All Forum Posts by: Brandon Foken

Loving the modern look, gents! 

I have a bug that shows when I go to the "Recent Forum Posts" link. When I click "Load More Posts" the same initial posts load below, I then have to scroll back down to the bottom and hit "Load More Posts" again before it'll load the next set of posts. Not sure if it's unique to me or happening to others, but I thought I'd pass it along.

Congrats @John Blackman 

I left my cushy corporate IT sales job to work with a real estate investing firm; however, less than 2 months later they let me go. Since that time, I've had to blaze a trail of self-employment and I'm loving every wonderful, stressful minute of it. I like your way much better though - have the money and projects going before jumping in with both feet!

@Judd Campbell - Obamacare is where it's at, especially in California where we have a robust private exchange. I have regular ol' Blue Cross insurance that is subsidised a bit. Extremely easy to enroll and use your coverage.

@Johnson H. thanks for chiming in. I was planning on going down to the Concord Building Department tomorrow to see what they had to say. My hope is that there is already sewer, water and electricity hookups on site as there is an existing house on the lot, but it may not be enough capacity for 4 separate lots.

You are spot on, the exit method is dependant on how much time and money I can devote to this. Honestly, developing the project myself sounds fun/challenging/rewarding but I know I do not have the wherewithal at this stage of my career to undertake such a project. Especially after reading the very informative Diary of a New Construction Project by @J Scott 

Any tips for finding developers in the area? I did a cursory Google search last night and all I really found where the large-scale home builders (KB Homes, etc.). I plan on digging in more, but I didn't know if there was an easier way to find out infill lot developers in the Bay.

Over the last few weeks or so, I've been speaking with a gentleman who owns a parcel of land in Concord, CA. The parcel is 1.18 acres. Currently, there is a house sitting on the lot that needs to just be torn down. The owner has provided me with plans that he had drawn up 15-20 years ago that were never submitted to the city for review. So, from my eyes there is quite a bit of potential to make something happen here; the only problem is I'm not sure how to maximize the potential from this lead.

The possibilities I see in front of me are:

• Refer the lead to a developer and collect a small fee
• Get the property under contract and wholesale the contract
• Tie up the property for a period of time (either with an Option to Buy or a Purchase Agreement with a lengthy contingency period) and try to get subdivision plans drawn, submitted and approved before selling to a developer
• Somehow buy, subdivide and develop myself

My background thus far in REI is 4 deals - (1 completed flip, 1 wholesale and 2 ongoing flips). If you were in my shoes, what would you do? I think the greatest return would be from going through the entire subdivision approval process and then selling approved plans to a developer; however I have no idea the amount of time or cost required to get that done. Any recommendations from folks who deal in raw land, subdivisions or developments?

And, because I just read the very timely article from @Karen Margrave here are the lot characteristics: 

• Average lot sizes in the area are 6,000 - 10,000 sq. ft.
• Infill lot with no views (rest of the area is completely developed)
• Lot is almost completely flat
• Houses in the area are selling for roughly $330/sq. ft.
• Some other lots that have sold in the last year have gone between $115k - $200k 

Hey BP Nation,

I sometimes get leads from outside my geographic area, and this is one of those occasions. A very busy gentleman owns a house in Whitehall, PA (about an hour north of Philadelphia, just outside of Allentown). The house is on Main St. and he is asking roughly $90,000 for it. It was tenant occupied for a few years, but they just vacated so he is looking to sell his asset. If you invest in this area, please contact me. I'm looking for a small referral fee if you can close the deal.

-Brandon

I receive my health insurance from Blue Cross/Blue Shield via California's Obamacare health exchange - it's worked out great for me. The one thing to take into consideration, that I didn't realize until a few months ago, is that dental insurance is the real money pit. Unless you have significant dental issues, you are probably best served with paying cash for your cleanups. The insurance premiums on dental plan are absolutely ridiculous - oftentimes more expensive than your health insurance premium. Best of luck to you!

To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel Pink. All about selling in the internet age. Very powerful stuff as sellers and buyers have more information at their disposal than anytime during the history of sales. Get book for anyone in Real Estate, whether you think you are in sales or not (hint: you are in sales).

We have an excellent opportunity in the Eastmont Hills of Oakland for a fix & flip! We are looking to wholesale a 3-bed, 2-bath house with 1,550 sq. ft. that has amazing views of the Bay! Here are the details of the deal:

• Offered at $310,000
• After Repairs Value - $460k - $500k
• Repairs - $85,000
  • Buyer is responsible for sewer lateral compliance
• Before Pictures

Thanks,

Brandon

keywords: flip, wholesale, oakland, bay area, san francisco, berkeley, san leandro, ca, california, fixer, fix n flip, SF

I've shied away from coaches in the past, @Sharon Vornholt for a few different reasons. The main reasons are:

1. I've been approached in the past by people in my area to "coach" me. All they wanted in return was a piece of every single deal I generated from now until the end of time.
2. The community at BP seems to abhor the idea of paying someone for knowledge that could be freely gained from this group, networking sessions or getting out there and taking action.
3. This is no slight to Michael, you or anyone else, but I have yet to find someone on BP that understands the intricacies and nuances of my target market (the SF Bay Area) and does a large volume of outbound marketing. Tactics & strategies that seem to work well in the rest of the US fall flat here.

I routinely hop on the phone and talk with a few people in my local area that have sent out a considerable amount of marketing and have picked their brains on what works versus what doesn't here in the Bay. I would never consider or call any of these people a "coach", but that doesn't mean they haven't been there to help or critique what I've been doing. As I mentioned above, I love talking real estate and marketing in particular with anyone and everyone, but I just have never felt compelled to hire a coach.

Finally, and I hope this doesn't come across as egotistical or full of hubris, but with the perspectives, knowledges and advice given within this thread, I have closed two deals (one flip and one wholesale) and have another two under contract since January 2014. So, as of now, I'm pretty darn happy with the coaching I've been receiving from the BP community. Not a bad success story, eh @Brandon Turner ??

@Michael Quarles I always like talking shop and marketing in particular, but a "coach" is something I've shied away from in the past.