the son of a couple that is good friends with Cyndi and me. We've known each other for almost 13 years now. So I called them up and we went out Saturday night. We (the Dad) and I talked a lot about real estate. He's a VP with Chase (he's an IT computer-type engineer) and has been wanting to do something in real estate for awhile. Now that his son is involved, he may want to more seriously consider getting into the game. He has credit and money, but not a lot of time. We may do a deal together so that his son will get the "sale" of the property and we'll get a property that I'll handle start to finish and he can watch and learn, and earn. A win-win-win situation. We'll see what happens.
Still looking at properties. I'll keep you posted on progress or changes.
TTFN.
Mark
House 1 the Short Sale - The owner accepted my offer of $90,000, with financing. So now it goes to the bank to accept or deny or counter. An all cash offer of $100k came in right behind mine, but snooze, you lose, because the seller/owner already accepted my offer and now all other offers have to wait until mine is declined and the house is back on the market for their offers to be considered. Today, MBR is reviewing the foundation and giving me a bid on it's repair. This will probably take a little while, but I'm prepared to wait...no hurry here.
The other house, on the same street, is a FNMA FC, but isn't on their website nor MLS. May be a "shadow inventory" product. Brenda is trying to get through to FNMA and find someone who might be willing to entertain an offer on the property.
The other two...one I rejected, the other I was outbid.
My brother Gregg and I went to the Real Estate Expo in Hurst this Saturday and ran into a lot of people I know, mainly in the booths. If you missed it, you missed a good experience to get to meet and visit with the kinds of people who might have a sizable impact on your future. But there will be others. Keep all of this in perspective and in context as to where you are in life right now. Always know what are the important things in life that will stabilize your day-to-day existence. Then, you can venture out and do some extra-curricular activity, both time-wise and money-wise. And when you're ready, I'll be there to help you the best that I can.
On Saturday, I talked with a young man who is the rep for New Western Acquisitions for the Dallas area, and realized he's the son of a couple that is good friends with Cyndi and me. We've known each other for almost 13 years now. So I called them up and we went out Saturday night. We (the Dad) and I talked a lot about real estate. He's a VP with Chase (he's an IT computer-type engineer) and has been wanting to do something in real estate for awhile. Now that his son is involved, he may want to more seriously consider getting into the game. He has credit and money, but not a lot of time. We may do a deal together so that his son will get the "sale" of the property and we'll get a property that I'll handle start to finish and he can watch and learn, and earn. A win-win-win situation. We'll see what happens.
Still looking at properties. I'll keep you posted on progress or changes.
TTFN.
Mark
Monday, January 21, 2013
MLK/Inaugaration Day
Happy MLK/Inaugaration Day.
So Saturday I looked at 4 houses in Rowlett. Brenda Houghton with ReMax was my agent. I know Brenda from Carlisles and Gallagher, and she helped a mortgage client of mine find a house. She is a very knowledgeable and hard-working agent.
House 1 was a short-sale of Brenda's, so it's still owner-occupied. 2,800+sf, 5/3.5 two story with a pool. Needs foundation work already bid for about $7,000. The rest is cosmetic. Biggest issue is popcorn ceilings. The engineered wood floors, all walls tape/bed/texture and paint (tbtp). Kitchen cabinets can remain and new granite c'tops and appliances. Pool needs a new heater and patio area needs painting. ARV is around $178k. I'll submit an offer $85k but $90k-$95k may be my settling in spot. Net profit potential is around $34k
House 2 needed an appoint even though it's vacant. Same layout as House 1 pretty much. Two story, about 2,700 sf. It's been on the market almost a year. We found out why. The absentee owner was there to greet us! Mr. Ho. He decided to follow us around and speak to us in broken English in a very loud voice. It was aggravating as he tried to "sell" me on the house and how great it was. So I began to point out to him all the defects and issues with the house. That didn't sit well with him. He said that it was all fixable and that's why he had it so cheap. It was a market value home of around $170? that he had listed for $148. He had "repaired" the house, but it was all too obvious. He didn't repair, he patched. Too many things to list here. When in the kitchen, I made the comment to Brenda that the rust-brown floor tile had to go, he looked at me and said "you no like the tile?" I said "no, i don't. but it really doesn't matter what I like, it's what my potential buyer is going to like". He didn't understand that. And that's why his house is still on the market after over a year. On the side of the house, the whole rear half of the house's bricks were bowing out about halfway up and then moved back to even near the roof line. Major issue for me. He said that was not a big problem. Wrong. Two major foundation cracks in the front of the house under the two left and right upstairs windows were poorly patched. This is a curb appeal issue. I knew anyone pulling up to the house could immediately look and see the patches and not even get out of the car to see the inside. The only way around this is to paint the entire exterior of the house. We bailed on this one.
