All Forum Posts by: David O.

@Marc Middleton can you add me to your investor list? I am a big buyer in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

Miami Beach is a solid investment market, very hard to find deals, but if you do you should have no problem selling it. North Miami Beach is growing a lot too. It looks like the address was deleted from the post, but I would be happy to give me opinion of the ARV as well. You can also try and re-listing as-is to another investor and see if you make a profit. I have seen some investors do as that as well, but the better spreads may be in investing the time and capital improvements to maximize the ARV.

Nice! Great background! What kind of investments have you done in Nicaragua? I have family there and know the area well. Very curious to see what you have done.

@Antoine Martel

@Carlos Rovira 

@Adam Schooley What do you think will sell better, a shower rod with curtain or a nice glass? Lots of hotels use this half glass method as well. 

South Florida (and Miami especially) are notorious for shoddy general contractors. When I first started, I made many rookies mistakes and trusting contractors who at the end over-promised and under-delivered. Contractors know instantly if you are not experienced and will leverage that into trying to charge you as much as possible. There a very few excellent contractors that work with high integrity, professionalism and ethics (especially in Miami) and there are even fewer that understand the investor friendly dynamics needed for real estate investment projects. 

After being tired of working with underperforming contractors, I decided to bring the general contracting licensing and requirements in-house for my real estate acquisitions company so that I could be in direct control of the workflow, expenses, deadlines and the high quality expectations I choose to maintain. I also offer my services now to investors in Miami Dade and Broward County since I have a team of salaried workers and wanted to end the negative experiences both investors and people in general have in regards to contractors.

Using a general contractor who has an investment mentality and your best interests in mind, there are strategies that you learn and employ over the years to save yourself and your clients money, instead of trying to milk them for every penny. As both an investor and now the principle of a construction firm, adding value wherever possible is how you will succeed, and establishing great relationships with your clients with high quality work and investor insight will keep them coming over and over again. 

Here is an example of how I try to add value as an investor and general contracting / rehab services to my clients:

The before and after photo below was for one of own projects for a simple bathroom renovation. The property in questions was by no means a very high end property, but the bathrooms was from the 50's and was an eyesore. I had a half glass fixed shower door fabricated and installed, then had the entire bathroom primed, coated and painted with a high end specialized latex paint for ceramic tile.

It only takes a few hours to apply and 24 hours to cure and completely changed the look of the bathroom for a fraction of the cost, with extremely fast turnaround time. Whereas any other general contractor would charge $3,000+ in labor to completely gut and re-model. Keep in mind that the paint must be professionally primed, prepped, and applied or else the paint would chip and the finishing would look like bad.

Here's the outcome:

I employ this strategy for multifamily properties as well that have many doors in order to raise rents to achieve market rate rental prices. 

Doing structured payment plans as work progresses in phases is fine and allow clients to pay me that method. It ensure they are comfortable with the scope of work and keeps us incentivized. No shame in admitting that. 

At the end of the day, using an investor friendly general contractor or partner with an experienced rehabber with an excellent and demonstrable. Being able to source and acquire investment properties, investment management, and contracting experience is the trifecta. Real estate investing at the end of the day is a business and costs must be managed and analyzed every step of the way.

You sound very motivated and glad you are doing well. I have found good deals on the MLS as an investor to purchase for myself, you just have to very quick & aggressive to put under contract and show a track record or ability to close. Also having a large network of established broker and agent relationships is important, especially in South Florida. Your reputation is everything, and even in big cities the real estate broker, agent, and investor circles overlap.

Since I am a direct buyer and investor that purchases properties, I can show proof of funds and can close quickly, but I imagine it would be very difficult for a wholesaler to wholesale MLS properties unless you have a contingency of closing on the property if you can't wholesale it.

Agents won't accept long inspections and generally look down upon wholesalers...if they even suspect you are one I am sure they won't deal. How do you plan on trying to show the property to your investors when you have to go through the listing agent? I am just curious.

Off-market dealing directly with the owner seems like your best bet. 

I would like to be added to your buyers list as well. 

@Jarlen Martinez

Welcome to the forums. I would definitely partner with an experience flipper or investor before jumping into your first deal. Miami is a very trick city and you must be very familiar with the major markets and sub-markets to succeed. You must know the acquisition prices intimately, the market rental rates, and be a very strong operator when managing the properties. Prices can increase (or drop) dramatically within a few blocks, and you do not want to be caught overpaying. Just food for thought. You can learn a lot from a mentor, but in my opinion, don’t pay for a class or seminar. If you are going to find a mentor, find one who is willing to put skin in the game with you and offer the value that a mentor should bring. 

@Ramon Gonzalez @Account Closed

My post from 2 years about my great GC, went downhill the last year or so. Projects were taking longer, both unfinished and finished materials were not being delivered on time. GC was not budgeting correctly spending lavishly on too many personal items, and it started to effect his once loyal customer base. But out of working with so many smooth talking GC's, that for whatever reason, never really delivered to the expectations they set out or couldn't maintain it project after project, I decided to start my own construction firm, Ocon Construction & Development, Inc. 

I became the principal in a construction firm that work with both investors and retail homeowners on their renovation projects in Miami and South Florida. I started the construction end of the firm after being tired of working with smooth talking contractors that never delivered on time, over budget, and over-priced. I hired several expert tradesman as employees and now I can do my renovation work in-house while providing the same level of investor friendly service and professionalism to investors in South Florida. 

I noticed that most contractors I worked with in Miami just tried to over charge me and are not investor minded or friendly at all. Moreover, they try to pick up as many jobs / contracts as possible from other people as well, which can really slow down project. They were incapable of using their experience to set price point differentials and cost-saving approaches to reduce costs based on the scope of the investment i,e, a $200k single family home rehab vs. $1.5 million mansion rehab vs.4 unit multifamily rehab) all of which I have done. Feel free to send me a message if I can be of any help.