All Forum Posts by: Brett Weaver

If these properties are still available, I'd like to get more info. @Jonah Hillman

Jameson,

Congrats on the new place! Contractors are varied in skills and quality of work as you probably know.  Because of that...it depends.  You might find an all-around guy who can do 75% and with any luck he can refer you to more specialized trades.  It also depends on the work you need.  In my rural area we don't have to pull permits, etc so a jack-of-all-trades can most of the time get the job done 80% to 90%.  I've had good luck asking around at the local (privately owned) lumber yard.  You may be better off finding and scheduling more specialized trades people. 

You don't say how much demo has to be done, but you can think about it the same way you would a new build.  

1. Make sure the "bones" are good.  Make any structural repairs needed.  Sub-floor rot is common in bathrooms and under kitchen sinks.  Get all that ready before any plumbing or wiring work is done. 

2. Get your mechanicals up to speed (plumbing, wiring, HVAC) 

3. Drywall repairs and replacement 

4. Finish carpentry, flooring, fixtures, paint.

Most likely you'll need a different guy for #1 than for #3 and #4, but if  you can find the right guy he (or his crew) can do all of those.  Then you just need to get the specialists on the #2 items.  A lot of your decision will depend on what level of quality you need done and the price point you intend to sell for, or how picky you are if you're going to use it as a long-term residence.

Hi Joseph and welcome to BP.

Of the three characteristics you listed (number crunchers, mechanically inclined and SOHN), I believe you'll find most successful investors are from the School of Hard Knocks and I think you will find that number crunching skills are essential.  You are likely to get several responses to this thread and I predict the majority will encourage you to get just enough education to get started and then get started.  No formal education *needed*.  I just listened to BP Show 20 where Josh and Brandon go over educating yourself. Read BP, read books, consult the forums, get a mentor, but get started.  Time cures a lot if not all mistakes and the more time you have the better.  I don't think any education is ever *wasted*, but waiting to get started investing until you have a degree is definitely a waste.

A big +1 for Expensify.  I really like the images included at the bottom of the automatically generated expense reports. 

If / when I start using an online property management application I will probably use any functionality that they provide to keep everything in one place.  

Cassidy,

I wouldn't call myself an expert, but . . .

A HELOC (Line of Credit) is usually a "revolving credit" model, just like a credit card (except much lower interest rate), with a fixed time frame (usually 10 yrs or so) using the home as collateral. You are usually required to pay interest only on the credit in use, and you can pay it off and use the credit over and over during the life of the line (if you want or need to).

The equity loan was probably a $12K simple interest loan (not revolving) using the home as collateral.  It probably has an amortizing schedule where the payments are principal and interest and a fixed amount each month.

You can get a HELOC on the remaining equity in the home. Banks usually will loan 75% of the equity. After paying off our principal residence, we purchased our first rental property with a new 1st mortgage on our house and then got a HELOC for the remainder when we found our second rental property.

Just talk to your bank and they should be able to handle the new loan, no problem.

Hope that helps!

Hi Chris! Welcome to BP. You're in the right place to increase your REI education. Good luck on your first flip!

Very nice.  Congratulations.  I just wanted to complement you on having professional photography done before and after.  As a RE photographer myself I can appreciate the quality of the shots!

Alexander,

This sounds like a good project to gain some experience with.  You don't say what condition the mobile home is in or how much "fix up" it needs, but assuming it is standard wear and tear it may be good for gaining experience in a couple of things.  A big bonus would be if there is a mobile home park relatively near you.  Consider this:

Do the fix-up as much as you can yourself.  Ask anyone in your network who is handy for advice. This would be a great opportunity to learn on a small-scale project.  Look for plumbing small improvements, floor covering, paint...perhaps the toilet leaked at some point and the sub-floor needs to be replaced in the bathroom.  All of those things are common in any dwelling and you need to know the sequence of steps needed to do the repairs, especially when you're hiring someone else do do the work down the road on bigger projects.

Find a lot in a mobile home park. If you can lease a lot, you'll save you the cost of buying and developing a small piece of land.  Just make sure there's demand at the park so you won't have too many months lease to pay.  You can afford to give someone a great deal so it should move quickly.

Contact mobile home movers and get estimates on moving the home to your new location. Remember to include the cost of replacing any underpinning that is damaged.  Make sure the home looks good in its new location.

Now you have two main exit strategies.  1. Offer the home at a nice price for a buyer and sell it for a quick profit.  This should be great win-win deal for you and the buyer.  2. Offer seller financing.  Get a down payment that will cover all of your investment so far and take back a loan and receive monthly payments from the new owner.  They pay the lot lease and you're not a landlord.  If they fail to pay, you take the home back and sell it again.  

I obviously glossed over a lot of details there, but the info is out there to fill in the blanks.  Full disclosure: I studied up on mobile home investing several years ago, but have not personally done what I just described.  There are no mobile home parks near me, and back then I didn't want to work long distance.  What I see for you is what should be a low cost educational experience.  If you do nothing but break even,  you will be able to use the skills you learn from this for the rest of your life.  Absolutely NO way to get an education like this from an institution.  With any luck at all you could come out with some seed money to do a bigger deal.

Good luck!

Welcome George! You're in the right place. The forums are a great way to get a big-picture perspective on the opportunities in REI and also for specific guidance on a particular property you're looking at. I'm still learning myself. As you look for deals, start absorbing education from BP, books and podcasts. Just remember to take action. If your current income is low, just be extra careful when evaluating the repairs needed on fixer-uppers and you should be fine. You're "doing the right thing" and the key is to hang in there long enough to learn to "do things right".

Kudos William! I'm looking at something similar to that in my own neighborhood.  I have a contractor meeting me there this evening.  We struggle with over-improving also, so I can relate.  This would be our third property.  Keep us updated and good luck!