House 3 was back on the same street that house 1 was on, but it wasn't listed. I noticed it had postings on the door and window when approaching House 1. It was a HUD home that's been winterized since Oct 12. Brenda called a couple of numbers and eventually reached someone about the property. But it was Saturday and she gave Brenda another number to call on Tuesday when offices reopened. It looked in really good shape from the outside. And, a pool. This one is still in the air until Brenda can get me more information.
House 4 was about a mile north of the first 3. Again, a two-story, but this one was somewhat smaller, about 1,800sf. The garage had been converted into a game room, and that sf was not included. I'm debating about converting back into a garage, since it had a corner fireplace in it and some nice addons. But most people want a garage for storage and their cars. So I'll probably convert, or add on a nice carport across the back patio and the garage. The kitchen was done out nice with nice wood cabinets and black granite ctops. However, it was small, and it had an island. With the island, only one person could stand at the sink. So the island has to go. And there's a wall between the kitchen seating area and the living room. I'll open up that wall, either partially or totally, and make the kitchen/kitchen table/dining room table/Living room area all open. There appeared to be a small amount of movement so I'll have MBR Guaranteed Foundation Repair come give me an estimate on the foundation. I like this a lot. But, they're asking $89,900 for the property. With an ARV of $130k and rehab costs of around $29k, my Q&D says offer $57k. I'm offering $60k. That should give a NET profit of around $20k. We will submit and offer for $60k.
Please don't look at the Gross Profit numbers some wholesalers will give you. You need to take into consideration sales costs, if you're going to flip retail. You can always have Gross Equity on your books if you hold for rental. It looks nice. But you'd better estimate about 8%-10% of your ARV for selling costs and then figure out your net profit, and max it out at 20% or $20,000. In the case of House 4 I'm right at $20,000. So I'd better not have any major surprises!
I'll let you know later house these work out. House 1, being a SS, won't have any decision for probably a couple of months. House 4 should have us an answer within a week or so. House 3 Brenda will find out more information this week.
Have a great day off!
So Saturday I looked at 4 houses in Rowlett. Brenda Houghton with ReMax was my agent. I know Brenda from Carlisles and Gallagher, and she helped a mortgage client of mine find a house. She is a very knowledgeable and hard-working agent.
House 1 was a short-sale of Brenda's, so it's still owner-occupied. 2,800+sf, 5/3.5 two story with a pool. Needs foundation work already bid for about $7,000. The rest is cosmetic. Biggest issue is popcorn ceilings. The engineered wood floors, all walls tape/bed/texture and paint (tbtp). Kitchen cabinets can remain and new granite c'tops and appliances. Pool needs a new heater and patio area needs painting. ARV is around $178k. I'll submit an offer $85k but $90k-$95k may be my settling in spot. Net profit potential is around $34k
House 2 needed an appoint even though it's vacant. Same layout as House 1 pretty much. Two story, about 2,700 sf. It's been on the market almost a year. We found out why. The absentee owner was there to greet us! Mr. Ho. He decided to follow us around and speak to us in broken English in a very loud voice. It was aggravating as he tried to "sell" me on the house and how great it was. So I began to point out to him all the defects and issues with the house. That didn't sit well with him. He said that it was all fixable and that's why he had it so cheap. It was a market value home of around $170? that he had listed for $148. He had "repaired" the house, but it was all too obvious. He didn't repair, he patched. Too many things to list here. When in the kitchen, I made the comment to Brenda that the rust-brown floor tile had to go, he looked at me and said "you no like the tile?" I said "no, i don't. but it really doesn't matter what I like, it's what my potential buyer is going to like". He didn't understand that. And that's why his house is still on the market after over a year. On the side of the house, the whole rear half of the house's bricks were bowing out about halfway up and then moved back to even near the roof line. Major issue for me. He said that was not a big problem. Wrong. Two major foundation cracks in the front of the house under the two left and right upstairs windows were poorly patched. This is a curb appeal issue. I knew anyone pulling up to the house could immediately look and see the patches and not even get out of the car to see the inside. The only way around this is to paint the entire exterior of the house. We bailed on this one.
