All Forum Posts by: James Lehmann

Matt Motil Thank you. No cracking or anything. I just need to dig down 18in to make ceiling height 8ft. I don't know how far your average foundation goes down under the slab. I'm in Chicago, and this is a house built in the 40's. First thought was that it's cheaper to dig down than build up, but maybe not?

This house needs a lot of love. My thoughts were that the basement needs to be reworked to fit 2 beds and a full bath to make the comps make sense, but that's just me. Adding an upstairs would certainly get you there as well, but it might be tight with the budget. Here's the stats:

3224 Elm Ave. Brookfield, IL 60513

2/1 Frame/Stucco SFR on a 30 X 125 lot

21.5 ft wide and 36 ft long with 6.5 ft ceilings in the basement and 8.5 ft ceilings on the 1st floor. There's an 8 ft enclosed porch on the front and the back, and a detached 2 car garage in excellent condition.

The AC unit is in the attic currently, and there is no standing room up there at 4.5 ft, hence my thoughts on the basement.

Great neighborhood and schools.

Purchase price is $123,500

ARV $340,000

This should leave roughly $100,000 for the rehab.

COMPS:

3430 Sunnyside Ave , Brookfield, Illinois 60513 "Well Maintained" sold for $305,000

3123 Vernon Ave , Brookfield, Illinois 60513 "Rehab" sold for $353,500

3436 Oak Ave , Brookfield, Illinois 60513 "Rehab" sold for $362,000

3114 Prairie Ave , Brookfield, Illinois 60513 "Rehab" sold for $365,000

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to see the house yourself. There's a lock box on the house. I can give you access if you provide POF. Pics are below.

3224 Elm Pics

Question when digging down a basement. Any tricks to knowing if a house will need under pinning without actually digging down first? It's a difference of 8k for digging 6 inches or 30k for under pinning. The latter would kill the deal, so I am curious to know how to determine this while I'm still in my review period. TIA!

@Account Closed I understand having skin in the game, but what should I be looking at for a deciding factor? 

I stay in for 8-9 months and hope the house sells well and that I get a good return. Or I get a decent assignment fee now and let it go. It feels like a big decision of something like 10k now or 20k plus if I wait. Just thought I'd bounce it off some people. 

Hi, I've done a few wholesales this year and I have another under contract that is a tear down. I've reached out to a few builders, and just so happens I have a guy very interested that does new construction. Long story short, he asked if instead of an assignment fee would I care to stay in the deal and get first cut at the close of the house whenever that may be. He said I will get back the assignment fee plus split the percentage of profit based on how much cash he has to put in vs how much 'cash' I have in the deal. Other than time of course, what do I need for paperwork and/or assurances that I will get paid at the end? Also is this a good idea? Why why not? I would love a complicated answer if you have the time. Big decision for me. Thank you so much as always. Sent from my iPhone

Mellody Villegas welcome to BP! I'm a wholesaler in the city mostly, but I just started a decent size marketing campaign in Will County, so I'm learning the Joliet area as I go. Maybe we can help each other out in the near future? Regardless, this is an awesome site with a massive amount of smart people and content. Good luck!

Dontae Dixon Welcome to BP! I wish I had you're mindset when I was 19. Here's what you should do in my opinion. Make sure your profile is complete and that your keyword alerts are set for your area. Google REI meet ups in your area, and/or find people on here from PA to direct you to one. I would read a few good books, maybe start with "Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing",listen to all of the podcasts, and start signing up to watch the webinars on here as well. If you do all of these things at the very least, you will find yourself on a much better and more defined path. Good luck to you sir!

I started by going around to each project (rehab) and taking pictures each week so that he could have a weekly progress report. I also took all the returned mail and tried to find the owners phone numbers. And I just kept asking what else can I do for you? It paid off. Leave the ball in their court and ask what you can do to make their lives easier, and you will in turn learn more than you may think. Hope that helps!!

Once you have the property under contract you can market the deal to your cash buyers. The protection you should have in your contract is an inspection and attorney review period so that if you cannot find a buyer you can still back out and get your earnest money back. I use 10 business days for each, and the attorneys usually don't have a problem extending if need be. As far as double closing, I have never done it. I have a purchase contract with the seller and a separate assignment contract with my buyer. However, if you want to do a double closing and lack the funds then you should research transactional funding. Most I have seen will give you the money for 48 hours just for the closing. Hope that helps!

Yellow Letters at .65 per letter is pretty misleading FYI. I use them and nothing against them at all, but until you order 10,000 letters they told me that doesn't apply. They have a really easy order form and you can see as you add quantity the price per letter drops.