All Forum Posts by: Doug Crenshaw

Hello Mike! 
I am an Investor Friendly Realtor and what that means is that I am taking all of the guesswork out of the equation for my investors. I have investors from all over the US and as far as Italy, that rely on my information to get them the answers to the questions they have. I not only do a video inspection of the property for them, but I also run the numbers for them. I calculate the repairs, the ROI, and the Net Profit depending on the strategy that they are using. As of late, with the corona not being in the bottle anymore, if the property is not vacant I will ask the seller to do a YouTube video of the property to share with my investors. If the property is vacant, I am still going out and videoing the property.

I use the video to get the estimated repairs necessary to make an offer. Once an offer is accepted we have a 10-15 day inspection period (due diligence) where I go out with the inspector and do a more thorough walk through and if needed another YouTube video for my investor.

As far as calculating the repairs cost? I would get with a couple different General Contractors and pick their brain. Let them know that you are an investor and you want to get some ballpark figures together so that you can more accurately calculate repairs. Let them also know that when you find a property, you will want them to do the work on the property. What you are doing is eliminating them from coming out every time you want to place an offer. Some will think it is a waste of their time, so keep asking until you get 2-3 that will give you some kind of a price. Keep it simple like "Complete Kitchen Remodel", "Bathroom Remodel", "Paint Exterior or Interior", "Flooring Cost Installed", "Roof Replacement", etc... What I did is ask them to give me a square footage cost break down. For example - Kitchen Remodel - Cabinets, Counters, Plumbing, Lighting, and Flooring - If they say $3K - $7K for an average kitchen then you now have a price from that contractor... Low end remodel is $3K...Avg is $5K...High end $7K... Now if the average square footage in your area is let's say 2,000 HSF then you can now take those numbers to get an average of $5K/2,000SF or $2.50/HSF. So now if you have a property with a HSF of 2,500... you would take that and multiply by the $2.50 to get a kitchen renovation figure of $6,250! It is easier to calculate a rough figure by using the HSF than it is bringing out a contractor to give you an estimate on every property. You will also have the inspection period to be able to get the contractor out to give you a more accurate repair cost. I would have the contractor look at it after you have the inspection so they can take into account for anything from that report too. By soliciting the GC for information on repair cost you will earn their respect for not wasting their time, but also get someone that is more loyal to you since you already built rapport with them.

 My suggestion for you is to find a Realtor that not only knows the area, but is also Investor Friendly so that they can help you with a lot of the questions you may have. They should also have a list of contractors that they are familiar with as well. Just remember, every investor started with one property and either continue on as an investor or gives up because they had a bad property. The "Golden Rule" of real estate investing is to Buy It Right and Sell It Right. How you achieve that can be numerous, but it all starts on very simple rules. A good Investor Friendly Realtor in your area can help you with those two keys to success!

Good luck and stay safe out there and let me know if you have any further questions!

If you already have a Pre-Approval letter then I would contact them to see if you can extend it and lock it for a longer period of time. They may go for it and not have to get a new one!

Hello Juan... The ultimate decision is yours to make... if you can afford to take the leap then take the leap. If not then stay where you are... As an investor we take risks every time we make a purchase or get a new tenant. We gain the knowledge we need to make a decision and then we have to live or die by that decision. The biggest keys in Real Estate Investing is to Buy It Right and Sell It Right. If you rely on bad information on the purchase and get a lemon, you may have to wait it out until it becomes the best lemonade you have ever had, to make up for it when you sell it. Learn more about the area you are looking to buy in. Learn the neighborhoods, the market trends, and the stability for either sales or rents. Knowledge about your area is where you will see the best results. I see too many investors jump at the first property they like and don't have a clue about the neighborhood or the numbers that coincide with that particular location. Get the knowledge, run the numbers, and if it make sense do it, if not then move on to the next.

Hope that helps!
 

Hello Morgan! I am not sure how your market is going in Richmond, but so far in the Tampa Bay area we are still seeing a sellers market, so prices are still up. I would have to say... without seeing any of the numbers, that if you will gain a lot by refinancing then I would do it, as long as you have somewhere to move it. If you don't like the stocks and don't like the current market prices, then I would say leave it well enough alone. While we are going through an unprecedented corona virus situation, I am telling my investors not to rock the boat and ride out the storm. Once we are past the storm we can then re-evaluate market conditions and mortgage rates and go from there.

Hope that helps and you and your family are staying safe!

Hello Anthony... I agree with you that it is a bit one sided. You just happen to be on the wrong side of the one sided-ness... Have you looked into getting the closing done by online signatures verses meeting at the title company? With the current virus situation maybe that will be a better option? At the least maybe via FedEx? I would ask the title company or attorney if that would be possible to get the closing done more timely. Especially since we don't know how long this virus thing is going to last. I use online document signatures for investors that are out of the country so they don't have to make a trip over every time they have a closing. Not sure it wouldn't work on a local level as well...

Good luck and hope that helps! 

Hello Jack... I am not sure where you are looking to purchase your investment property, but if you are going to be financing it I would get funded first. I had an investor looking at properties and was not able to get a "picture perfect" property for his purposes, because he put the cart before the horse. If you are financing a deal I would touch base with a Mortgage Broker and tell them what you are trying to accomplish. They can then get you Pre-Approved for a loan. A copy of the Pre-Approval letter along with an offer goes a lot further than stating that you have been "Pre-Qualified". Another option would be to use a Hard Money Loan to buy the property in cash... and then refinance if you want to hold the property. This way you can say that you are a CASH buyer and not contingent on financing. 

Food for thought! Good luck out there!

Hello Susie... Well it sounds like your draw amount may have been too large to make them second guess finishing the project. More than likely they have another project that they are moving on to instead of working on yours. You have two choices to make - 1) continue to allow this one contractor to delay everything or 2) Move on and count your losses. I don't know the numbers you are working with, but you have to ask yourself if it is worth hanging on.. or letting go? I had the same thing happen to me years ago on a SF and I decided that lost rent was going to cost me more than waiting on the contractor to finish. In the words of the late Kenny Rogers... Know when to hold'em and know when to fold'em... Hope that helps and good luck!