House 3 was back on the same street that house 1 was on, but it wasn't listed. I noticed it had postings on the door and window when approaching House 1. It was a HUD home that's been winterized since Oct 12. Brenda called a couple of numbers and eventually reached someone about the property. But it was Saturday and she gave Brenda another number to call on Tuesday when offices reopened. It looked in really good shape from the outside. And, a pool. This one is still in the air until Brenda can get me more information.
House 4 was about a mile north of the first 3. Again, a two-story, but this one was somewhat smaller, about 1,800sf. The garage had been converted into a game room, and that sf was not included. I'm debating about converting back into a garage, since it had a corner fireplace in it and some nice addons. But most people want a garage for storage and their cars. So I'll probably convert, or add on a nice carport across the back patio and the garage. The kitchen was done out nice with nice wood cabinets and black granite ctops. However, it was small, and it had an island. With the island, only one person could stand at the sink. So the island has to go. And there's a wall between the kitchen seating area and the living room. I'll open up that wall, either partially or totally, and make the kitchen/kitchen table/dining room table/Living room area all open. There appeared to be a small amount of movement so I'll have MBR Guaranteed Foundation Repair come give me an estimate on the foundation. I like this a lot. But, they're asking $89,900 for the property. With an ARV of $130k and rehab costs of around $29k, my Q&D says offer $57k. I'm offering $60k. That should give a NET profit of around $20k. We will submit and offer for $60k.
Please don't look at the Gross Profit numbers some wholesalers will give you. You need to take into consideration sales costs, if you're going to flip retail. You can always have Gross Equity on your books if you hold for rental. It looks nice. But you'd better estimate about 8%-10% of your ARV for selling costs and then figure out your net profit, and max it out at 20% or $20,000. In the case of House 4 I'm right at $20,000. So I'd better not have any major surprises!
I'll let you know later house these work out. House 1, being a SS, won't have any decision for probably a couple of months. House 4 should have us an answer within a week or so. House 3 Brenda will find out more information this week.
Have a great day off!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Results from Last Week's visits
UPDATE on last week's post:
Santa Fe Trail, Plano- Really nice house in Plano, across from an elementary school. The only real thing wrong with the house was the foundation, but it was a biggie. There wasn't a level spot in the house. Probably due to two huge trees close to the house. Beautiful, but pounding the foundation. Also, it was an auction property. My offer would have been around $63,000. The current highest bid was $68,000. So I'm probably out on the property. I ordered a foundation inspection from MBR, will be getting the results today.
Gwendola, McKinney - These sellers are in denial. The house is in need of foundation repair and total updating. Paneling, carpeting, popcorn ceilings, and a kitchen that needs total updating. And a patio that needs a cover added to reduce the amount of rainwater that collects towards the house causing foundation issues. Their asking price is $120,000. Based on the comps I pulled, the house ARV is around $90,000. There have been several foreclosures and short sales in the neighborhood. Not their fault, but these impact my ability to sell the house once it's rehabbed. So I have to take that into account. So I had to drop my offer to around $65,000. Well, if they rejected $84,000, they're surely going to reject $65,000. MBR already had a foundation inspection on the house, and it was around $8,000.
Merriman Park house - I thought the ARV was too high. Someone else didn't. The house was purchased within the evening. Maybe they expect to make less than I did. Maybe if I'd reduced what I expected to make on the deal...who knows. But I would rather let a good deal go than invest in a deal that might possibly go bad. I know there's no sure things, since I've been doing them long enough to know. But this was a $175,000 investment in a house that would ARV around $250k. Since it's a little "rich" for me, I stuck with my original premise. I've watched the house down the street from me that has 250 sf more than this house reduce they're asking price from 289 to 282. It does have a detached garage, and backs up to Abrams Road (a reasonable distance away to really not be an issue) but is rehabbed pretty nicely. Again, time will tell and I'll watch both of these properties as they evolve.
