All Forum Posts by: Nathan E.

Well after another set of renters, and the need for some more work, we decided to go forward with a full rehab and put it on the market. We spend about 4 months on this project. 

Check it out the final product. I'd say it's transformed.

3D Walkthrough 

-Nate

Hi @Ray Brockette most of the work was done by others. I spent a couple weekends and a couple weeks worth of week nights tying up loose ends and doing what I could. The spreadsheet should have all the numbers broken out. 10k total. Some of the paid labor is buried in there, the flooring for example included installation. From start to finish it took one month with me being out of town for more than half of that time. Best of luck with your investing in the sunshine state.

@Steve Blair, I currently have the house rented since this is my primary overall strategy, but the numbers would work for a flip as well. I was able to raise the rent by $250/month and had a signed lease before the work was even done. Much better tenants now!

Thanks Khadijah. I debated whether to include the spreadsheet, but figured it would be useful to people just getting in.

By the way Conway is in Orlando for all the keyword people.

Matt, if the deal makes sense for you, go for it. You can look up the FARBAR As-Is contract online and modify it as needed for your deal. Get it under contract. You may want to negotiate a little beforehand. Once you have the major terms sorted out, draw up the contract and present it. Best of luck!

That is so awesome! Congratulations on reaching a huge milestone, though I'm sure "retirement" is not the right term. FIRE away!

This is the story of my latest project, a base hit of a deal.  It all started with an overheard conversation at the office. Two rows over, a woman was venting about their tenants.  I promptly introduced myself as someone who understood her situation and may be able to solve her problem, as I am a part time real estate investor.  The reception was warm but the deal went cold for a few months, while she waited for the tenant to get their act together and assume the loan.  I would occasionally pop over to bring up the conversation and offer some landlording tips.  In October 2015 we signed a contract for the amount of the loan, $139k.

A home with one parking spot housing five trucks and two motorcycles. Two actually ran, all leaked oil.

I inherited a problem tenant, which I realized when the rent for month #2 didn't show up.  I started the painful eviction process always offering a way out given that they wanted to stay. In the end I got possession mid-January and lost 2/3 of a month's rent and had to eat the cost of a few un-repaired items. Remarkably the place was not trashed, he even mowed and trimmed the bushes, thanks!

I went into rehab mode immediately with a 10K budget.  Here's how it looked before:

Not terrible, but not good. There was evidence of heavy insect and rodent activity, and I could see why.  There were holes and openings everywhere!

I'm not sure what is going on here, but I found this in the unconditioned laundry area.  The living room is on the other side.

An industrial sized Corn Flakes box covering a 12" hole in the ceiling since 2011.

Kitchen demo revealed huge openings behind the cabinets where the critters had been living.

The highway to heaven. multiple openings into the crawl space.

The electrical needed some serious help.  The original '59 Federal Pacific breaker panel was still there, but not doing much other than looking, well ugly.

An old glass fuse box.  Dare you to pull it.

Zap!

The rest of the house was a little beat up, but still serviceable with some touchups.

These two trees had grown up from nothing over the last decade. The Ear tree has what you call "snap wood," because that's the sound you hear before the branch comes though your roof. They had to go.

See that big dead branch just hanging over the roof?

Here's the final product:

I didn't really mention there's a spring fed lake in the back. It was just too nice to put in the before pictures.

Here are the repair numbers.  I should add in the appliances cost since I bartered for them. 

Welcome @Daniel Wurl,

With 40 years experience, I wouldn't exactly call you a newbie.  Have you been in Central FL the whole time?  I imagine you've seen a lot of changes. 

The Anthony Butcher, as in tripple T? If so (or if not) welcome.  The first step to finding the "best" area is to define what you are looking for.  The hot area today could end up overbuilt tomorrow, or the weak rental area could see an uptick in owner occupants and investors in a few years.

You could do this, but be aware that this may turn off some prospective tenants. I know it would for me.