All Forum Posts by: Christy Barton

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $105,000
Cash invested: $20,000
Sale price: $165,000

Contributors:
Stephen Barton

We used this property as a live in flip once our family grew and we realized we needed more space. The rehab was a little challenging with a newborn but it was well worth it. We loved this house!

Oh boy @Rob LaRovere...  I just noticed this mention.  :(  We are working with @Nathaniel Busch from Busch Tax Company and he's been doing great work for us.  He's not in Indy but since we have a bookkeeper (me, haha) he really only gets involved at year end and so far, we haven't had any issues with long distance communication.  He's super cool and came as a recommendation from another Indy investor who has been working with him for several years.  I highly recommend him!

Hi everyone,

I know this is an older post but my husband and I, @Stephen Barton, are trying to find a tenant for a property we own and in the lease (one we signed several years ago when we were tenants) states that the tenant should have renters insurance and liability insurance.  We've been trying to figure out why that would be needed and fortunately, our own landlord didn't enforce this in the lease because we only held normal renters insurance.  

Since our liability insurance covers tenants, is it safe to say we can remove that from the lease?  Any idea why a landlord would require liability insurance from the tenant?

Thank you everyone for your responses.  I am going to reach out to a few of the recommendations made and go from there.  I'm relieved to know I can use CPAs from other states because there are lots of CPAs here on BP who I'm sure would be a better fit.

You all are the best!  Thank you for your help!

Christy

Hello fellow BP'ers - 

Just wondering if any local investors can recommend a CPA who specializes in real estate?  The CPA we're using now has been unresponsive and we have some questions we need answered.  We will of course complete some due diligence on our end but I'm hoping to get a few recommendations instead of just doing google searches for CPA in our area.

Thanks everyone!

Christy

Hi Allen, welcome to Wholesaling!  Based on some of the information you shared in your post, is it safe to say you aren't working with a mentor?  I can't stress the importance of value you gain from working with someone who has a lot of experience with wholesaling when you're first starting out.  Starting out, we split the profits with our mentor and figured it was better to get 50% of deals versus 0%.  Go to REIAs, find others here on BP who do wholesaling in your area (through the network tab http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet), and try to learn from others who are already successful in this business.

Have you been on the inside of the property?  What are the repairs that are needed?  We use J Scott's estimation of repair costs that we found in his book http://get.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook/ but since you are under a time crunch, I can send you another resource we were using before that gives estimates based on square footage of the house, the type of upgrade being done, etc.

As for ARV, if you don't have access to the MLS then you might try looking on active listings to see what properties are going for in mint condition in the same neighborhood. This is what we did before we gained access to the MLS (through being licensed). Keep in mind that properties rarely sell for the listing price so assume the sold price will be about 5k less (sometimes much more) than the asking price. If a property in top-notch shape has been listed for several months, it's probably safe to say they listed the property for too much. A better way is to review the sold listings, but without access to the MLS, you will need to rely on sites like Zillow that shows "sold" properties nearby. Since Zillow isn't as accurate as the MLS, I always adjusted their sold values by about 10% - so if they say a house sold for 100k, I'd be a bit more conservative and use 90k as my ARV. You could also just get in touch with an agent and ask them to run comps for you. They may get tired of this if you bother them constantly with requesting comps without offering to pay them a small fee. Doesn't hurt to ask what amount they'd feel comfortable with, maybe$5-10/comp?

Are you assigning the contract or purchasing the property with your own cash and then re-selling it?

 I hope this is enough to give you a little guidance.

Hi Spencer!  I just finished the ABCs of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy.  I just started doing more reading outside of BP and another book I also really gained a lot of value from was the Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J Stanley.  Starting out, I'd recommend the book my Ken McElroy because he walks you through how to find good deals and analyzing investment properties.  Millionaire Next Door is encouraging because the author did years of research on how millionaires live, and it's much different than what you typically think about millionaires.  I'm going to start reading Rich Dad Poor Dad and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor.  Here's a link to the top rated books by BP members...  so hopefully this will help!  http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/04/14...

Happy reading!

I should mention the file I shared is just a general PA and not specific to Washington, DC.  Your best bet is to network and find other investors to exchange contracts with.  Again, there are tons of other examples of contracts others use in the file place.  Sorry if I can't be more help.  Hopefully someone from your area will see this post and share what they're using.

You could always hire an attorney to draw one up for you, too - but we had real estate attorneys refuse to draw up wholesaling contracts for us because the business as a whole has a bad rap and honestly, there just aren't many legit wholesalers out there.  I guess it's always worth a shot, though.  

Hi Mahdi - do you have access to the file place here on BP?  I'm not sure if that's for pro members only or not.  Nonetheless, there are lots of different PAs there (I'm assuming you want a purchase agreement)?  http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/sbarton1/f...

You should really get a pro account.  What's holding you back?

Hi Vanesha!  Welcome to the world of wholesaling!  We have found BP is a great resource for building our buyers list but there are many other ways to find buyers outside of this site.  If you've started a marketing campaign, you will find that many of the absentee owners you market to are also investors.  We get letters or calls somewhat regularly from people who received our letter and are interested in buying more properties.  We also meet buyers at local REIAs.  It will take time for your buyers list to grow.  In my opinion, finding the deal should be your focus and once you find the deal, the buyers will show up!  

Good luck to you and please keep us posted on your progress.  Most importantly, don't give up!