I'll be looking at a HUD home in Mesquite. South of I30, just east of 636. It's currently owner purchase only, but will go investor in the first week of February. So I'll look at it today and have my numbers ready to go to submit my bid if necessary.
The real estate seminar I went to on Saturday was interesting. Learned a few tidbits before they put the sales pitch on. One thing they stressed...don't do a deal unless it's 20% or $20k profit...period. Well, I've had that rule for the last 5 years. So I guess I've been on the right track. Ended up running into a business acquaintance from 20 years ago. He's been in real estate extensively, and was there to look at getting his wife involved in something like this. We agreed to visit again in the next week or so. I almost decided not to go, because we had company coming over that night. But I went, and made a connection with one person that could prove to be a good one. So you never know. But I do know that I wouldn't have met him if I was home cleaning house and getting ready for company. So go to as many of these type of events as you can. You'll learn something, and you'll meet people. That way you cover both ends of the "it's now what you know, it's who you know". I think it's both.
Until next time...
Santa Fe Trail, Plano- Really nice house in Plano, across from an elementary school. The only real thing wrong with the house was the foundation, but it was a biggie. There wasn't a level spot in the house. Probably due to two huge trees close to the house. Beautiful, but pounding the foundation. Also, it was an auction property. My offer would have been around $63,000. The current highest bid was $68,000. So I'm probably out on the property. I ordered a foundation inspection from MBR, will be getting the results today.
Gwendola, McKinney - These sellers are in denial. The house is in need of foundation repair and total updating. Paneling, carpeting, popcorn ceilings, and a kitchen that needs total updating. And a patio that needs a cover added to reduce the amount of rainwater that collects towards the house causing foundation issues. Their asking price is $120,000. Based on the comps I pulled, the house ARV is around $90,000. There have been several foreclosures and short sales in the neighborhood. Not their fault, but these impact my ability to sell the house once it's rehabbed. So I have to take that into account. So I had to drop my offer to around $65,000. Well, if they rejected $84,000, they're surely going to reject $65,000. MBR already had a foundation inspection on the house, and it was around $8,000.
Merriman Park house - I thought the ARV was too high. Someone else didn't. The house was purchased within the evening. Maybe they expect to make less than I did. Maybe if I'd reduced what I expected to make on the deal...who knows. But I would rather let a good deal go than invest in a deal that might possibly go bad. I know there's no sure things, since I've been doing them long enough to know. But this was a $175,000 investment in a house that would ARV around $250k. Since it's a little "rich" for me, I stuck with my original premise. I've watched the house down the street from me that has 250 sf more than this house reduce they're asking price from 289 to 282. It does have a detached garage, and backs up to Abrams Road (a reasonable distance away to really not be an issue) but is rehabbed pretty nicely. Again, time will tell and I'll watch both of these properties as they evolve.
I'll be looking at a HUD home in Mesquite. South of I30, just east of 636. It's currently owner purchase only, but will go investor in the first week of February. So I'll look at it today and have my numbers ready to go to submit my bid if necessary.
The real estate seminar I went to on Saturday was interesting. Learned a few tidbits before they put the sales pitch on. One thing they stressed...don't do a deal unless it's 20% or $20k profit...period. Well, I've had that rule for the last 5 years. So I guess I've been on the right track. Ended up running into a business acquaintance from 20 years ago. He's been in real estate extensively, and was there to look at getting his wife involved in something like this. We agreed to visit again in the next week or so. I almost decided not to go, because we had company coming over that night. But I went, and made a connection with one person that could prove to be a good one. So you never know. But I do know that I wouldn't have met him if I was home cleaning house and getting ready for company. So go to as many of these type of events as you can. You'll learn something, and you'll meet people. That way you cover both ends of the "it's now what you know, it's who you know". I think it's both.
Until next time...
Friday, January 11, 2013
A New Day
Well, as many of you that follow me that work for Carlisle and Gallagher know, we work there No More. For me, it's the beginning of a new day. When a door gets shut, a window is opened. I know several of my friends at CG are struggling to determine what to do next. I will be thinking and praying for them to make good decisions and work hard to find their next employment opportunity. For me, I'll probably go back into the mortgage lending arena. I still have my mortgage license and will see what opportunities present themselves.
