All Forum Posts by: Bryan Huntington

It’s a lot harder to find a deal on the mls but remember it’s not always about finding a deal. Sometimes you can create a deal. What if there are two houses on one parcel of land and you can subdivide the properties and sell them separately for a huge profit and no one else bothered to look into that while skimming the mls? Stuff like that happens and you can capitalize by being creative.

Looks like most people are advocating to get a reasonably priced car at 4K. Generally I agree to get a low price car you can afford but to play devils advocate and to give you food for thought it doesn’t make any sense to go buy another beater car that will need a repair every 3 weeks and will continue to nickel and dime you. It might make more sense to pay a little more for a car and not have to worry about repairs. Recuperate money in other areas. Move back in with the parents if applicable. Get a side job or higher paying job.

Trying to do a 203k right now and it’s a nightmare. First you need a HUD consultant who gives you a bid on the scope of work (which will cost up to $800 just to have this guy). Then you need to get a licensed general contractor to give you a bid as well. This bid can’t go over the bid price that the HUD sets or gotta make cuts. Then the bid also has to be very specific. Like line item cost for material and labor. “$5,000 for bathroom remodel” doesn’t fly here. You gotta put toilet, shower, floor, vanity, fixtures, paint etc. very meticulous. Trying to get contractors to get me a bid in a timely manner is a nightmare. Let alone a specific line item bid. I had one contractor do an inspection and disappear on me for 4 weeks. He just got back to me on the bid and guess what? Way to general. Can’t use it. Another contractor over bid the HUD guy and also was too general. So I’m on my 3rd contractor bid now and had to file an extension for the close. The seller was pretty happy about that Oh and even if everything went peachy without all the contractor trouble the bank still takes forever to process this (5-6 weeks in my case) so make sure the seller knows it’s not a fast close or even a typical 1 month to close. So that’s my headache in the 203k so far. Too much red tape and dealing with contractor shenanigans imo. I wouldn’t recommend it.

You should read The Millionaire Fastlane by MJ DeMarco. Has a great take on building massive wealth quickly. Although somewhat dogs on real estate lol. But he makes great points. Basically if you want to make a lot of money quickly you have to reach/influence a lot of people. Look at actors, rock stars, professional athletes. They get rich quick because they have a huge audience or influence on a lot of people. Companies like Apple and amazon are filthy rich because they have a ridiculous amount of costumers wanting their product. Restaurants have a high failure rate because they are limited to people they can reach based on geographic location whereas internet based companies can reach millions. If you want more money quickly, reach more people quickly. Apply that to real estate as you will: more mailers, more units, more flips etc.

Craig’s list, rentometer.com, many MLS apps like Trulia, Zillow, Redfin, realtor.

@Chris Mason thanks for your input. I did not think to ask my HUD consultant and just shot him an email now so hopefully that pans out. I’ve gone through a few contractors already. One disappeared on me and the other threw out a bid that is way too general to meet with the bank standards and was way over the budget that the HUD consultant has set which is a big no no like you mentioned.

I have a duplex under contract that needs rehab. Looking to do this under a 203k loan. There is a lot of red tape involved. With that being said I’m looking for A licensed GC with experience in doing rehabs under a 203k loan in Salt Lake City Utah. Does anyone in salt lake have any good recommendations? (They must be a licensed GC to meet the loan requirements). Thanks.

Just had a contractor inspect a duplex I have under contract about a week ago. I needed his Bid ASAP since I am using a 203k loan for the rehab and the bank said it needed his bid before they could proceed with the appraisal. Well he now is missing in action despite numerous calls, emails, texts. Not quite sure why he even showed up to inspect if he was going to disappear on me. He even emailed me 2 days ago saying he’d get me the bid that night lol. Today had to get another contractor to bid the property and will now need to get an extension for closing.

I am looking for a multifamily property but the picking are slim in my area and the numbers just don't work for what is available.  Instead of looking for multifamily specifically I am toying with the idea of purchasing a single family and then converting it to multifamily.  Getting a SF with an unfinished basement and turning it into a basement apartment for example.  I just wanted to get a general feel for this strategy.  Is there anyone out there intentionally and consistently doing this with success?  I'd love to hear about success stories, failures, pitfalls etc. What kind of hidden obstacles are there  such as zoning restrictions?   

That's what I thought. Thanks.