Rehabbers & Builders - Err on A Side of Caution!

[Alex G.]

It's a sign of the times rehabbers and builders operate within these days. March 5th, 2019 foreclosure list shows around 15 hard money lenders posted various properties for foreclosure in Travis county alone. I've been carefully watching this count for the last 3-4 years. It's been trending up, consistently. But at 15 - it's the highest it has been in a very, very long time. That's about 15% of all postings for the month. 

If you're a flipper or a builder - be careful out there when you evaluate your projects. The price levels we are at today and with a slightly higher market interest rates than in the previous 3-5 years, the houses aren't flying off the market anymore. That means longer time on the market, higher holding costs, likely higher incentives and consessions to buyers, more inventory and choices for buyers. 

(Example: A buyer of one of my finished rehabs wants me to break down about 200 sf of kitchen tile flooring and replace it with the tile of their choice - at my expense.... And I'll sure be happy to do it with the right offer. Post closing, of course.)

Your end product has to be better and priced more competitively. And if your buy/permit/flip/sell cycle is running close to the time limit of your hard money loan, chances are you'll be under pressure to  sell at a lower price that you may have initially targeted.

And remember, if your exit price point is over $350K  AND you're leveraged - there may be very few alternative exit strategies to selling for cash. 

So.... Be more conservaitve in your projections. Screen deals for higher margins. Negotiate prices until your tongue bleeds. The risk is considerably higher than it was in the last few years.