As for my real estate. Now that I don't have a full-time regular job, my plan of buy-rehab-hold has been put on hold...somewhat. When refinancing lenders want to see a current JOB for dtir's, or two year's tax returns if your commission-only or base plus commission. So now my clock starts ticking for the next two year's, unless I get a full-time job with salary. I may have a solution for it, and I'll know more by the end of today and will let you know about it.
PROPERTIES: Still looking. I met with Net Worth Realty, a wholesaler, yesterday and let them know my buying areas and price ranges. By last night they'd sent me a listing, which was in my neighborhood (they didn't know my home address, so it was a coincidence). 1976sf with an ARV of $299 (around $150/sf), purchase price of $175, estimated rehab of $50. But I know my neighborhood well. The package listed the 8 properties they used as comps. When I pulled comps, I didn't get anywhere near what they were showing as a $/sf. My ARV was coming in around $240. When I compared the properties he used vs the ones I looked up, I saw several of my current SOLDS not on his list, and several SOLDS on his list not on mine. I don't know why he left off the SOLDS I had, except for they were a lower $/sf. When I looked a copies of the MLS listings on the sold properties, I noticed the sales dates of many of them were March-June of 2012. Lesson: These comps are 8-10 months old. An appraiser won't go back that far unless he has to because of no recent sales. In this case, there were plenty of recent sales. They just weren't at a higher price/sf. So this is where you need to be careful of people like this and do your research and homework. We were going to look at the property at 7:00am but he cancelled while he researched his property acquisition specialist's numbers. I'll be interested to see what he comes back with! I told him that for me to make a profit on the house I'd have to buy it at around $120,000 not $175,000. I'm sure they won't take that, and they'll just wait for some other idiot to believe their numbers and buy it at $175,000 and then take it in the shorts when it comes time to sell it. It just won't be me. It's hard to be primed and ready to buy and move forward and then have to stifle on each deal because it isn't right. But that's why you work the numbers. I've been through the stress on a couple of properties that were close to not selling within my needed time frame and were about to cost me much more than I had budgeted. Fortunately, I dodged that bullet. But the closeness of the bullet, and the fretting and sleepless nights I remember cause me to take pause and Make Sure It's Done Right at purchase. If the numbers don't work, then don't move on it, move on to the next property. You will be glad you did! I'm still in the hunt for this house, but not very confident about it.
Today I'm looking at two properties in Plano with Justin that were under contract but have fallen off. One, on Santa Fe Trail, looks promising. I've verbally offered an amount about 25% less than the asking price. The seller's agent has not rejected my lowball offer, just assured my agent that there's no option period, and if I balk on buying it I'll lose my earnest money. Not a bid deal. I'll look closer at it today. I've estimated about 20,000 for repairs on a 1565 sf house, so unless it's a real mess, that should be enough. We'll see today. We're also planning on visiting Gwendola in Plano. I'll let you know how these visits turn out.
OTHER: Continuing education with a Seminar tomorrow morning. Titled "The Flipping Formula" at the Doubletree Hilton at Campbell Road and Central in Richardson. Starts around 8:30. I'm sure it's a sales pitch, but I may make some good connections. I go to these things, and take a lot of business cards and do a lot of visiting. I also continue my education by paying $67 to buy Carrie Wilbur's "Rehab Renegade" series. All online, one time charge. A lot of stuff I already know, but reviewing pdf's and listening to audios and video's keeps my mind alert to every aspect. She charges $97 for the course, but if you "leave the page" she'll try to keep you by offering you a $30 discount. After several on the page / leave the page attempts, I realized this was her lowest offer, so, for $67 it isn't a bad deal. I'm working through it now. There's a lot of "systems" out there that are cheap, like this one. Take them for what they are. They'll tell you how you'll be making $10,000 a month. Mostly, they're education, so they'll be cheap and good. This one will take me awhile to get through, but I've already picked up a few "nuggets" so it's worth the $67. I'm also looking at Cris Chico's "make money with only a laptop and cellphone" system. I think his is only $47. I emailed Carrie and Cris about any "upsells" once inside. Both have a single upsell attempt inside, but Carrie's is for continual mentoring and coaching calls, for a monthly charge. I passed on them. If you want to check out her system Click here to find out how. I don't get any commission for this, just passing on information.
Until next time...
