All Forum Posts by: Benjamin Ervin

Thank you, @Ryan Kelly!

Originally posted by @Jeremy VanDelinder:

I have a house in Pensacola (that I will probably sell soon), so I had some idea of what those numbers run, but I still think you did well on the budget--good job! 

 Thank you and good luck, right now seems to be a pretty good time to sell. 

@Jeremy England, sure, we found the deal off MLS. It was an REO that had already fallen out of contract once by the time we got to it. We won the bid with a little higher offer than a few other investors, a higher than requested Earnest Money Offer and Proof of Funds. We thought this might strengthen our offer a bit.

We did pay cash for it.  In my market, cash is king and those trying to acquire fixer uppers with financing are quickly pushed aside.

@James Masotti and @Jeremy VanDelinder, My wife and I did a good bit of the work ourselves and contracted out some things that we weren't as comfortable doing (wall removal, electrical, plumbing, etc.).  I am not sure of contractor costs in NJ relative to prices here in the SE, but I would venture to guess they are probably lower here in most cases.

The floors are laminate, but a good quality.  I used to manage a Lumber Liquidators, so I was able to develop some relationships across a few different trades/material retailers that have helped us with some cost avoidance.  We also found some great help in a carpenter who's been fair to us on price.  My expectation is that we will contract out more work  next time to focus on greater speed and higher volume.

In terms of the scope, this was a total gut job cosmetically and also included  some electrical upgrades, plumbing work and a new A/C Unit.

Originally posted by @William Allen:

You did a great job, congrats!

Thanks, Bill.  Still a long way to go to compete with the big boys like yourself in the Pensacola market, though.  I am actively looking for more deals, so I'll be on the lookout for anything you are trying to move. 

Originally posted by @Kevin Kessler:

Nice project, Ben!  Congrats!

Thanks, Kevin!

I realize I do not have a ton of posts here on Bigger Pockets, but I can’t emphasize enough the impact BP has had on me in a short time.  In the interest of community and sharing success stories with others that might be looking for some motivation, I wanted to detail my start in RE.  I’ll try not to be too lengthy, but I think people can identify with these stories a little better when there is some personal context.

My name is Ben Ervin and I am a Program Analyst for the Naval Education and Training Command in Pensacola, FL.  I enjoy knowing what I do is impactful and supports the Sailors that serve our country.  But, I have always had an attraction to the idea of entrepreneurship.  I’ve known since I was 13 years old that I wanted to be my own boss one day.  Yesterday marked a big step towards that goal when my wife and I listed our first flip property on the market.

In October of 2017 I decided to stop thinking about flipping houses and start educating myself on how to get in the game.  I found that a friend of mine, @Nick Armstrong, was flipping houses and got a chance to talk shop with him a bit and he directed me here to BP.  From that point, it took me 4 months to close on our first deal.  It hasn’t sold yet, but we are in a hot market right now where I believe data supports a high demand for the product we are offering.  Beyond all of that, the really invaluable part of this experience has been education.  I have learned A TON.  We certainly made mistakes along the way, but I can take those lessons learned and leverage them going forward.  I intend to use this first deal as a launching pad to doing more deals, including additional flips in the near term with the goal of building a rental portfolio for long term passive income.

Now I will stop rambling and show you what we’ve done.  The house has not sold yet, but assuming full price offer, here is the breakdown by the numbers along with (everyone’s favorite part) photos.

Projected Numbers:

Acquisition Costs (AC): $70,635.50

- Purchase Price: $70,000

- Closing Costs: $510

- Termite Letter: $125

Rehab Costs (RC): $41,185

- Materials: $21,780

- Labor: $19,405

Holding Costs (HC): $870

- Utilities: $450

- Insurance: $420

Selling Costs (HC) *Assuming Sales Price (SP) of $175k*: $10,500

- Commissions to Agents: $10,500

Projected Profit: $51,810 – Taxes & Any Additional Selling Costs

- $175,000(SP) - $10,500(SC) - $870(HC) - $41,185(RC) - $70,635(AC) = $51,810

Now on to the photos...

Exterior Before:

Exterior After:

Interior Before:

Interior After:

I still have a ton to learn, but I look forward to trying to answer any questions you might have. Furthermore, if anyone here in my local market wants to just say hello, I invite you to do so. I hope to be more involved in the BP and larger REI community as a whole going forward.

Thanks for listening/checking out my progress so far and good luck to all!

Frank Szymanski Welcome to BP. I just got under contract on my first deal and BP has been a great resource for me. Be sure to make a point to stop in on the forums somewhat regularly. You’ll have questions answered that you didn’t even know you had. Let me know when you get to the area and we can meet sometime.

@Andrew Briggs, I have no delusions about killer response rates on a first time mail campaign.  My approach would be to do exactly as you suggest, target vacant properties with value-add opportunity in specific areas I want to buy in, and repeatedly mail to these areas/homeowners.  It sounds like you've had success mailing before, correct?  I am really hoping to get an idea from folks who've had success using direct mail on the type of volume I should start with.  As mentioned previously, I am looking for my first deal right now and do not have the buying capacity to take down more than one property at a time (at least until I can establish a track record of profitability).  That said, I would like to begin generating leads for scalability.  My thought was to start with 100 or so for a couple of reasons:

- I can ensure my list is very targeted to areas/properties I WANT to actually buy

- Costs will be very manageable at this volume

- I am unable to buy multiple properties right now

@Andrew Briggs, I’ve yet to start mailing. I was hoping to submit to the forum the idea of small mail campaigns (i.e. 100 mailers) that are highly targeted to lists I obtain through driving for dollars - among other methods. I don’t think my market isn’t affording deals because it’s “too hot”. I just think that until I can compete from a buying standpoint, I need to find these deals in the less competitive, off-market domain.