All Forum Posts by: David Caradonna

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $193,000
Cash invested: $25,000
Sale price: $410,500

This was originally purchased as a long term hold back in 2018. It always rented great. I decided to cosmetically update the home this year once the long term tenants moved out. I spent about $25,000, saving over $30,000 from estimates. I finished the home in around 6 weeks working on it nights and weekends when I wasn't at my full time job. We listed at $395,000. We had 7 full price and above offers within 72 hours. We went into contract at $410,500, $15,500 over asking.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I knew absolutely nothing about real estate when I purchased this home back in 2018. I just knew it was in decent shape and under my budget of $200,000. That was literally it.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

On the MLS back in 2018

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

The home was rented out consistently. I then cosmetically remodeled the entire home.

What was the outcome?

A huge payday. It really shows the compounding benefits of appreciation, mortgage paydown, etc.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Doing the work myself while also working full time was a lot of stress. I did find a great team going forward however.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $193,000
Cash invested: $25,000
Sale price: $410,500

This was originally purchased as a long term hold back in 2018. It was rented out to the same family for almost the entirety of time I've owned it. I actually helped htem find a home for themselves this year and decided to cosmetically update the home. I ended up doing the renovations myself (never again lol) due to difficulty finding reputable contractors. I spent about $25,000, saving over $30,000 from estimates. I finished the home in around 6 weeks working on it nights and weekends when I wasn't at my full time job. We listed at $395,000. We had 7 full price and above offers within 72 hours. We went into contract at $410,500, $15,500 over asking.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I knew absolutely nothing about real estate when I purchased this home back in 2018. I just knew it was in decent shape and under my budget of $200,000. That was literally it.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

On the MLS back in 2018

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional financing.

How did you add value to the deal?

The home was rented out consistently. I then cosmetically remodeled the entire home.

What was the outcome?

A huge payday. It really shows the compounding benefits of appreciation, mortgage paydown, etc.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Doing the work myself while also working full time was a lot of stress. I did find a great team going forward however.

Will this happen before or after California breaks off from the U.S. as well which was another rumor wasn't it? But in all seriousness:

A. People are moving and investing here faster than I can refresh my MLS page.

B. Banks and Lenders that have A TON more to lose than us would not be lending if they thought there was a significant risk and I promise they will do a lot more research to protect their money than you and I could ever dream of. 

C. Same goes for insurance companies who are raising their prices, but still covering. 

As a local investor in Tampa I'm inclined to tell you to avoid it all costs to avoid competition however I've never been more sure of the Tampa market since I've been here. There will always be 100 people telling you how wrong you are for every move you make. You need to learn how to tone out the ones who are uneducated in the matter. 

 I just found wholesalers to have better access to deals in this market. We are one of the hottest in the country and homes are selling quick and priced high therefore most agents are focusing their efforts on those sales which I totally get. Double closing stinks to put it nicely lol but the numbers still work most of the time. 

Contractor was a referral from another investor. Turned out he ended up taking advantage of them as well.  The silver lining is the contractor that did do the job is incredible, fairly priced, and did great work who I now have as someone in my book of partners. 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $138,000
Cash invested: $80,000

This was my first BRRRR and fix and flip. We ran into a list of issues from a bad contractor to needing to replace just about everything in the home. We spent $20,000 over what the estimation was but the money was well spent. We moved the kitchen and reframed the master suite which had a big ROI. We listed it for rent and within 12 hours had a qualified tenant, lease signed, and deposits taken. It will cash flow strongly in a great market and overall we are extremely happy.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I have always been a long term buy and hold investor. I wanted to venture into BRRRR and fix and flip to learn the process. It was a big learning curve but glad I did it.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Local wholesalers.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard Money

How did you add value to the deal?

We replaced everything. The roof, the hvac system, plumbing,. We also reframed the master suite and relocated the kitchen.

What was the outcome?

Home is cash flowing around $600/m as of right now and will continue to cash flow when refinanced.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

You can do everything right in the home but you cannot change the location. We will be pickier with the neighborhood and street it is on as there are commercial buildings on each side which brought the value down.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence other investment.

Purchase price: $138,000
Cash invested: $80,000

I purchased a home to BRRRR. I used hard money, a network of wholesalers, and a local contractor to complete the project. Every inch of the home needed repairs and we ended up spending over $20,000 more than we anticipated. We also had to fire the first General Contractor who was taking money, and not completing work. We thankfully got the project completed in a pretty quick timeline because I stayed focused, dealt with issues and made decisions immediately instead of fighting with the contractor and my own thoughts. I designed the home with the help of my wife and contractor who came up with ideas as the job went on and walls opened up. We changed the floorplan for a much bigger kitchen and large master suite.

After 90 days, we had the home staged, professionally photographed, and listed for rent. Within 12 hours we had our tenant signed, 1st month rent and security deposit transferred, and they move in this month. The home will cash flow around $600 currently with the HML and when we refinance the home will cash flow $500-$600 depending on the appraised value and interest rates.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I have always been a long term buy and hold investor. I wanted to venture into BRRRR and fix and flip to learn the process. Now that I have, I am ready for more.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Local wholesalers.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard Money

How did you add value to the deal?

We replaced everything. The roof, the hvac system, plumbing,. We also reframed the master suite and relocated the kitchen.

What was the outcome?

Home is cash flowing around $600/m as of right now and will continue to cash flow when refinanced.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

You can do everything right in the home but you cannot change the location. We will be pickier with the neighborhood and street it is on as there are commercial buildings on each side which brought the value down.

Awesome insight Matt. You hit the nail on the head as far as my "plan". It's a rapidly appreciating market with A LOT of construction going on over the next year so even though I don't think it's going to kill it as a STR, I think a mid term rental will absolutely keep the bills paid while it appreciates. To be honest, even a long term rental will so I feel like I'm at least covered. And at a worst case scenario, I sell it and call it a day lol.

 That'd be great. Thanks! 

Thanks everyone! I still haven't decided in full what I'm going to do with the property once its completed. Getting a DSCR loan with terms good enough to make it work proved difficult so we might just be selling it off. Thanks again for all the help!

Hey everyone. Has anyone used any air bnb arbitrage companies for their rentals instead of furnishing and managing yourself?

I have a property I'm almost done flipping in Lakeland, FL. It's about an hour away from me so I was curious to see if this would be a beneficial option. 

Any recommendations or advice would help. Thanks!