All Forum Posts by: Christopher Albritton

David you have been extremely insightful. Thank you so much for the info.

I created an account on your site, and so far I'm extremely impressed. It's exactly what I think BP is missing. That being said, I did a single pass through of all the features, and overall it felt good. I know it's in beta, so it's not the finished product. In the meantime I have a few compliments, and suggestions.

Compliments:

Everything reported in the results makes sense, and I love the different tabs - Project Costs, Financing, and Returns. I'm sure you'll make each one visible in PDF Output, however until then, viewing it on the browser is very appealing to view it as you have it in tab form instead of scrolling up and down to look at everything.

I LOVE that you include a full fledged "Project Financing" tab, and Show CoC based on Cash vs Leveraged positions AND Annualize it!

Suggestions:

The text on the results page, and throughout the site is/can be a little small and/or wordy. I think different colors like what BP uses would help differentiate them, and bolding a lot of text.

I would like to see the Flip Analyzer, and Repair Estimator merged.

Task Manager, Project Scheduler, and Project Calendar feel like variations of the same thing. I would like to see them merged together as well, or more distinction between them.

The Help Guide in the bottom left can block some options from the left hand menu. I would like to see that moved to the bottom right, or somewhere it won't cover up info.

Again, I'm not as familiar with it as the guy who created it, so if you have any clarification to add for me that would be great.

Otherwise, I'm loving what I see, and can't wait to see what that beast of a calc will look like after it's done!

Hello BP Members, and thank you in advance.

Question:

Is the ROI section on the Flip Calc broken?

The analysis below via the link has the following numbers:

Purchase Costs: $109,500

Rehab Costs: $54,000

Holding Costs: $5,800

Sales Costs: Selling + RE Agent Fees = $10,700

Total Costs = $180,000

ROI = Value of Investment - Cost of Investment / Cost of Investment

In short, A-B/B = ROI

205 - 180 / 180 = 13.9%

However, the calc output says 14.77%. Why? Am I mathing wrong, or is there truly a mistake?

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Additionally, I have a couple layout suggestions, and just cuious if anyone else feels the same way.

• "Financial Breakdown"
  • Again, using numbers from my analysis , all costs = 180k, and my ARV is 205k. This means I make a 25k profit. However, in the "Sales Costs" section lists ARV, over All Selling Closing Costs, over RE Agent Fees, then totals them up like this 205 - (2.5 + 8.2) = 194.3
  • Why is this $194,300 even relevant? If my true total cost is $180,000 then why is this number even included in the output? Instead, it seems the layout should be asfollows:
    • Purchase Costs
    • Rehab Costs
    • Holding Costs
    • Sales Costs
    • Final Total & Profit
      • ARV - Total Costs = Profit

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

• "Estimated Repairs"
  • Overall, more customization to the user about which lines to display or not would be welcome. Even being able to include sub lines for each line if necessary would be great. For example, Decks (Front Deck, Back Deck) Landscaping (Sod, Tree Removal, Lawn Maintenance).
  • Interior Repairs should have the option to display costs per room/area (BR 1, BR 2, Bath 1, Bath 2, Kitchen), as well as a line item such as "Appliances".

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

Again guys, thank you for the review, and I look forward to learning from you!

Your feedback is greatly appreciated Gilbert. Thank you for taking the time to reply, and may you have a great day!

Hey BP,

My Dad always says, "What you don't know, and what you can't see can hurt you"

I need some clarification/guidance on what this process is supposed to look like.

Please critique the hell out of this:

• Find RE Agent
• Look for properties
• Walk through a potential deal, and estimate costs
• Make an offer
• Accepted - Due Diligence begins
• Confirm Clean Title, Wait for HML to underwrite deal, and get Home Inspection
• Everything turns out great, we close, start/complete work, sell, make money.

Assuming this is right, I have an agent who's been finding properties for me. However, I'm stumped at the estimate costs/offer part, and to a lesser extent financing as well.