Mark
As for my real estate. Now that I don't have a full-time regular job, my plan of buy-rehab-hold has been put on hold...somewhat. When refinancing lenders want to see a current JOB for dtir's, or two year's tax returns if your commission-only or base plus commission. So now my clock starts ticking for the next two year's, unless I get a full-time job with salary. I may have a solution for it, and I'll know more by the end of today and will let you know about it.
PROPERTIES: Still looking. I met with Net Worth Realty, a wholesaler, yesterday and let them know my buying areas and price ranges. By last night they'd sent me a listing, which was in my neighborhood (they didn't know my home address, so it was a coincidence). 1976sf with an ARV of $299 (around $150/sf), purchase price of $175, estimated rehab of $50. But I know my neighborhood well. The package listed the 8 properties they used as comps. When I pulled comps, I didn't get anywhere near what they were showing as a $/sf. My ARV was coming in around $240. When I compared the properties he used vs the ones I looked up, I saw several of my current SOLDS not on his list, and several SOLDS on his list not on mine. I don't know why he left off the SOLDS I had, except for they were a lower $/sf. When I looked a copies of the MLS listings on the sold properties, I noticed the sales dates of many of them were March-June of 2012. Lesson: These comps are 8-10 months old. An appraiser won't go back that far unless he has to because of no recent sales. In this case, there were plenty of recent sales. They just weren't at a higher price/sf. So this is where you need to be careful of people like this and do your research and homework. We were going to look at the property at 7:00am but he cancelled while he researched his property acquisition specialist's numbers. I'll be interested to see what he comes back with! I told him that for me to make a profit on the house I'd have to buy it at around $120,000 not $175,000. I'm sure they won't take that, and they'll just wait for some other idiot to believe their numbers and buy it at $175,000 and then take it in the shorts when it comes time to sell it. It just won't be me. It's hard to be primed and ready to buy and move forward and then have to stifle on each deal because it isn't right. But that's why you work the numbers. I've been through the stress on a couple of properties that were close to not selling within my needed time frame and were about to cost me much more than I had budgeted. Fortunately, I dodged that bullet. But the closeness of the bullet, and the fretting and sleepless nights I remember cause me to take pause and Make Sure It's Done Right at purchase. If the numbers don't work, then don't move on it, move on to the next property. You will be glad you did! I'm still in the hunt for this house, but not very confident about it.
Today I'm looking at two properties in Plano with Justin that were under contract but have fallen off. One, on Santa Fe Trail, looks promising. I've verbally offered an amount about 25% less than the asking price. The seller's agent has not rejected my lowball offer, just assured my agent that there's no option period, and if I balk on buying it I'll lose my earnest money. Not a bid deal. I'll look closer at it today. I've estimated about 20,000 for repairs on a 1565 sf house, so unless it's a real mess, that should be enough. We'll see today. We're also planning on visiting Gwendola in Plano. I'll let you know how these visits turn out.
OTHER: Continuing education with a Seminar tomorrow morning. Titled "The Flipping Formula" at the Doubletree Hilton at Campbell Road and Central in Richardson. Starts around 8:30. I'm sure it's a sales pitch, but I may make some good connections. I go to these things, and take a lot of business cards and do a lot of visiting. I also continue my education by paying $67 to buy Carrie Wilbur's "Rehab Renegade" series. All online, one time charge. A lot of stuff I already know, but reviewing pdf's and listening to audios and video's keeps my mind alert to every aspect. She charges $97 for the course, but if you "leave the page" she'll try to keep you by offering you a $30 discount. After several on the page / leave the page attempts, I realized this was her lowest offer, so, for $67 it isn't a bad deal. I'm working through it now. There's a lot of "systems" out there that are cheap, like this one. Take them for what they are. They'll tell you how you'll be making $10,000 a month. Mostly, they're education, so they'll be cheap and good. This one will take me awhile to get through, but I've already picked up a few "nuggets" so it's worth the $67. I'm also looking at Cris Chico's "make money with only a laptop and cellphone" system. I think his is only $47. I emailed Carrie and Cris about any "upsells" once inside. Both have a single upsell attempt inside, but Carrie's is for continual mentoring and coaching calls, for a monthly charge. I passed on them. If you want to check out her system Click here to find out how. I don't get any commission for this, just passing on information.
Until next time...
Mark
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