All Forum Posts by: Carlos Alcazar

Hi everyone!!

just wanted to reach out to everyone for some advice. I'm having a little bit of trouble properly executing rehabs without contractor estimates blowing out of budget 

im trying to find contractors to establish long term business relationships with but I can't seem to bridge the gap between estimates and true costs

I'll give two examples:

one was a single family home and I received various estimates ranging between 20k to 40k. Ended up going with a contractor who quoted 30k. At the end of the day the project came in at 65k 

another is a most recent 4 unit where the estimate was 35k and I'm now approaching 80k in total invoices.

fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.. shame on me :)

these where two different contractors and not only did they go over budget but over projected deadlines.

how does everyone here prevent this from happening; I understand 10% - 25% project overages for unexpected items but I've definitely exceeded this range. 

What's more frustrating is that at the end of the day; the finishing/prettyness portion of the project is where corners are sometimes cut to stop the bleeding which directly impacts the appraisals and ultimately; the money I get back at the end of the deal.

I know there's an element of luck at play when finding deals (can't see through walls) and if that's the case.. I need to keep away from any casinos that I come across :)

Hello!

First off, I want to say that I'm not sure if this post is ok for the technology section or if it should be in the market place section since I'm also the creator of an app. I decided technology would be ok as I wanted to start discussion around the app I made, gather feedback from everyone, and continue turning it in to something everyone uses.

This whole thing started while I was browsing for homes on the MLS on my phone while in the bathroom (Talk about the inception of an idea lol). I found it fundamentally frustrating that when I found a potential investment, I'd then have to go to one website to get rent rates, then go to another to get property taxes, then go to another to get mortgage payment info, then punch all that information in to some spreadsheet instead of just having that information right there and then.

After putting up with this for a while as a new investor, I decided enough is enough and I went ahead and created an app called IRES that not only allows you to search for properties and list them; the results also give you the following:

Estimated Rent
1% rule
Cap Rate
Rent/Cost
COC (cash on cash)
DSCR (debt service coverage ratio)
NOI
P&I
Insurance
Property Taxes
HOA Fees

Here is a screenshot of what you'd see:

So with all that said, you can download the FREE version for Android here (Still working on the paid version):

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alcazarinnovations.ires&fbclid=IwAR2dEix9N0RzdgFQFBOGxymTzn3wWwHQFA1_y6Zil-0guvTX7qP1Way4tj8

And I'm still working to get an iOS version out there.


With all that said, what are your thoughts? Is there anything you think I could add that would help everyone? I tried to show most of the important data points so that you guys can look for possible investments using the bathroom in the most efficient way possible :)

Also.. Not sure if this counts as advertisement (if it does you can blow away the post and I'll repost to marketplace).. in my mind I think this might be fair game since I want to develop a tool for everyone to use and in order to get feedback; I have to share what I have so far