All Forum Posts by: Bryan Dumesnil

@Benjamin Piecenski

I've always wanted to stay away from hard money loans since they are fairly expensive and I'm not really familiar with them. I have just recently started doing some research on them though so I can get a better understanding. I know they are a good tool to have when an investor needs money quickly so I may end up going that route. 

@Stephanie Medellin

I actually don't mind getting approved for the loan before putting in the offer but I was always under the impression that you could worry about getting the funding after the offer has been accepted. Like I said, I've always heard that it is good practice to put in multiple offers but I guess you actually need to have the funding from your lender first before doing that. I think that we are probably not going to be able to act quick enough to get this property.

We are planning on getting a renovation loan that would cover the purchase of the home and the rehab costs. If I'm not mistaken, a lender would need to get details on the property such as ARV and the rehab estimate to consider giving you the loan. If that is true, how would I be able to get the loan approved before putting in an offer if I'm not sure which property I am going to buy? It seems that you would not be able to act quickly enough before someone with cash could scoop up the property.

Hi everyone,

My wife and I have finally found a property that we would like to flip but I am having a hard time figuring out how to put in an offer quickly. Our realtor says that we need to have proof of funds in order to put in an offer. The asking price of the house is very inexpensive at $37,000.00. Although that is not much money, we do not have that amount in our bank accounts at this time. We plan on getting a construction loan to fund the flip but we don't want to go through all of the trouble of applying and getting a credit check on our credit history and then not be able to get the property due to not being able to act fast enough. I always hear on the podcast that as an investor you need to put in multiple offers, but I don't understand how someone can do that without having the proof of funds. I can pretty much guarantee that we would be able to get the loan as our credit history and credit scores are great but like I said, I do not want to apply for the loan if we can't get the property. Does anyone have any advice on getting through this process? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

It sounds like buying the house would be the better route. If you buy right you can maximize your return and then sell the home in 5 years with some appreciation. Since you'll be living in the home for 5 years you will also pay little taxes when you sell it. With your banking experience I believe you could probably find a good low interest loan as well.

Just to update everyone, I had the meeting with my "mentor" in the middle of last week. He invited me to his home and we sat on his patio and spoke about real estate investing as well as other topics for about 2-3 hours. I was amazed by how much he knew and how much he was able to help me in understanding the flipping process. He gave me suggestions on local contractors to use, where he would suggest buying, and how he manages his flips. He even put me in the direction of a local home in our neighborhood that he would suggest flipping. He added that he would have liked to buy it but he just recently purchased another home and he only does one flip at a time. He offered to walk through the house with me if I decided to take a look at it, so I took him up on that offer. He and I, as well as my wife took a tour of the home and he pointed out areas that he would repair and how he would do it. The whole experience was amazing!! My wife and I are currently thinking about putting in an offer on the home in hopes of completing our first flip. Hopefully with the help of my "mentor" I will be able to do just that with as little stress as possible. Thank you guys for all of your help!! I really appreciate it!

@Jeff Seal Thank you! It was the best picture (in my opinion) that I had at the time and I figured someone else here was interested in the same hobbies as me, so that's the picture that I went with. If you ever find yourself on the gulf coast with your bike, look me up and I will try to make a ride with you.

@Joe Nizdil Thank you for the advice. I'm hoping to be able to offer something that he needs that will make me valuable. I have been listening to the podcast from front to back and I am about in the middle but I believe I will skip over to the episode that you mentioned so that I can be prepared as possible for this meeting.

@Caleb Heimsoth I completely agree. I didn't plan to even mention the word mentor. My idea is to ask if he would mind if I shadow him on different events dealing with his business and in return I would offer to help him in any way that I could.

@Jeff Seal Those are great questions. I will be sure to add them to my list. Thank you for your input.

Hello everyone,

I recently discovered that an individual that I know personally from performing music is in the business of flipping houses. He is a contractor so he is pretty much active in almost the entire flipping process, including construction. After a brief discussion, I asked if he would mind talking about his profession one day because I was very interested in the business. He gladly agreed. I finally got the courage to send him a message and ask if he would mind sitting down with me for lunch or dinner one day and we could go over some details of flipping houses. Once again he agreed and we should be having that meeting within the next few days. He doesn't know this yet but I plan to ask him to mentor me. I also plan to make it worth his while by offering to help with acquiring the properties, making phone calls, picking up materials, and even helping with construction. I will be compiling a list of questions to ask him about his business to better understand what all is needed to successfully complete a flip. I already have a few questions thought up for the meeting, but I was wondering if anyone may have a few other important questions that should be asked that I may not even think to ask. I will list my original potential questions below. Please note that these will not be asked in this order.

How many flips, on average, do you complete in a year?

What types of properties do you look for?

Do you have your own real estate agent?

How did you get started in this business?

Which areas/neighborhoods do you look to buy in?

Would you like to do more flips per year or are you happy with the amount that you are doing now?

How many people do you have working for you?

What parts of the rehab are you not capable or comfortable doing?

I will most likely think of some other questions but of course I would love to hear what you all believe I should add so that I can maximize the content of our conversation. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks again everyone for the help!!

@Robert Leonard

Maybe we can talk more about this at the next Bigger Pockets Acadiana meetup?