All Forum Posts by: Alan C.

I think you have your work cut out for you. Doing your first flip and visiting the job site several times a week is hard enough, but you've multiplied your problems by doing this from 3,000 miles away.

I'm also concerned that you did not have a good/realistic idea of the rehab costs before you made your offer and committed to buying the property. This is a good way to lose money.

So first, I have to ask why Baltimore? Was it the fact that the houses looked cheap compared to CA prices or were there other reasons.

As other posters have said, you will need to be firm when dealing with contractors and if they sense you being a newbie.

I hate being harsh on all the points above, but I also hate to see people lose money on their first project and then think that real estate investing doesn't work. 

That being said, feel free to contact me. I'm a Baltimore native and full-time wholesaler.

Congrats on you new deal!

Where is the property located?

My biggest piece of advice would be very careful doing rehabs from another country. Even the best of partners can get sloppy, lazy, or even greedy (as in cooking the books) if no one is looking over their shoulder.

I'm a full-time wholesaler who has done about every type of residential transaction that you can think of, including rehabbing/flipping, renting and owner financing.

I'm also co-founder and president of a local investor group.

Feel free to contact me about Baltimore-DC area real estate.

Two more books to read: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. This is the granddaddy of all motivational, self-help books.

The E-myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. This book will keep you out of the trap of trying to start a business and winding up creating a job. (Read the book to see why that's important).

Also the Rich Dad, Poor Dad books are by Robert Kiyosaki and they along with Kiyosaki's Cash Flow games are must-haves.

You should also join local real estate investor groups. You'll meet other investors who are doing what you want to do and if the group is a good one, you will get a lot of education that can open your eyes to the pros and cons of each type of investing.

One final note: Do not get into rehabbing because your like/are good at transforming "drab outdated looking things and bringing them back to life." If that's your thing, become an interior decorator or space planner. Rehabbing/flipping is about running a business and while it is satisfying taking an old house and renewing it, the bottom line is all about the bottom line (i.e. it's about making money). If your focus is making a beautiful house, you might lose sight of your profits.

You should be a bit clearer as to what you want. 

Do you want a fixer-upper or a turnkey? Single or multi-family? With or without a tenant? What kind of net cash flow ($200/month, $300, etc.)? Is your $200K your "all-in" (buy and fix) budget or just your purchase price? 

When you have answers to the questions above, you'll have an easier time knowing when you''ll have found your deal or you may find that you can't get a deal that fits your criteria and then you have to take a step back to decide which parameters are most important to you.

Good luck.

Tristan, are you going to occupy the house?

I know you said that you did not use a 203(k), but these  loans are for homeowners only. In order to get one, you have to sign that you are going to be the homeowner. It's perjury and possible fraud if you use the loan to flip a property, so be careful in the future.

As you found out, there are lots of programs in Baltimore to buy houses, but again, my understanding is that these are for homeowners so I hope you didn't sign documents to that effect.

These loans used to be available for investors, but that stopped sometime around the year 2000.

The city does have an investor program called "Vacants to Value" targeted to help renovate rundown properties in decent areas, but you do have to jump through hoops as you do with any government program.

Any market can be a good one, but you must commit to getting the education needed.  The key is to market to get in front of motivated sellers. And there are motivated sellers in every area and during all parts of the real estate cycle. Personally, I would wholesale only in my own market where I know the areas and can make lots of personal connections to other investors.

The real consequences of the economy being shut down won't really be felt until 2021-2022. These emergency measures will stop and there will be a huge wave of evictions and foreclosures. When that happens, it will have a devastating effect on property prices and that will ripple throughout the rest of the economy. 

I look at a lot of business/economic/real estate cycles and all indications point to the bottom of this cycle around 2025-2026 so we might have a long way for prices to fall. 

Congrats on your first deal.

I'm a full-time wholesaler in Baltimore and also do some financing for rentals (see previous post). 

Feel free to message me directly

I received a "banned" message, but don't know why. Since I can't send messages and there's no reason given, how do you know what the problem is or how to fix it?

I probably wouldn't go the expense of installing central AC, but you have the perfect opportunity to raise the rent. You can supply a window unit for $200 or less. At lease renewal, increase the rent by $20-30 dollars/month. Your unit is paid off in a year, but you continue to collect the higher rent. Be sure to have the tenants sign an addendum covering the AC units. Also, I understand that Section 8 will pay higher rent for dwellings with window units.And I do think AC is necessary given how hot and humid the Baltimore area can get. (Don't know why some people responding think your property is in Boston)