All Forum Posts by: Brian Pulaski

You need to know a solid ARV, a solid rehab estimate and go from there. If a flip you also need to know the actual costs to buy, hold and sell. Things like taxes, utilities, insurance, etc all come in to play.

The 70% “rule” is only to cover the profit, holding and closing costs. You need to subtract the renovation costs from that as well.

@Peter Kozlowski how did this end? Did he finish or did you go after liquidated damages? Would be good to see an outcome...

Seems like I agree with most. For the “pretty” stuff (flooring, vanities, cabinets, tile, etc.) I buy it and they install. They would usually provide their own not pretty stuff (plumbing pipe/fittings, mortar and grout, adhesives and screws, etc.).

Another thing that may/most likely will come up is the useful life of the roof. What is it on that style (I don’t recall anymore, been years since I’ve dealt with flat roofs). If 15 years, no matter how new, assume the buyer and his inspection will want it addressed. If you are the buyer, look into it and if it’s 15-20 years, it may be on borrowed time. If 30+ years, you have some room there. Keep in mind useful life is just a basis and doesn’t mean it will fail after or before then.

I have flipped ranch’s, split levels, raised ranch/bilevel, colonials and found there was a buyer no matter the style. So long as the style either matches/fits in to the area and is what the buyers want, it probably doesn’t matter much.

As far as staging, I do it with furniture I have purchased. I have seen $2500-4000 quotes for staging a house. I have less than that (probably less than half of that low number) in furniture, decor, pillows, etc and stage it myself. Storing the items can be tricky, however for me, saving that few thousand on each flip is a nice perk and worth the little headache.

If comparable homes sell for $129k, why would you be able to sell for $139k? Also I have done renovations that cost north of $100k, a brand new build off a foundation will most likely cost north of that unless you find some really cheap labor.

Way north of $50k probably way north of $100k to double the SF and get it comparable with other homes. You note the kitchen and floors don’t need to be redone... if you have new homes as your comparables, you need new kitchen, new floors, new HVAC, new everything to compare. You “might” have a deal.

Honestly...

You should have double checked the cabinet specs before approving the order. The cabinet on the drawing lining up with some window doesn’t actually mean anything. The cabinets should be called out by size and you should have verified the size. I’m willing to bet they have verbiage on their order forms stating this as well.

What size are the uppers? RTAs 99% of the time come in 30, 36 and 42” height. 

Old post, however I wouldn’t want to be selling a $430k house in a neighborhood of $250k houses... I had a tough time selling my $300k house with the others being $225-250k.

100% call the broker and follow up via email with her copied... if this is a time crunch and she can’t be bothered to work for her commission, her boss needs to know.