Sean from Maryville, TN - Newbie reporting for duty

[Sean Youngberg]

Hello BP!

I've just got the bug recently and I've just been soaking in all I can over the past two weeks, mostly all of the great resources on BP. I've been combing through the forums and blogs and the huge library of past podcasts.

I'm planning to buy my first property under 50K within the next two months. I am beginning in my local market of blount county, which is right outside of Knoxville, TN. I am probably going to start with a flip with a partner who is my friend and contractor. Hopefully it will lead to a long-term successful business. I know very little about rehab or construction, so I am worried about taking on a fixer without a knowledgeable partner.

My biggest challenge so far is how to accurately determine AVR without experience. I have been working on doing comps and adjustments, but my hold-up is finding the accurate values for adjustments in my market. Do experience flippers actually do this kind of CMA similar to an appraiser, or do you just kind of "know" what the AVR will be based on your experience?

[Chris Eaker]

Early on you will need to do more work to figure out ARV, but eventually you will just "know" it after you've done enough of them. If you have a realtor friend, they can help estimate values. You can pull up sales on Zillow and see what similar ones have been selling for.