All Forum Posts by: Douglas W.

Hi Nadine and thanks for your welcome to Bigger Pockets! I had asked the following question of Bill but might as well open it up to you as well, see below;

1). In my brokerage I am used to using the CAR (California Association of Realtors) purchase offer form in my brokerage but feel as if a more streamlined (1pg.) form would be advantageous when working directly with a homeowner. What do you think? If a 1 pg. purchase contract is advisable, I am assuming I need to enlist the services of a local Real Estate Attorney to draft it. How much should I expect to pay for a solid 1 pg. CA based contract and can it serve in other states as well or do I need to have a local attorney in each state draft something pertinent to the local RE laws?

Out of State (Fix 'N Flip or Wholesaling): Can I really rely on someone in another state to be my eyes when assessing a moderate to heavy remodel in terms of correction of design and functional obsolescence etc.? My network of friends/family is larger than average and I do have people that could be beneficial as an initial set of eyes but I know how accurate I need to be in determining the cost of any given rehab to be profitable. I am ALL for delegation and know that I can be much more profitable when not doing everything myself. On the other hand, with my industry background and having worked with a number of Investor groups that flip, having a strong creative side (and a wife that is an Architect) and a strong eye for detail and will more than likely see things that others might miss. Not a problem with an item costing a few hundred dollars but it could be a much larger oops and I have a hard time walking away from that duty as a wrong decision could take me from black to red very quickly! I would assume once you have worked along side a good GC that you could eventually let him/her handle things with less supervision but until then???

I asked about the out of state area as the Los Angeles are has had a very low MLS inventory for the past 6 years and a huge investor focus (way too many TV shows and Guru seminars out here) on most off market marketing strategies seem over used (ex., Out of State Owners, Multiple Property Owners are the two I have mailed on with no viable respondents thus far) and I would like to begin marketing for properties in other states as well. 

Your thoughts are much appreciated!!

Hi Tom, I read and liked your post but do have a question that appears could definitely be a challenging part of your model. I am sure there is a good work around and I am looking forward to ironing out the flaw in my thinking.

In the traditional Fix 'n Flip model YOU are keeping close track of your project and the workers in some cases by periodic/frequent job site visits. In this way keeping your workers...working quickly and efficiently, hopefully!

In your model, it would seem the on site workers could easily take their time, make mistakes etc. and generally raise the costs of a rehab. Cost control must be a challenge as well because of the aforementioned as well as GC funny business with materials and the possibility of the scope of work in the context of calling out problems that either don't exist or the severity of the problem is less than described allowing the GC to charge more for unnecessary work. It seems that these things are a possibility and it would be great to learn how to deal with them.

Thanks for your tutelage...Douglas!

Paul, thanks for the input and advice on where to look for information. I will check them out!

Hi Bill and thanks for your response!

1). In my brokerage I am used to using the CAR (California Association of Realtors) purchase offer form in my brokerage but feel as if a more streamlined (1pg.) form would be advantageous when working directly with a homeowner. What do you think? If a 1 pg. purchase contract is advisable, I am assuming I need to enlist the services of a local Real Estate Attorney to draft it. How much should I expect to pay for a solid 1 pg. CA based contract and can it serve in other states as well or do I need to have a local attorney in each state draft something pertinent to the local RE laws?

Out of State (Fix 'N Flip or Wholesaling): Can I really rely on someone in another state to be my eyes when assessing a moderate to heavy remodel in terms of correction of design and functional obsolescence etc.? My network of friends/family is larger than average and I do have people that could be beneficial as an initial set of eyes but I know how accurate I need to be in determining the cost of any given rehab to be profitable. I am ALL for delegation and know that I can be much more profitable when not doing everything myself. On the other hand, with my industry background and having worked with a number of Investor groups that flip, having a strong creative side (and a wife that is an Architect) and a strong eye for detail and will more than likely see things that others might miss. Not a problem with an item costing a few hundred dollars but it could be a much larger oops and I have a hard time walking away from that duty as a wrong decision could take me from black to red very quickly! I would assume once you have worked along side a good GC that you could eventually let him/her handle things with less supervision but until then???

I asked about the out of state area as the Los Angeles are has had a very low MLS inventory for the past 6 years and a huge investor focus (way too many TV shows and Guru seminars out here) on most off market marketing strategies seem over used (ex., Out of State Owners, Multiple Property Owners are the two I have mailed on with no viable respondents thus far) and I would like to begin marketing for properties in other states as well. Your thoughts are much appreciated!!

Wow, that was very nice of you to say David. I do know a lot about most aspects of the traditional industry and even the less traditional and...I try to stay realistic about knowing what I don't know and in this area there is still a lot to learn. I really appreciate your comment and wish you the best!

Hello everyone. As I am still figuring out how this system works I will answer each of you separately in this post. Thank you all for your prompt posting after my sign-up. I really appreciate your support!

Michael: Thanks very much, I look forward to exploring Bigger Pockets. I can see where it could be very helpful!

Brent: Thank you for the guidance on site nav. I can see they have a lot of content here and it can take some time to figure out where to go. Thanks!

Milad: Thanks for your welcoming message! I am in the greater L.A. area and have a couple of investor groups that are buying SFRs in higher end areas and am marketing for off-market opportunities for them, planning to double close via transactional funding vs. playing my normal role as broker and working off the commission of a retail sale scenario. I understand a something about the process of a current day double close. It appears to be easiest and most lucrative (as opposed to assignment as the fees should be able to be larger as the "C" buyer won't know what I bought it for initially) to utilize transactional funding to acquire and have a buyer ready to close same day or next day using the same Title Company's Title and Escrow Divisions so they can see the A-B recording, allowing for the subsequent closure of the B-C. I would 1st find and contract the subject property giving myself a couple of weeks to handle inspections, out of town partner o.k., money partner inspection etc. so that I can put out the word to a pre-developed buyer's list interest in that type of deal and try to work out a deal with one of them to buy from me in a double close. I would have the "C" buyer bring a non-refundable 1% (could be different than this amount) deposit following their inspection of the subject and whatever number crunching they need to do to determine their interest in moving forward to close. Their full cash to close would need to be wired to Escrow in short order (24-48 hours after all title related issues are known and cleared to their satisfaction). Only after I have all ducks in a row would I bring in the Trans Funding to wire my funds to close to the A-B Escrow to the Escrow Off. and after both Escrows are confirmed ready to go...proceed to closing the A-B then B-C.

Is there anything I am missing and/or would want to do differently, more simply!

Potentially silly question alert! I am used to using the CAR purchase offer form in my brokerage but feel as if a more streamlined form would be advantageous when working directly with a homeowner. What do you think?

Lastly, all of the above working on properties in other non-CA states? Add to that how to assess the cost of rehab in my pre-acquisition calcs and I can see how it could be tough to Wholesale or Fix 'N Flip 1,000 miles away. We all have a feel for what a home would need to bring it ARV, how can you rely on someone you might not know or know well to provide this information? That is a bit scary to me!

Thank you for your help...Douglas!

If you have looked through my profile, you will see 25+ years of Real Estate and Mortgage Brokerage in my background. I was exposed to the better/cooler half of my industry (RE Investing) a few years ago and have sought out a fair amount of knowledge about the investing side but...I have some very specific gaps that I would like to clarify as I enter full throttle mode. I am looking forward to exploring Bigger Pockets resources and am very enthusiastic to get to know people from this community!