All Forum Posts by: Cyle Harris

I recommend having a full inspection done by your local housing department to understand what permits are required. From there, you'll have an idea of which licensed contractors you'll need for specific jobs. Speaking from personal experience, I wish I had taken this route instead of the latter with my first flip. You don't want any surprises after you're finished with the rehab especially in the form of permits needed after work has been completed. Good luck!  

I second @Marty Boardman's comments above. Sit down with your realtor and contractors and work out some type of paid agreement to reinforce the urgency behind your requests. 

In today's competitive buying market, us investors have to be creative to acquire the best deals. Good luck.  

@Nicholas Misch Thanks for the feedback. Their website looks great but it always helps to hear personal feedback from past/existing members regarding their experience. I plan on attending their next event so I may see some of their leadership there. Thank you for the offer. 

Good morning Cleveland BP Community, 

I'm looking for some general feedback on anyone whose attended or is/has been a member of the Greater Cleveland REIA group. It reminds me of the official REI group we have in Michigan and I enjoy the structure, learning opportunities, and vendor presence (title companies, lenders, etc.) at these functions so I will definitely look to attend some of the upcoming events.

Please let me know how your experience has been with this organization. 

Agree with @David Terbeek comments above. I bid on a property in Cleveland heights and had to do A TON of research on the POS clause as this is not something we see at all in the metro Detroit area where I normally invest and came to the same conclusion. I also spoke with someone at the inspection office to confirm that this route was okay. Would definitely recommend that you visit their POS website to review all of the resources yourself to ensure you're prepared. Good luck 

Thanks for clarifying @Scott E. I meant J Scott (not sure where I got Dan from). You're thought process is in line where I'm headed, develop a template as a starting point and continue to build/improve my tool to adjust for my market and business. I'm not following J Scott's method exactly, rather as a skeleton and adding my personal input/experience to ensure my deal analysis is as complete as possible. 

@Matt Stewart Thanks for your feedback. This is exactly what my previous process was missing - it was so cut and dry it did not allow for the various variable behind rehab and fixed costs. After my revision is complete, my plan is to continue to improve as I work more deals. 

I developed a simple excel spreadsheet years ago to analyze potential deals and decided recently to revamp calculations after nearly purchasing a bad deal. My old spreadsheet encompassed all of the basics and helped me purchase my first deal but it definitely needed some improvements.

 I've been using "The Book on Flipping Houses" by Dan Scott as a template to add the underlining expected costs behind estimated rehab/fixed costs, comp adjustments (i.e. beyond just bed and baths), and I always calculate some sort of contingency as we all know rehabbing houses is typically more expensive than originally expected. I've finalized the fixed costs and comp adjustment portion and still have the rehab portion to go. My goal is to have this tool setup to account for all potential costs that will go in to making a deal viable while making it simple enough to complete in 5-10mins. 

What is your deal analysis process? Do you use a pre-built tool or did you create something yourself? 

Great post @Julie Berks. Very detailed. I'm looking to complete another fix and flip and then house hack but definitely enjoy learning about different RE strategies. 

Did you read any books prior to pursuing this strategy or did you jump in head first? I'd be interested to learn what resources you leveraged. 

Thanks for the insight @David Lee Hall, III. A lot of what you’ve detailed is in line with the research I’ve conducted. 

Assuming that you’re using DM or have used it in the past, how long did it take for you to see results and what conversion rates are/were you seeing? 

I've been searching for my next fix and flip over the past month using a lot of manual methods such as driving for dollars, refined automated search within the MLS, and regularly checking for sale by owners on Zillow and Craigslist. I've found a few potential deals using these methods but am looking to increase this number through a direct mail campaign. I understand that direct mail campaigns take time produce results, but after conducting research and consulting with a few people, it is worth it. I plan on using a direct mail company for post card templates and distribution services.

What marketing methods do you use to generate leads and how affective are they?