All Forum Posts by: Brandon Logan

I purchased units that needed work. I use to measure the property and send drawings to vendors for quote. This became an issue if I needed to make a quick decision on the property and offer quickly. So started to use a spreadsheet and use per ft pricing from my vendors. We detail measured the property and I did my best to get per foot prices from every trade. For example, I know my painter charges me $4.5 a foot for int/ext paint. So I put that formula into excel. 1000 sqft house cost me $4,500. Counter tops and flooring are easy to measure and get a per ft price. I would make my best guess on other items and make the offer. During my DD I would have an open house and let the subs through to firm up my budget. I never used one sub or GC to do everything. Let me know if you want me to explain in more depth.  

I did. I had about 12 months of good market when I left college. During that time I bought four rental units before the market crashed. I still own those units. One of the wonderful things about rentals is the crash had little impact on my long-term plan. I wasn't selling. I would say it helped more than it hurt. I had more qualified tenants looking for a place to rent. I actually raised my rents during this time. Where it hurt was my ability to leverage and borrow funds. The bank lending to me was shut down by the FDIC so I was a borrowing free agent. At the time it wasn't easy to find banks looking for young investors with little track record. I went to smaller local banks and asked them each to give me one rental loan so I can prove myself. I was able to convince three smaller banks to lend me one deal at a time. I didn't have the cash so I used future value appraisals and sweat equity to minimize my cash needed for each deal. These loans are the best way imho to leverage funds into more deals.

Get it

I use a simple FSBO contract provided by my Title company. Any title company will have a FSBO contract you can use. When filling out the buyer name put, 'your company name and/or assigns.' I know some investors use a simple one page contract as it gives them easier exit strategies but I've never been a fan of that approach. 

I've been investing and selling for 16 years. Currently, I own 95 units and my clients have 360 in escrow. I buy and sell. I sell to support my rental habit. I don't know it all but I'm willing to share any knowledge I may or may not have. =-)  Ask away. I'll do my best to respond in timely manner.