Rehab investing basics

Rehab investing basics

United States · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 0 votes

Hello,

I wanted to ask the bigger pockets community a question about rehabbing properties.

I've never thought about getting into that area of real estate, and truth be told, I think I'm familiar with the process but I'm not 100% sure.

Can anyone explain to me the basics and process of an investor buying a property to rehab and flip it - from the first step to the last?

I'm very curious specifically about the costs of it.

For example, do they pay out of pocket to buy the property and fix it or do they get financing - like from hard money lenders?

Do they pay out of pocket for escrow fees, holding costs, etc.

Between the point an investor buys a property to the point they officially flip it, what are the costs that specifically come out of their pockets as opposed to the costs that they can get financed?

do hard money lenders have strict rules about ones personal income/credit?

I'm mostly confused on the costs/finance part of the process, as you can tell.

Overall though, the more detailed you can be in explaining the process overall, the more helpful because I'm always trying to learn as much as I can - especially in real estate.

Also, I'd love to hear from you the pros and cons, the risks and rewards, would you recommend somebody get in that side of the business and tips/warnings for when they do, etc.

Thank you everybody.

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Residential Real Estate Agent · Cookeville, TN · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 948 votes
12y

I've bought about 30 houses, with most of them being either rehab-and-flip or rehab-and-hold. I've completed one rehab/flip from start to finish this year, have two others on the market to sell, and another under contract to buy. There's way too much information required to fully answer all of your questions. There are books with several hundred pages written on the subject. But basically, buy a good deal at a low price, fix it up, and sell it. Your costs are going to be dependent on the deal, the amount of fix up, and the loan type. Sorry, I don't have time to go into details right now. Also, it can be risky. On one of my current deals I was looking to make 15-20 profit. But I went over budget on the rehab by several thousand, and the house is not selling as fast as I thought (so I'm having to lower the price). Now, I'm hoping to get out with 10 profit and move on. And I have another that will need new septic lines (which was not known up-front), so there will be additional costs there. But on the other hand, I cleared almost 30 on a rehab/flip recently.

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  • Wholesaler · Texarkana, TX · Member since 2013 · 45 posts · 3 votes
    12y

    Wow, you have lots of questions, and I don't think I can answer them all effectively. Bigger Pockets has lots of great articles, podcasts, and forums where you can go and read up on many of the things you mention.

    The first step in any new adventure should be education. Learn as much as you can, first, then execute.

    in general, it can be better to use someone else's money to do deals with, instead of your own. But that depends on you, and what your plans are, how much $ you have, and your tolerance for risk, and so on.

    Any good banker can get a loan together for you on a good deal. They will put the closing fees, and possible rehab costs into the one loan, as long as it makes sense for the bank. Some times doing an interest only loan like this will keep your initial payments low, while you complete the rehab, but then they will want to be paid off at the final closing with your retail buyer. Hard money loans can work for this too.

    My advice: hang around here on BP, and look around a bit. then you can start looking at possible deals, start putting together a team of professionals that you will work with you (banker, hard money lender?, contractor, lawyer, cpa, etc...). Then do it.

    Good luck, and I hope that helps a little.

  • Residential Real Estate Agent · Cookeville, TN · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 948 votes
    12y

    I've bought about 30 houses, with most of them being either rehab-and-flip or rehab-and-hold. I've completed one rehab/flip from start to finish this year, have two others on the market to sell, and another under contract to buy. There's way too much information required to fully answer all of your questions. There are books with several hundred pages written on the subject. But basically, buy a good deal at a low price, fix it up, and sell it. Your costs are going to be dependent on the deal, the amount of fix up, and the loan type. Sorry, I don't have time to go into details right now. Also, it can be risky. On one of my current deals I was looking to make 15-20 profit. But I went over budget on the rehab by several thousand, and the house is not selling as fast as I thought (so I'm having to lower the price). Now, I'm hoping to get out with 10 profit and move on. And I have another that will need new septic lines (which was not known up-front), so there will be additional costs there. But on the other hand, I cleared almost 30 on a rehab/flip recently.

  • United States · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Scott Anthony Thank you for your response. I couldn't agree more that education first and foremost is important. I also very highly agree with your point on having a team. It really sets the tone for a good foundation and can greatly increase your chances for success - which would partially explain why big corporations are so rich - good team/delegation :). You're absolutely right, BP is a great place to learn and I'm very fortunate to have found it. I've been on here for a while and been a member for a while but most of the stuff I look up have been mostly buy and hold investing and wholesaling - which would explain my relatively lack of info on rehabbing compared to the aforementioned aspects. I apologize for having too many questions - I do have a tendency to talk/type as I think, like a stream of consciousness, and sometimes thinkin out loud has its drawbacks lol. I do appreciate your response and I thank you very sincerely.

    @Bryan L. Thank you for your response. It's nice to get insight from someone in the field who's been there and done it. I most definitely appreciate the details. If I may ask - on the rehab deals you've done - did you find yourself, overall, paying for a lot of the costs out of your own pocket or did you have a source of financing? Thank you again for the response Bryan.

  • Residential Real Estate Agent · Cookeville, TN · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 948 votes
    12y

    I mostly use my own cash and/or lines of credit. Lines of credit are great for this type of stuff. It saves you most of the closing costs of a regular loan, and you can use the line for the rehab costs as well. I will also say that a couple of skills/experiences are very useful when rehabbing. 1. At least some basic knowledge of house construction/remodeling (at least a little bit of actual hands-on experience is helpful). 2. Project management.

  • Valdosta, GA · Member since 2013 · 12 posts · 1 vote
    12y

    hey man I did not know if you had a chance to listen to the biggerpockets podcast there are a good number of them based on other peoples formulas to rehab a property and I think it is either show 4 or one of the early ones that has a hardmoney lender on the show. If you do not have alot of time on your hands the articles here are really in dept so browse them. Also their is a hardmoney lender episode on youtube just type in biggerpockets hardmoney lender I think.

  • United States · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 0 votes
    12y

    @Rusty Hamontree Thanks Rusty, I appreciate that. I'll check it out.

  • Investor · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2013 · 348 posts · 128 votes
    12y

    You should check out J Scott's website... 123flip.com. As far as laying out, step by step, the process of flipping a house and all the factors involved it's about as good as it gets.

  • Investor · Pembroke, MA · Member since 2012 · 198 posts · 49 votes
    12y

    Great questions! Check out my colleagues Podcast, Mike LaCava has some great tips and information!

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/06/27/bp-podcast-024-flipping-analysis-mike-lacava/

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