All Forum Posts by: Brendon K.

@Kris Wong have you actually had success in any of those? What kind of results did you get?

With my current down payment, the mortgage wouldn't make sense.

Where do you guys go if not the MLS? Just craigslist?

I've learned a hell of a lot in the last month thanks to BP, I'm ready to buy right now. Have my financing lined up but my REA is falling short. Where would you tell a newb to look for a starting to moderate level SFH deal (I'm talking neighborhoods, intersections, etc)? I have half access to the MLS and it really appears that most everything looks priced pretty close to the area, even if the property is in distress.

Thanks for any advice you may give.

My problem is that I have very little equity. As I'm just starting out, I have around 9k in an old retirement fund and around 20k saved. I live in Austin so this doesn't really get you very far; I'm only able to get an FHA loan. In Austin, properties here are being pulled up to 300k and beyond if they're not there already. I REALLY want to be able to start flipping as soon as I'm able to but as of now I have to live wherever I purchase and the only flippable houses in my grasp are ********s in two categories: death traps or cat piss hole in the grounds.

So I'm trying to figure out the fastest way to get a substantial amount of liquid assets to be able to pay for a place with cash. I've found a duplex that's near a pretty desirable area (called "the domain", a big posh outdoor shopping area). Problem is, this place has pretty bad rot on the exterior wood siding. There's a 1x1 area that's completely exposed and you can see the foam inside the house wall. They're starting at 255 and the second side has 1200/mo coming in. Properties in the area max out at 275 right now but are increasing. At that 255 price it wouldn't be bad, but my REA says a full exterior wood siding replacement would run 25k+, which I definitely do not have. I could try to do it myself but I'm afraid I might get over my head as I'd be looking up youtube videos and trying it as I go. 

If I've calculated everything out properly, with 1200/mo coming in I'd only be spending around 800 for the rest of the expenses and living less expensively, which would be nice. I guess I could just keep saving the income from my job as much as possible in the meantime, then refinance the FHA in a year to make it a normal mortgage and apply for a new one once I get 20%. Perhaps I would invest in some of the more rural areas of Texas that have way less expensive housing while still living in Austin.

The REA that's actually selling the property said they already had an offer and that they're collecting all bids tomorrow and taking the best on Wednesday, so no chance to really get into a bid war. It's a lot to think about. 

Two big questions:

• How's my thought process for this? Is this the fastest way to get liquid assets to get to the second step where I'm actually flipping?
• Roast the property! How much should I actually offer for it? http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1...

I had a realtor show me some properties today for the first time. Among them I saw:

• A cute place 10 minutes from downtown that almost made me throw up from the curb because a decade of cat piss resided inside
• A one story that was trying to act like a two story with a metal spiral staircase deathtrap, rotting wood all over it, major cracks and water damage all over, and needed at least 60k of repairs and updates while it was posting only 10k below comps
• A duplex that looked like it was interesting until I found out it was right next to the street with some of the highest crime rates in austin.
• A grandma house that was a step away from i35 (one block of houses in the way). The noise was terrible.

The realtor didn't really follow the 70% rule at all; all of the properties were pretty close to comps and I really wouldn't be making money off them even if I was able to do all the work.

My work is close to 4 winds and 620 and I'm trying not to go past 30 minutes of commute time. I only have enough saved to do FHA as of now and I realize I need to get my capital up asap so I can start buying places with cash. How do people usually do this? How would you start getting capital really quickly when you have a decent job but very low net worth?

I see a few old'ish (4+years) spreadsheets on BP like J Scott's (https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/67/topics/51045-basic-rehab-analysis-spreadsheet). Do you use anything that's more updated? The calculators on BP look great but I like to see how everything is calculated (the more you know)

I was just applying what the guys on the show were saying about their flips; they don't touch anything pre-90. I suppose it doesn't really matter, I just don't want to get into a situation where I'm negative cash flow if possible. 

Hey folks, I'm trying to buy a multifamily house in Austin. After ep#25 I got interested in this after hearing one guy who got a tri-plex and ended up not paying rent after expenses. He was in Boston and got approved for something like 385k. I just got approved for 350k, but I expect this may only be because it's going to be my first house and I don't have a heck of a lot of capital to start with (25k after cashing in a 401k rollover from a previous job). So I started messaging realtors in the area telling them I would like a 3 or a 4-plex if possible. Many just put me straight out and told me it's impossible with no further communication. One guy seems fairly interesting though:

Because this is the first guy who didn't write me off, I asked him if he could imagine a way for someone like me to do it the way I'm envisioning. This is what he said:

What do you all think about this? Should I just keep saving as much money as I can, or should I reduce my requirements and just see if there's a duplex that's not a death trap? Is there any way I can fact check what he's saying? Or maybe some way to get a multiplex much cheaper than the average MLS listing?

Have you thought about your emergency liquid assets? Keeping a solid fund for bad things that happen spontaneously?