All Forum Posts by: James Bowerman

Dundalk is a great place to find rentals in that price range. I don't own any property there but I know investors who do and it's where I spent a lot of time looking before I decided to focus on rehabs in Anne arundel county.

Welcome to BP @Clay Condol! Sounds like you're on the right track. Definitely check out some of the local Meetups and REIA groups. BP is a great resource as well. I especially like the podcasts. Real people telling real stories without any sales pitches. Best of luck!

Update: After careful consideration and evaluation I decided not to go through with purchasing the property. My bids for the rehab were coming in too high (around $45-50k) and the ARV was more realistically around $230k. This made my spread too thin and would have most certainly resulted in a loss.

The $1,000 lesson; when purchasing a HUD property as an "investor" you forfeit the return of your earnest money. Although there are contingencies for an unsatisfactory inspection and such (and we tried to use them) it's pretty clear in the contract that an "investor" gets null. Of course my goal wasn't to back out, but nonetheless, it was a good learning experience. Shame on me for not reading every line.

Some good news; I've just put my "second" property under contract as of yesterday. It was also a HUD property and very similar numbers to the first, only I was able to get it under contract for $132k. The numbers look much better on this one and I'm confident it will be a good deal. I look forward to sharing my progress with everyone!

That's a great agent. I won't ask who they are, but can I ask how you found them? My agent has been very helpful, but hasn't been proactively finding me deals. I find most are willing to put in your search criteria for the automatic MLS emails and that's about it.

Congrats @Todd S.! Very inspirational. I'd also like to know where you're finding your deals. I know the first in Dundalk was homepath. Did you stick with that? Also since you're in different markets how are you determining the ARV?

@Sterling White I'm not sure what the average DOM is for the area. Is that something my realtor can tell me? I've done my own research on the ARV and had two realtors give me their opinions. My estimate came to $45k after creating a SOW and then using J Scott's book to estimate the costs. I've got a couple of contractors who seem reputable (one I've worked with in my full-time job) giving me quotes. I've already received an initial estimate for $42k from one of them. My goal is to negotiate to something around $35-40k and make up the difference myself. I'm handy and can do/would enjoy doing some of the work. Eventually, I'd prefer not to do any, but since it's my first I'm looking at it as an education. So, I don't mind getting my hands dirty, especially if I can turn it into some sweat equity.

@Marc M. my analysis came to a little over $15k profit with a three month flip. That's with $150k purchase, $45k rehab, $250k ARV, 10% or $25k selling costs, and holding costs of $2,432 per month. I'm using the low end of $250k for the sell price, but obviously hoping it goes upwards of $275k which would be a $40k profit.

Thanks @Linval T.! I've been following J Scott for some time now, listening to the podcasts and I did use his book on estimating rehab costs (along with the worksheets) to help me come up with an estimate on the repairs. BP has been an outstanding resource so far.

After several months of preparation and searching I've finally got my first property under contract. My goal is to rehab and flip the property within 3 months. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Here are the particulars:

Property is a 3/2 rancher, just under 1400sq/ft, located in Pasadena, MD. The house is in Anne Arundel County, in a water accessible community, and in a good school district. It is a HUD property and was listed at $171k on HUDHomestore.com. I offered $150k with the help of my real estate agent, which was accepted. A $1k earnest money has been deposited in escrow.

Estimated ARV is $250-275k and repairs $35-45k depending on rehab and product. I'm working with a hard money lender who will loan 100% of acquisition at 15% and 4 points, interest only. The rehab will be paid for through seed capital I've acquired through credit card stacking.

I'm set to have the property inspected on Thursday (10/8) at which point I'll put together a final SOW. I've already had one contractor look at the property and I'll be scheduling at least two more after the inspection is complete.

Scheduled closing date is 10/28, but I have until the 16th to back out if the inspection is not satisfactory. Thoughts and concerns?

Looking for a few good contractors to do some fix-and-flip work in and around Anne Arundel county. Any references should have good communication skills and do quality work. I'm hoping to build a good relationship for ongoing projects. Please and thank you. Ready? Go!