All Forum Posts by: Andrew Besecker

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Luzerne.

Purchase price: $36,000

Cash invested: $100,000

Sale price: $152,500

This was my greatest learning experience. I now walk through homes with a different sense of purpose and understanding of what is going on as well as problems that may be present. I will be sure to use all of this knowledge in all of my future projects.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

As a Realtor, I see many houses come on the market each day. I always wanted to work on a project of my own but my first group of potential partners seemed to drag their feet. We were too late to purchase the home and it had come off the market. Years later I was starting up a LLC with a new business partner who was as head strong as I was. We looked around to find the perfect starter project with no luck. One day 437 Charles came back on the market and we jumped on it.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I found it as a foreclosure newly re-listed on the market. I used my experience in Real Estate to get us a good deal and the rest was completing all the paperwork to make everything go through smoothly.

How did you finance this deal?

We used a 203k loan to finance the purchase and renovations done to the house.

How did you add value to the deal?

We did a lot of work to the house. More so then hindsight would have liked me to do. The house was old and all the walls were plaster, hiding old electric and plumbing. We gutted the house. Upstairs we moved walls around to better use the space and give each bedroom its own closet (Master getting 2). We re-wired and re-plumbed the whole house inside and out. Installed new furnace, water heater, and A/C. Insulated and sheet rocked the walls. Updated the Kitchen and bathrooms. First floor laundry.

What was the outcome?

We gained a lot of knowledge and came out a bit ahead.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

There is a process to flipping homes that needs to be carefully calculated before any work can be started. Even with the right procedure problems will always arise! Do your homework before you get yourself involved in a project and always ask a professional if you have any questions.

I am looking to have my Family Real Estate Brokerage also offer Property Management. A lot of my family already has properties they would like us to manage so we would start out with somewhere around 20 properties. What is a good software to use as a company looking to start off?

@Patrick Liska We are just above 30" above grade so we will need a guard rail, as far as the risers for the stairs though we are only at three. Do you know if New Jersey and Pennsylvania have the same code for railings? Do you think the 2x2 spindles would look like we were cutting corners on the porch?

@Jeff Berg Thank you for pointing out the fact the columns seem to disappear given the dark stain. Never really noticed that until you had pointed it out. Do you feel we should get rid of the cast iron railings they had previously used for the front staircase? My business partner wanted to keep them but I am sure with the new railings we would either need to match or discard the old. We were thinking about spray painting them white, but it still may stand out as old. 

Thank you both for your opinions. Will definitely keep them in mind.

Hello Everyone,

My business partner and I need some help/advice on picking out railing options for out deck. We are getting to a place where we are low on money but do not want to cut costs on the porches because they are such a big part of the outside appearance. The porch right now is a very dark stained wood against a white vinyl sided house. The stairs leading up to the porch are stone and they have a old black rod iron railing. We have ideas to spray paint the existing railings and use a white vinyl railing to finish the porch. Another option might be to do a wood railing with either aluminum or wood spindles. Attached are some pictures of the porch. Let us know what options you think would be best and maybe some other ideas you might have white are not too expensive. Thank you.

Back Porch:

Front Porch:

^with foundation partially painted

Thank you all for your suggestions. Thank you @Michael Hassell for the illustration.

Hello,

My partner and I are working on our first Flip. We are doing this one by the book so we have pulled all permits and scheduled with the borough to do the inspections. Since we put in new Plumbing and Electrical work we had someone come and inspect the rough ins. During this inspection they noticed a beam that we installed to open up the floor plan is bearing wait on the floor where there is not support in the basement. This part of the basement is just in the crawl space so it only has about a 2 foot gap. There is a old stone foundation that ends right before where we need the support. My question to anyone who can help is, what would be our best way of fixing this problem? Do we box out and continue the old stone foundation with concrete? Do we buy a small pipe jack? Is there any other way to fix a problem like this?

Hello @Minghao Shao,

I am from the Wilkesbarre/Scranton area. If you were looking to learn more about the area feel free to message me. I know of a few good 4 units that may be of interest to you. Look forward to hearing from you.

Hello @Kyle Kerekes,

How has the whole sale business been going for you? Did you start or finish any deals yet? I started my first flip and was interested in getting into whole sale in the area. Would love some advice to get started. If you haven't started yet maybe we can come together and look into maybe working together on something.

Thank you all for your replies. I originally planned on having them all included, but after checking the market found only the older homes included the appliances. Many of the remodeled homes had sold without the fridge and some without the oven/stove. In order to stay above the competition I will still look to include all, but I will keep them uninstalled and as more of a incentive for higher full price offers. Thanks again.

Hello Everyone,

I have begun my first Flip and was looking for advice on what to include as far as appliances in the kitchen. We bought the house for 36k and we are looking to sell it for about 150k. That said we have totally redone the whole house, right down to the studs. We are going to put in granite counter tops and all new cabinets. For appliances I am thinking I would supply the oven and dishwasher, leaving the refrigerator for the prospective buyer to purchase. As this is my first flip I would like advice whether or not I should just include the refrigerator or not. I have seen remodel jobs where they have left everything empty in the kitchen, some appliances, and ones that include everything.

What do you seasoned Investors feel is the best route to go with the best possibility of a quick sale?  

Everything else about the house will be turn key so I would like to leave some areas for the buyer to customize the house to make it seem like they contributed something. 

Thank you and I look forward to hearing your advice.