All Forum Posts by: Will Barnard

Regardless of the market conditions, estimating your ARV is both an art and science (well math). To be accurate, one must have a good amount of experience and certainly must know their market conditions inside and out.

Using the highest comp will 99 times out of a 100 get you in trouble. Using an average price per sf so long as all the comps being used are similar in size (within 10%), have the same bed/bath counts and similar condition and amenities, you can get fairly close, but know that your existing current market conditions will dictate if you need to adjust that final number up or down. There are several ways to get to an accurate number and thousands of ways to get to an inaccurate number. Knowledge and experience doing this will determine which you are closer to.

Since this is a rehabbing thread, then costs associated with a flip are:

Purchase amount, closing costs (which include but are not limited to escrow fees, title fees, recording costs, appraisal fees, loan fees, notary fees, insurance, inspection fees, etc), rehab/construction costs, holding costs (which include but are not limited to property taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance, loan interest and principle, etc), and finally resale costs which include, but not limited to agent fees, escrow fees, title fees, notary fees, supplemental taxes, recording fees, transfer taxes, seller credits to buyer, repairs agreed to by both parties, etc.

So long as the job is done correctly and the stucco lathe (which is your moisture barrier) is installed proper, you should not have moisture issues with stucco and may be your best and most modern choice. Replacing the siding with wood requires maintenance so add that in to your costs over its lifespan, lastly, the hardi siding is a great option without the need for maintenance. I suggest you get multiple bids for each service then do a cost comparison analysis over a 10 year+ period. Apples to apples financial comparison is important.

Certainly not a better product than tile, however, as long as it is not cracked during years of use, it is certainly a good “cheap” option. Your usage should determine if you use a product like this or an actual full tile surround with waterproofing of the pan. You get better resale value from tile over a fiberglass insert. If this is a rental in a non higher end area, then perhaps the insert is the way to go.

If you are buying a property using bank financing, the lender will order the appraisal, not you.

To answer your Reginald question, you should speak to both. The more info and data you have, the more informed investor you are. When speaking to a general, make sure he or she has done many fire damaged repairs in the past. Experience is crucial for this as cutting corners can be costly later.

Yes and no. Every single seasoned investor like myself started with zero experience and you only get it from starting.

That said, starting right now in this new real estate cycle poses massive additional risks to a rookie. Even seasoned investors have added risks now that there assumed downside may be larger than expected.

It is important to gain as much info on your local market, on the how tos of flipping and building your team. If you try to skip steps or take shortcuts (like using a price per sf to calculate your rehab), you are likely to fail.

correct me if I’m wrong but I understand that intent has a lot to do with the 1031 qualification as well. The 365 day timeline is certainly there but if your intent is to flip and the pattern is a flip, couldn’t the 1031 be denied?To the original question, sure you can flip as your day job but know that your average flip will take at least 4-6 months from close of escrow to close of escrow and in between that time, you have NO paycheck.

Living in flips slows down the flip and is not the healthiest way to live. Slowing down your flips will increase the hold period and thus, increase the holding costs cutting into profits. “When you flip, time is your enemy.” - Will Barnard

Buying rentals and flipping at the same time is one great strategy in my opinion because you can toss your flip profits into additional buy and holds or use less leverage to increase net profits on 2nd flip and so on.

That said, it is no easy task and we have entered an entirely different real estate market now. Enter flips at your own risk, be advised that downward pressure on values is almost a certainty in many areas, not all. Real estate is local so pay attention to your local market data and not national data.

Quote from @Edgar Gonzalez:

What general rule of thumb do you follow on a square footage multiplier when you are calculating rehab cost for a potential flip? what are flippers and contractors in the Triangle area doing to find these numbers? i have a general idea of what to aim for but would love to see what local flippers/contractors are doing!

The problem with this question and most of the answers is the question itself. You don’t use “rules of thumb” or average price per sf pulled out of thin air to estimate rehab costs. There are very few shortcuts that still get you to accurate. You must identify each line item needing work and place a labor and materials price to that line item. The shortcuts come from doing this long hand over and over and over and over again until you get to the point where you know numbers in your head for line items or groups of line items. 

Don’t believe that you can get accurate rehab estimates using some arbitrary price per sf.
As a simply example, 2 homes, model matches sit next to each other. Home A needs new windows, roof, hvac system plus new kitchen, baths, flooring, paint. House B needs all the interior but no roof, windows, or ac. If you used a price per sf, you are about $30k+ off on your numbers.

There are books and literally thousands of threads here with this very same question and a few good answers. 

What does your contract say and how much have you paid him vs work completed? If you are upside down by a large margin on that, then you have broke the lessons of real estate 101. Never give contractors more than work provided to date.

Maybe he is in the hospital, maybe he is on vacation and didn’t inform you, or maybe he ran off with your capital. Hunt him down and/or speak with an attorney and read your contract. I hope you have one in writing!