On the one hand I kinda need to know how much I'm going to spend on repairing/renovating the property, but on the other the likelihood of a contractor looking at properties with me for free won't happen unless I have a property under contract. On top of that, with how hot RE is at the moment, if I include any kind of contingencies (Home Inspection/Financing) my offer probably won't get accepted.

As for financing, I have spoken to an HML, and a Broker - 18 lenders total. They all require an underwriting period to determine if they'll even lend on the deal, and do so based on the Asset unlike traditional financing.

So BP,  how am I supposed to accurately determine (or at least ballpark) repair estimates, so I can make a sensible offer and respect my General Contractor's time? 

For financing, am I on the right track with who I've talked to already, or do I need be someone who throws leverage to the wind and simply keep a fat wad of cash for PP+Rehab costs in my bank account until it's time to use and simply skip financing all together? Do investors really pay all cash for these properties, or are they simply referring to HML's when they say that?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your input.

Hello BP Members,

Financing is lined up, so I'm looking to expand my team of professionals.

As listed, I need wholesalers, contractors, and investor friendly RE Agents alike in the following areas.

• Sarasota
• Bradenton
• Saint Petersburg
• Tampa

Possibly other surrounding areas, but the ones above are my immediate focus.

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to speaking with you.

As long as you lead life with a  "Yes before no" mentality there's nothing you can't accomplish.

3 things are needed for any deal - Time, Cash, and Knowledge/Expertise.

In your situation you have time and the ability to build your knowledge. Once you have a game plan made you can approach investors with cash that don't have the time and/or experience to do the deal themselves. There's nothing wrong with totally making up a deal presentation/packet to give investors an idea of what kind of work they can expect from you. If you hit can all the main points, and can explain them effectively then you'll do nothing but attract money to you. The BiggerPockets calculators make creating presentations REALLY EASY.

The best way to gain knowledge, and referrals is to surround yourself with others with the same goals as you. You can find other investors local to you by searching through Biggerpockets (Community tab -> Find Members), or attending local REIAs.

REMEMBER THIS - Do not expect anything for free. If you want someone to mentor you, then you need to offer something in return.

Additionally, check out the BP Store. The books available there are priceless.

• Flipping
  • You basically need to think of exit strategies before even going into a deal. A common exit strategy for flipping is keeping it as a buy and hold if you don't end up selling it.
  • You will have to look for contractors and can vet them by looking up their credentials. I've read that you hitting up Lowe's/Home Depot contractor desk may yield some great referrals, but you can also use websites like Angie's List to look for reputable servicemen/women.
• Buy and Hold
  • Finding tenants is pretty straight forward. Nowadays, there are websites like TurboTenant that can syndicate marketing for you, and help you screen tenants.
  • You could probably find a handyman at the Lowe's/Home Depot contractor desk, Craigslist, maybe even Angie's list too. Where there's a will there's a way.
  • Additionally, if the property can support a property management company (it's good practice to include PM services in your calculations in case you want to go that route regardless), then there's nothing with doing that so you can have it professionally managed, without the headaches involved.

I used to be you. I've yet to get into a property, but I've done A LOT of research, and until you pull the trigger being knowledgeable will be your greatest asset. I personally just want to start off my investment journey using my own money, but if I wanted to I could easily go the route of looking for private money to invest with me.

Here you go! It looks like you have to make a free account, but that seems to be it. https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/info/Property-Records/MI/Wayne-County/

Property taxes are based off of how much a home is worth, so if it sells for more the taxes will go up. Different states, cities, etc. have different caps for how much it can increase in one year though, so the jump in taxes shouldn't be staggering.

I'm nowhere near as experienced as others on the site, so if there's detail I missed I look forward to learning more as well!

Does anyone have any recommendations on agents / pm companies that can help me find a place to rent/buy in Detroit, Michigan?

Moving there to start a new job with Quicken Loans, so in or near downtown would be best.

Thank you in advance!

@Hannah Wilkinson Thank you for connection! I look forward to engaging with, and making many more after the move =D

Also, thanks for the link! This is a lot more helpful than what I've been able to find so far.