All Forum Posts by: Andy Sabisch

Interesting and detailed post.  On most I would agree but while your absolutes may be what works in your area, finishes are regional in nature.  We are located a few hours from you and the "gray is out" is not the case here based on recent flips and quick sales.  It is still advisable to see what is on the local market and see what is selling as you develop your plan to renovate a property.  What works in one market might be totally off base in another and vicea versa.   Unfortunately there is no magic template that works everywhere and we often let the market drive choices as that is what will put $$ back in our pocket.

Most of the courses that promise to walk you through the process and have mentors make money . . .just not for you!  You probably have heard to join the local REIG as what you will find from the courses advertised everywhere anymore is that they offer general information that in many cases does not fit your market or state requirements.  Also, they use examples where properties are selling for $500K and up which is not where many of us are investing.  

BP has some great resources and in fact we have found it to offer far more in terms of tools and contacts than a course we paid WAY TOO MUCH for when we started out.  We could have bought our first property with what we wasted with the course and in talking to many others that have used the same program, they also found it to be overpriced and a Segway to more and more up sells to explain why we had not been successful.  

Seeing you are new to real estate, get a foundation from others in your area and see what works and what does not work.  Be careful that you do not pump money into a program claiming to make you an investor and provide help in doing so . . . it will quickly become your fault for not being successful when you question things and the mentor aspect offered will disappear.

Find local investors, get the foundation you need to focus on your area and stay positive in the journey,.  Most of us have made mistakes - try and pick our brains and avoid making the same ones.  

Good luck!

If you have private money available, you should explore those as preferable options due to terms and upfront coasts as compared to HML options.  If they are already investors, they could help you locate / assess deals as well which is a plus as they will want you to be successful to help them be successful.  

Getting your financing options in place before you find a deal is always a better route to take.  When we were starting out we had a killer deal (two duplexes that were positive from day 1) but it took us a few days to get the financing and guess what, an investor that did not have that problem picked them up and is making a great profit on them.  You are heading in the right direction to get the financing options laid out and then find the deal so you can pull the trigger for the right one.

As far as HML options be sure you get all the details before signing anything . . interest rate, payment terms, what if you need to extend, points up front, etc.  -  comparing one to another with ALL of the details is the only way to make an informed decison.

Good luck.

Quote from @Kevin Ivey:

We do this a lot with our flips.  Key going from stain or plastic coat trim is sand primer sand and then paint. Sanding helps the primer and paint bond.  Primer ensures no bleed through and paint can bond properly since you could br going oil/ stain to latex paint 

We find that getting bonding primer helps when painting wood trim and even paneling over the standard primer . . a little more money but it holds the paint and prevents pulling it off with tape.

Getting a local realtor to give you and ARV would the best bet but you can use sites such as Redfin (be careful of Zillow's Zestimate) to get you in the ballpark. The thing that you need to keep in mind is that apples are not always apples when you are comparing properties . . what is the finish level inside each factors into sales price. Do not over improve but don't go too cheap when the area calls for higher finishes. If possible, tour a few other homes in the area and see what they look like - are they updated? What is the ft2 price? How long did they take to sell? Pretty hard for us to give you an ARV from 1000 miles away - your specific local area will be what drives the ARV. Saw one property listed in Dallas that looks like a match to your property (3/1, 2900 ft2) . . . is that the one you are looking at? If so, it has been on the market since December and at the listing price, should have sold by now. The Zestimate (remember, told you to be careful with that) is under the list price so hopefully you are getting a much better deal before proceeding.

Quote from @Diane Chapman:

WoW! Thanks for sharing! Debbie & her group reached out to me last night via Facebook. I am currently sitting through her free webinar right now listening to all of this talk about doing "The Thing".  After 30 minutes of listening to Debbie, she still has not even mentioned "The Thing"!

Son I got curious & decided to do a Google search on her reviews...... Not Good! I'm glad that other women are skeptical about her. Again, thanks for sharing. WoW! What a scam!!

Diane,

There is a wealth of information out there at little to no cost.  The guru's that promise to teach you the secrets are often packaging generic information and selling it at phenomenal markup to people that want to get started but often do not have the resources to start and the fee they are charged simply puts them further behind.  Look for a local REIG, focus on your local market, start slow and find local investors that are willing to help you get started.  Bigger Pockets has a wealth of information and the forums get you even more information that can save you from making a mistake.  Good luck in your journey . . . remember slow and steady wins the race and the ones making teh money with many of the courses being hawked are the ones selling the courses (we can attest to that as we made that mistake initially ourselves).

Postcards and letters work . . . for some.  I receive a number of them for properties we own and some we have sold over a year ago which shows how current some of the lists people are paying for are.  They get tossed and rarely even read.  I have talked to sellers that want to sell their property and they receive them as well and tend to toss them opting for someone they can call and talk to when they want.  Some techniques that worked a decade ago no longer have the impact they did due to the number of people that are buying mass marketed lists and blasting out cards and letters that are machine written.  

If you are working your local market, there are other methods of finding leads that are more effective than cards or letters . . . see what is working in your area from REIG members.

Check with Steadily Insurance . . . . I would not discuss the roof unless it comes up or needs it . . . they can shop multiple insurers.  Have done well by us on our properties.

No they are not needed when you get a property from a wholesaler or one you find off market.  In fact, an agent can get you into on market properties and when you write an offer, the rest can easily be handled by a title company / real estate attorney (depending on your area) all the way to closing.  In fact many of our properties are done that way - we get a signed contract and then turn the package over to the closing attorney and move on to the next one until closing day.

Your local REIG can recommend some good closing attorneys / title companies and they will usually be happy to walk you through the process and even provide you with the forms you need to get the deal locked up and closed.

Be wary of any of the courses that profess to teach you the secrets of getting rich in real estate and in fact, the only ones getting rich are the ones selling the courses.  I may get flack for saying this but there is a wealth of information available at little or no cost and local REIGs that can teach you about your local market.  We have found - from personal experience - that these courses offer general knowledge that often do not apply to your state or local area.  Take the money you would be forced to pay for the course and use it to buy your first property and take off from there. 

Bigger Pockets has proven to be a resource that has been worth far more than what we paid for one of those courses and has gotten us to where we are in the real estate investment arena.