All Forum Posts by: Craig Bliss

@Kelly McJunkin - Consider looking into real estate investor groups in your new area. A lot of them are meeting “remotely” - that might be a way to get in with the right crowd ahead of actually arriving.

Do you belong to any investor groups currently?

The answer to your question is a function of where you are in the process. If you are in the process of getting ready to plan and cost out an actual renovation than @Damaso Bautista's approach will work really well - get with your contractor and go through all the items that you think need to be remediated. This should be the basis for your detailed renovation budget plan.

However, if you are in the property evaluation stage the approach will be different. During this phase you will want to be able to VERY QUICKLY evaluate whether a property is worth it or not. Especially in the current market ("seller's market"), you may have to go through quite a few properties to find the one that works for you. In this case, you will want to have some general guidelines about how much each type of project may cost, consisting of a range for each one of those project types. Then as you look at a property, you can check off whether that particular type of project applies and whether it is at the low or high end of your guideline range. This is a method I've used - and of course refined over time - to come up with a very high level estimate of renovation costs.

One way to establish your guidelines is to get with a contractor(s), as Dimasso suggests, to come up with these high level guidelines. Another option is to use project estimation software. Combine that with doing a bit of legwork on your own. There is a lot of information available online - consider formulating a high-level estimate yourself and then using a contractor to validate your findings.

Good luck - I'm sure you'll do great…St. Pete is a great place to start your REI journey!

The approach you want to take to answering this question is really a function of where you are in the process

This is a great example of BP's tools being really helpful. Over the years, I've developed my own "deal calculator" that helps create quantifiable metrics of whether a house in which I want to invest will be worth it. Ultimately, profit - whether it be on a buy-and-hold or buy-and-flip (which is my cup of tea) - is determined on the purchase of a property.

The link to the BP Rental Analysis for this property seems to tell you what you need to know: Cash-on-cash return of ~2.3%, Purchase Cap Rate of 5.4%. I think if you listen to any of the experts her on BP (or anywhere else), these numbers are significantly below typical targets. It all depends on your appetite for risk, but I would suggest looking for an opportunity that is a bit "easier" from a numbers and rehab perspective.

Wow...lots of good responses here - maybe more than you had hoped for...?

I've been flipping SFR's for a pretty long time, during good and bad markets. From my experience, it takes either tons of time and money, or almost none at all.

The recommendation I would have is read through all the great materials BP has as well as other sources, looking for the niche of the REI industry that would best suit your skills, time availability, and available capital. One way to get into flipping with the amount of capital you have (e.g., some portion of your $450K) would be to get in on a joint venture with someone that can give you some "hands-on" experience and coaching while you provide some (or all, depending on your risk appetite) of the working capital.

You might be able to find someone in your area interested in such an arrangement here on BP. Also check out meetup.com for a local REI group. That has been a good source of deals for me in the past, here in the Southeast.

Regardless...do your research. With your motivation and drive, there's little doubt you'll be successful!

Congrats on picking an industry with seemingly unlimited opportunities with unlimited potential! My suggestion would be to look through some of the BiggerPockets blog posts and webinars. The objective would be to zero on which part of the industry might best fit your skill set - there are lots of different options. 

I found that I'm pretty handy, love to work with tools, and really enjoy having the fulfillment of seeing my work to completion. What works for me is fix-and-flipping houses. 

Figure out what works for you and then pursue it with abandon! I'm sure with your attitude you will be very successful!!

@John Thedford thanks for the details.

@John Thedford - could you elaborate? What are FL’s regulations regarding wholesalers?

@Anthony Johnson

Hi, Anthony - I’m an investor in St Pete area with investable funds (and read your thread about syndicating with SEC atty.).

Are you still looking for investors?

@Eric Sax might be in a position to help here. PM me and we can discuss, if you’d like.

@Jay Hinrichs would be interested to know what your source is for finding out whether a deal went “turtle” or not. Thanks.