All Forum Posts by: Bryan R.

Washington state requires flippers to obtain their general contractors license. They are actively pursuing those who don't. $1000 fine for first offense.

@Tony K. Those tax+insurance numbers seem low. Another option would be to shop it to some of the local hedgefund buyers.

@Brandon Turner I believe it's been flipped already.

@Josh Norris

Plug and play your numbers. That will tell you whether this is a better flip or hold. I just ballparked some real rough numbers and it looked like a good flip and mediocre hold to me.

Regarding asphalt siding it depends on the specific type, but for the more common ones replacements are easily available and paintable.

If I used the 70% rule I think I would get in trouble a lot. The 70% rule is just a quick and dirty rule of thumb. Make your own spreadsheet specific to your jurisdictional rules and your personal costs. Use that.

I too have been doing some higher end stuff. One big thing I ran into was everything costs more. $10 light fixtures become $50 and up. I'm used to doing kitchens for around $7000, I'm completing one now that cost $30,000+. Be prepared to do your rehab budget. And then significantly increase that number.

Agree with Joel. I always try to incentivize performance. Having the manager incentivized to turn the units is no good for you. Especially if they are collecting $1200/year, turning the units could easily double or triple their pay and kill your bottom line. Instead offer a benefit for renewals, or "good tenant" bonuses or something of that nature.

That property has some interesting transaction history. And that's a lot of land for not much money. How'd you choose that location?

Inderpal Chadha

Spanaway is a decent area. I buy and sell a lot of homes in the Spanaway area. It benefits from having the base nearby, despite the drawdown. However I would not pay 192 for 1200sqft.

Josh Norris

Congratulations on the pickup. 88k on a FMV of 240 is very nice. You have any idea what the rehab costs might be? If the numbers are right that could be a great flip or an easy wholesale.

Regarding finding contractors - as others have said referrals are your best bet. I run a full time crew, but when I need more guys I call my friends and usually somebody has some extra bodies they can spare. Craigslist can be real hit or miss. Another good option is to go to Home Depot or Lowes in the morning and start taking down phone numbers off the sides of trucks. Or even just driving around when you see somebody on site doing a rehab pull over and talk to them.

Licensing. City, County, and L&I are really on it now. If you are going to rehab with intention to resell you need to get your license. Likewise make sure anyone you hire is licensed and if they have people working for them check that they are paying their L&I premiums. Likewise anyone subcontracted needs to be licensed and paying L&I. All violations flow uphill to you.

Here are some links:

How to: http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/Contractors/HireCon/

License and Complaints: https://fortress.wa.gov/lni/bbip/

Violations: https://fortress.wa.gov/lni/bbip/ViolatorsSearch.aspx

L&I: https://fortress.wa.gov/lni/crpsi/

Largest local groups is REAPS.

http://reapsweb.com/