All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Hello All, 

We are investors in the Houston area and are putting an offer down on a property. This property does seem to have some foundation issues, and we are wondering what is the general costs for these types of repairs. We are new to this and so not sure how much to budget in our repairs. We are generally conservative so I'm thinking at least $10K and we will be getting a bid for the repair next week, but just wanted to see if anyone can give us a reasonable range for the houston area. 

Thanks

Craig

Hello All, 

We are investors in the Houston area and have just begun making our first offers. We will most likely be using a hard money lender and have a question on how that is considered when writing up the offer. Our realtor asked how much we are "putting down" and how much we are financing. The hard money loan will cover the entire price of the house, and some of the rehab, so would this be considered a full cash offer? Or do we still have to list as financing? 

Thanks in advance

Craig

@Brian Fazekas Thanks we appreciate it! It is going to be a living business plan to change as we learn more. 

@John Thaxton Yes the 10% is based off of the ARV. We are looking probably for a miminum of $10K to begin with, but I'm sure as we gain experience that minimum value will increase.

@Paul Crowson Thanks!

Hello All, 

Thank you so much for all the great advice. It is good to hear that there are people out there working the same type of properties we are looking into. I think for the time being we will stick with our plan and see how that goes over the next 6 months. If it seems that we can't acquire any properties at this price point we can reevaluate our target market. 

@Huy N. Those are our exact thoughts, and glad to hear its working for you already. 

Thanks everyone for your advice, actually going to look at a property now so hopefully we find a good deal. 

Craig

Hello All, 

I am a new investor in the Houston, TX area. We just had a great meeting with a investor/contractor who has been in the business for a while and he brought up a point that i thought was interesting. In our business plan we have decided to start with flipping houses to build up a cash reserve before we start purchasing buy and hold properties. Our criteria is 3/2/2 with purchase price under 100K and ARV of about $150K.

While discussing this with this other investor he mentioned that when looking to flip properties you should really stay away from the 50K - 150K properties as this is where the buy and hold investors are looking to buy, and a flipper cannot compete with the prices that a buy and hold investor can offer. He also mentioned there is less risk in flipping properties with an ARV of $200K+ as the buyers are more secure and can get approved for a loan easier than someone looking to purchase a $100K house.

So my question is, is there anyone successful flipping houses in the $150K ARV range or should we revise our business plan to focus on houses with a higher ARV?

Thanks

Craig

Hey Jason I completely agree with Eric that each buyer will have their own requirements, but overall it will be about being able to bring a quality deal that will matter the most. Being able to accurately estimate the rehab costs and understand that the buyers are looking for some equity in the house after your cut. We are looking for 3/2/2 in West Houston with a purchase price of under 100k. Good luck and let us know of you find any deals! Thanks Craig and Taylor Koehne.

Hello All, 

Just had a quick question about the average contractor work schedule. Do most GC's agree to work 7 days a week until the job is complete, or is it common place to have the weekends off where no work is being completed? The reason i ask is because we were driving around some of our prospective neighborhoods on the weekends (Driving for Dollars) and saw some properties that were obviously being worked on, but no one was on the job site. 

I feel that everyday would be critical in getting the job done in a timely manner, but was curious how it actually works when doing a rehab with a GC. 

Thanks

@Jose Diaz I searched the forums and found some good templates and instructions then built it from there. I know that Business Plans need to be flexible but have firm goals that you are trying to achieve. We are hoping that by having a clear business plan that this will show both lenders and Realtors that we are serious, even though we do not have a track record as of yet. We will See!

Wow this is crazy. Can't imagine someone living in a place like this. Very much looking forward to seeing the rehab results. Good luck!

Hey Jay

We went to one of these seminars a year or two ago. The disappointing thing for us was we thought Than Merrill was going to be there, but it was actually was one of his representatives.  It wasn't bad, but it was a normal free seminar, some good  info but good amount of pressure to buy their "package" deal. 

Just my two cents