All Forum Posts by: Greg Behan

Everything in your realtors contract is negotiable but you must discuss this up front.  Also depends on the listing agent's contract.  As far as taxes are concerned that is 100% dependent on you, your accountant, and a million other factors.  I am a firm believer that if the numbers work it can be a good area.   I did not have much luck with that theory in Centralia, PA but aside from that it's mainly a numbers game, just have the best product at the best price.

Unless we make a trip to Delaware I pay sales tax...   I have used those lowes 10% coupons that Padma has just mentioned and they can save you a good penny.  Sometimes they don't work but you can buy a few at a time

Similar to a couple of guys on here I use a neutral beige throughout the house on each flip.  Flat white ceilings semi gloss white trim and doors.

Totally depends on your business structure and what you would like to get paid.  Also on your first couple of houses you want to aim high for your "just in case" fund.  Also keep in mind your putting months of overhead in, and your taking a large risk.  So don't be afraid to compensate yourself for it.  The more hands on you are with it the more you should earn on it as well.

Sierra,

     You want to know as much as possible about a house before you purchase it...  There is really no such thing as too much information on that matter.  The simple answer is you need to know the after rehab value, you need to know the holding costs, you need to know how much money in renovations it needs, and how much profit you want to make.   However that just makes it sound easy.  Renovations and repairs are quite costly and just as important as that the after rehab value has to be accurate and conservative because you need to sell the best product at the best price in todays market.  Just like J Scott says do a little reading around the site and also the two books he mentioned I did read and they will help you establish a lot of guidelines behind the task.  Best of luck!!

I've been using white shaker cabinets with brushed nickel hardware for the past couple flips.  They look great especially with dark counters!

do you have pics? You can reface cabinets, you can refinish cabinets, or you can replace cabinets. 100,000 ARV doesn't sound like the investment you wanna go overboard on unless you got it for 30k haha

Depends on your knowledge of construction and your management skills.  Aside from that how much time can you dedicate to a rehab?

It is so area and contractor specific so I couldn't tell you on labor.  But depending how you work with your contractors and your flip strategy you should be able to get pretty spot on with material costs.  Then discuss labor with contractors from there.  It really depends on a number of factors with contractors too.  Do you hire a GC and have him go at it?  Or do you sub each task out?  But in all honesty as a contractor "rough number", "what do you think it would cost", and "just ball park it"   all make me cringe without seeing the actual work.  

I live in Southeast PA and it is about 2 degrees today...  That being said I tend to pick and choose my days.  The flip we just got done was bought 11/10/14 and finished around the last week of January.  We had a few nice days in the beginning to do a lot of outside work and then we would pick and choose the days that were warm enough for exterior paint and silicone.  The only thing we didn't do much of due to weather was landscaping because the ground is frozen and there is snow on top.  However we did clear some trees that were crowding the house and although it might not be pleasant you can always take trees and stuff down in the cold.   As far as timing goes.  I list the house when the house is done.  If the weather clears up and the house hasn't sold yet I'll spread some dirt and plant some shrubs for a more completed look.