All Forum Posts by: Brendan Lawrence

Looking for solutions to offer financing to buyers:

We have a unique asset class that we're building out here.  The land is unbuildable for residences and we build these storage workshops on the properties.  Each lot is 1/2 an acre and located near 3 large golf course communities.  Each unit costs about $250k between land and structure and sells for $330-350k.  They'll be bought by local members of the communities often to house their toys, be used as workshops, some people rent them out as storage, etc.  

We're looking to build partnerships that would allow many of the potential customers that reach out to us a route towards financing these.  Currently they need to be purchased with 100% cash, or, 50% down with high interest lending.  Many people that reach out don't have the 50% down to even achieve this option.  Does anybody have any solutions that may help bridge this gap for folks that may be coming to the table with say 20% - 30%?  5 year balloons?  If we can increase our buyer demographics we'll likely see time on market drop by 80-90%. 

Hey guys, 

I’m looking for a property management company in Detroit Metro.  I’m purchasing a rental that needs some fixing up so if you specialize in out of state investors that’s the icing on the cake. Please send me a message if you’re taking clients and talk soon. Thanks!

Eminem made me scared to invest in Detroit.

Not really.  Ive seen some stats that've waived me towards the city though and Ive lined up funding to where its time for me to pull the trigger. I'm a full time contractor out of Oregon and I want a duplex with a pre-reno purchase price under $75,000.  Under $50,000 even better.

I made the journey out to Memphis last year and got a taste for what I could be getting myself into when it comes to these lower priced houses.  I'm expecting that its probably pretty consistent no matter what city you're looking at once you hit a certain bottom of the barrel purchase price.

I have my funding approved for all stages of purchasing something that needs some fixing up and then holding the property as a rental. I'll come out myself with my trailer and do the majority of the work, depending on what I'm getting myself into. For my price range, what are the neighborhoods that you would pick if you had say, a month to come out and do a cosmetic upgrade to the majority of the place? I'm not looking to get into a full overhaul and if I can come out with a total investment of 75% ARV I'm fine with that. I dont need to hit it out of the park . I have my own thoughts on some of the places I've put together via heat maps and neighborhood ratings, etc. I'd like to avoid the same misrepresentation of these statistics that I experienced in Memphis though.

Any input is greatly appreciated.  Thanks guys and maybe I'll see you out there.

Brendan

 well if thats not one of the most spot of replies to a post ive seen on this forum then I don't know what is.  thanks Kevin, not only was that a good piece of mind but incredibly informative, I could picture the whole scope of work entailed and got an image for the project.  I appreciate this!

id be curious to know also.  I see lots of properties that fall in MY budget (insert laughter here) but then I don't qualify because its TOO cheap

 well that makes me feel a bit better.  I'm assuming that you're using the same crews each time and have come accustomed to how much they'll cost you for each portion?  fortunately I can get the projects going at MY cost to operate and I'll have to work in other crews as I confirm that my pricing is similar to theres....or adjust for the next one.

Hey guys,

I’m in Oregon. 

I’m sure there’s people here who have seen the Jerry Norton flipping and wholesale videos online. 

My question is about the numbers he throws out as rule of thumb numbers. I’m aware he invests all over and these numbers get fudged accordingly, but does anybody here have any input to their experiences with the numbers?

This is his breakdown for houses under 1500 sq:     

1) Light rehabs (carpet and paint) come in at $15,000.   
2) An average rehab being full remodel…kitchens baths etc is $30,000.    
3) Heavy rehab is full gut and exteriors at $60,000.    
.       
I’m pretty familiar with my own pricing as a contractor and I’m pretty middle class with my clients. I don’t care do the “just make it work again” jobs, but I also couldn’t tell you anything about WOLF appliances.    
. 
i can see how the light numbers could work….I could see how you could squeeze a cheap average remodel in at that cost…. But it has to be really cheap! However the full gut I can only see that price covering the exterior, I tend to come up with about $100/sf for gut jobs with new exterior.  
 
anybody else in here wanna talk prices? The good thing about being a contractor is you can do all the work. The bad thing About being a contractors is you don’t know what other contractors cost. 

Hey guys,

I’ve started wholesaling to raise capital. I can’t tell sellers I’m a cash buyer when IM not a cash buyer. I say I partner with them, but I need to streamline this part honestly to maintain integrity. 

I’m a contractor by trade so dealing with people, it’s my strong point. I love it. I swing a hammer well also, but my biggest strength is with my relationships. I don’t, however, tell clients that I’m the contractor for their job, and then run out behind their backs and go find an ACTUAL contractor. 

Question I have is, does anybody know of a way, even if it’s just brainstorming, to gain temporary access to these funds so that they can be mine, even if just for a few minutes, and then I would double close all my deals vs assign them. 

I would feel much better being able to look somebody in the eyes and let them know I’m real, and I’ve got their back. Being able to say I WILL BUY YOUR HOUSE and have those words Be literal means a lot to me in terms of integrity. Even if I’ve got a buyer lined up behind me. 

Hey Everyone,

My name is Brendan, I'm a General Contractor and wanting to utilize the FHA New Construction loan to purchase my land and build our house. This should be an equitable way for us to spend our time while we build, and then have something afterwards we can borrow against to purchase the next investment.

As far as I can tell we meet all the requirements for this program, and we were qualified earlier this year for the standard home purchase loan.

Id like to know what tools I need to bring to the table and see if it's possible for us to start seriously start pursuing this in hopes of getting something started next summer.  

Any help or contacts would be great!

Thank you,

Brendan

Hey guys!

Does anybody here have experience with FHA loans when it comes to moving to another state?

I'm a General Contractor out of Oregon and we've been wanting to move back New England for a couple years now.  We do new construction and additions mostly and we want to build new when we move back east.

I understand that you can get approved for FHA loans for new construction that include both the land AND the cost of construction. Being in the trades I'm no stranger to the joys of installment payments from lenders so those hurdles are just another day in life as far as I'm concerned. (Construction in general tends be a fun game of collection agency, regardless).

The part I'm not finding any literature on is in regards to moving across state lines as a self employed individual. I've been self employed for 12 years, and we got pre-approved for the max amount under FHA this past spring. I only say that part to verify that as far as purchasing IN STATE, we show up as a green light in Oregon.

Does anybody know if this will be the same if we pick a property in say, Maine or Vermont? Being self employed it goes without saying that there stands a good chance I'd be taking a financial hit during an interstate move, unless I ran a company with multiple employees. If I was a lender I wouldn't lend to me under these circumstances unless I could prove that I have contracts waiting for me. I plan to pay my LLC to build the house when we relocate, so I'd technically be creating myself a 6-12 month long job from the start. I'm not sure if this qualifies though.

Any information will be helpful, and here's to happy holidays!