All Forum Posts by: Corben Briggs

Hey guys!

I just recently closed on my first property! Its a 3bd x 1.5bt single family home in a great town/neighborhood. I am using this as a stepping stone for a live & flip deal. The property is a bit of an antique from 1945 but is not in that bad of shape and has had some recent renovations done in the past (kitchen and main bathroom). I got it for a great deal and there is still some good meat on the bone to really add more value when its time to relist!

Some of the value add projects that I have in mind are expanding the master, adding a master bath/walk in closet and also possibly adding an extra half bath upstairs. The floors need to be replaced and other cosmetic renovations are getting planned with contractors to make it much more modern and appealing.

One of the issues I cant stop thinking about is the damn heating system. The house's main heating comes from oil and it still has those clanky radiators in every room that act as big eyesore (to me at least)! I am a bit nervous that if I go through all of these renovations to make the house look much better & add value the radiators are still going to hold back the value and essentially create a ceiling for profits. I know installing a brand new heating system can be pricey so I'm not sure I can budget that on top of all of the new renovations ATM. Does anyone have any experience in dealing with these in their rehab deals or might be able to share any tips on what to do with these? 

A couple of my concerns are spending $$ to replace them and still having a price ceiling because the age of the house. NOT replacing them and potentially dealing with the same thing with the value after we rehab OR doing all the other renovations first and then having to rip up some of the renovations such as the new flooring after they are done because I dont have a choice in removing the radiators.

Appreciate your responses & anything helps!

Corben

Hey all!

So I am looking into purchasing a new single family investment opportunity in a nice area of MA. One thing about the property is that it needs a new septic system in place however it will need to be an elevated system meaning there will be able a 4ft mound above grade from the rest of the backyard that covers a large portion of the yard

The thing about this is that it won’t get done until after closing since the seller doesn’t have the cash to pay for it and wants to do a 1.5x price hold back on it so I’m not able to see what it will look like aside from the blue print that the contractor gave us it until after closing.

Has anyone had an experience or stories with these elevated septic systems being a big issue or something that would prevent the house from selling? I know there’s some cool ways of dressing one up however haven’t had experience with that in the past.

Anything helps!

Hey all!

Wanted to network out to any investors in the Massachusetts area. I just relocated here from Southern California and am working on getting through my first deal! So Cal was too expensive of a market for me at this time and since I am originally from the area I decided to make the move so I can get through the first deal which is a goal that I have had set for a while now. I'm looking at a "live & flip" or value-add rental opportunity so I can save some money on the down payment, have a place to live, and utilize more capital on the rehab. 

Is anyone else out there doing deals or currently investing/helping investors in MA area? If so I would love to connect!!

Any insight, referrals, or recommendations would be awesome too! Feel free to message me directly on BP and I will be more than happy to share my personal email/phone.

Cheers!

 Thanks Bryan! This is honesty very helpful. Short and to the point!

As I mentioned before I am not looking for a company that does all of this work for investors as a service. I am looking to build a team of people to help succeed in out of state investing myself. So to answer your questions, why would an agent help me find a distressed house with profitable investment potential? Because he/she makes commission off of the sale between myself and the seller. Why would a general contractor do the rehab work it requires to raise value before selling it at a higher price? Because that is there job and their company's livelihood. 

Again I am not looking to work with one sole company to do all of these steps before letting me reap the profits at the end. I am looking to quarterback the entire operation with the help of my team to lead me to the end zone while funding the entire drive. 

Hey James sorry for the late response as I have been out of town the last few days! I wanted to respond to you since I was very intrigued by some of the comments that you made. So you are saying that it is not possible for me to perform a rehab/flip investment anywhere outside of my local market? Not even by following the same strategies that @David Greene highlights in his book, "long distance real estate investing? 

As of right now I am not looking for a house flipping company or an organization to actually do the flip for me I am focused on finding a market so that way I can set up a team to help me complete a flip myself. This would pertain to finding an investor friendly realtor, a reputable contractor, a reasonable lender, etc. I'm not sure if I am following you as if the deals makes sense why wouldn't someone be able to build a team that would be able to successfully/ethically perform a rehab in a different OOS market? For instance why would a realtor/seller care where the investor who purchases the property lives? As long as everyone benefits I dont see why living in a different market would have any influence aside from it being structured a little different (how they are paid, communication, contracts drafted/signed etc.)

I have thought about turn-key investments however I don't believe that will give me much experience at all considering I would most likely be buying it right before it hits the market. There doesn't seem to be any opportunity for forced appreciation there. Yes, there will be a significant less amount of risk but also a less returns. If i were to place all of my capital into a turn key investment it would be a decent amount of time before I am able to regain that liquid cash for another deal.

Yes, so I will most likely be looking into a hard money lender for two reasons. 1) because they are more prone to recognize a good deal than a traditional bank would and therefore I will have a higher chance of finding a way to finance the property and 2.) I can use them as good judgement since they will not want the risk themselves if it turns out not to be a good deal based on their perspective. I was looking for a finance option that would include the rehab costs in the loan as well.

I love the movie reference too! I understand this is going to be something that wont be easy however (again correct me if I am wrong) I think this may be the best option for me looking at my capital and the area that I am living. I am not looking for a crazy distressed property which is why I want to focus on one that could use some cosmetic/minor rehabbing with a 10-15k budget. I believe a rehab would be necessary rather than say a turnkey property because I would be able to add forced appreciation and later get it appraised for more & either flip it for profit or rent/refinance it allowing me to get back capital to reinvest in another property. 

As far as Advisers/mentors go Bigger Pockets is a resource that I plan to really utilize throughout my venture :)

 Hi Ali!

Yes you're right I am considering rehabbing but right now I would be looking at a max of about 70k with including closing costs & rehab work. Please correct me if I'm off but I am around 10k-15k capital right now. I was hoping for a cheaper house (40k-50k PP with rehab/closing costs of 10k-20k total) Nothing big just want to start of with something small to gain the experience and hopefully a little bit of capital to repeat!

Also I appreciate you sharing this article with me! I made this thread in hopes that I would also receive recommendations from successful investors that may be able to understand my current situation who know of cheaper markets for me to look into as well as places to find them myself!

Hello everyone,

I'm a young aspiring real estate investor looking to complete my first deal! At this point I am considering both options (in state & out of state) investing and am trying to weigh out my options on what might be a better fit. Being located in San Diego and not having much capital I am looking at possibly getting started in a cheaper market somewhere else and going that route.

As I start to consider this I was wondering if anyone knew of helpful ways of choosing which market to get my feet wet in flipping/BRRRR'ing. I know this question is very broad since each market depends on so many personal factors about who you are as an investor but I have been having a hard time finding one to even consider to focus on. Right now I have been using a helpful site: areavibes.com to narrow down my search a bit and my criteria has been this..

• Cheap (about 60k PP looking at my capital for a down payment & rehab)
• Good employment score
• Good housing score
• Low crime rate

This has helped me find a few cities to research but I am still unsure of which one is a good choice. Does anyone have any recommendations of where to look/what to do when trying to choose which market to hone in on? Also does anyone have any specific markets that they recommend I check out and begin to analyze deals & piece together a team to help me land my first deal?

Anything helps,

Cheers!

@Kenneth Donaghy replied!