All Forum Posts by: Josh Dotzler

I've come across a Broker called "Ambiance Realty." I believe someone here on BiggerPockets uses them, I don't remember who. It appears to be a brokerage where you can hang your license and get away with paying almost nothing, but they offer almost no services. I am not affiliated with them, nor have I dealt with them in any capacity, but it can't hurt to check them out.

http://ambiance.re/dallas-broker-sponsorship-careers/

People have covered various reasons not to forgo the buyers agent. However, I think your friend is also saying that the Seller's Agent may "sell" your lower offer to the buyer with the idea that he/she could get double commission even though their is a higher offer from somebody else. Obviously that violates their fiduciary duties, so what your friend is recommending is very much illegal. I'd just use your Realtor and let him earn a commission for all the work you've admitted he's done for you. Good luck!

Hi @Michael Sherwood ,

Have you read/listened to the book "The E-Myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber? I think his book helps with your conundrum and is much more comprehensive than I can be here. If I were you, I would start by taking some time to make a list of all the tasks that you feel you could train an assistant to do while not impacting the value you give to your customers. Also, I'm sure you could find creative ways to employe somebody in the business as maybe an equity partner or on a performance/commission basis that would really help you scale your business without committing too much of your current cash flow... FYI, the book will go on to tell you that you should create job titles and tasks that you do as CEO, Marketing, Sales, etc so that you can grow your business effectively instead of your business being completely reliant on yourself and Charles. Good luck!

Sam, how is your rental market? If you think you can rent it out to somebody that doesn't need to do all that work then I would recommend doing that. If you are somewhat desperate in your search maybe you could let them do some repairs but only 1 project at a time and with your direct supervision and approval?

Hi Chris, Brian nailed it when he said you need to answer a lot more questions before anybody can help you with an outline.

1- What is your timeline?

2- What kind of cash/credit do you have available?

3- How much time can you commit to it (while working your day job, family, etc)?

4- What type of properties/investments are you thinking?

5- What is your risk tolerance? (Higher Cap Rates/Returns typically signify higher risk)

I would recommend browsing these forums and maybe looking at a number of real estate books on Amazon before setting your outline in stone. I've found these books to be helpful in understanding the numbers, forecasting, and planning of a real estate plan.

What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cash Flow... and 36 other key financial Measures, Frank Gallinelli

Emerging Real Estate Markets: How to find and profit from up and coming areas, David Lindahl

2 Year to a Million in Real Estate, Matthew Martinez

I'm not going to go into a full review on all of these books, but I have found them helpful. If you have a more specific question I'd be happy to help with the little that I do know. Good luck.

The road noise or lack of noise will definitely affect resale. On the next deal, maybe see if their is something that can counteract the loud road noise that cannot be found in other homes in the area. For example; loud road noise, but a 0.5 acre lot compared to less noise with a .15 acre lot. In the end, it is about finding comps that are true comps in as many pertinent aspects as possible. On this deal it seems like maybe your partner wasn't discounting the price of the home when he probably should have been. Based on what you said, I think you were right in passing on the deal. Good luck on the next one.

If you are worried about the contract being immediately enforceable and legally binding, I think you are in the clear because you haven't yet offered any money down (consideration) to enforce the contract. I could be wrong here, you may want to ask a real estate lawyer. However, I would steer clear of sending a signed offer via email to all of the sellers. If you want to send multiple offers at the same time and not wait for responses, maybe simply send an email stating your price and terms with an attached proof of funds/loan qualification letter and wait for the bargaining to begin. Once you have it narrowed down then consider sending a formal purchase agreement? Just my 2 cents, good luck!

Kris, it seems they meet your requirements of income, credit, and I'm assuming a criminal background check. It also seems they have verified jobs. If you are still feeling a little uneasy, maybe request reference letters from the Resident Assistants at the dormitories (basically the upper-level student "landlords/superintendents" of the dormitories). If they did not create problems at the dormitories then it should be easy to get a few reference letters. Other than that, it seems like they would be perfect candidates. Good luck!

Hi Rick,

I think your Realtor is a little off. I am living in the DFW area now (McKinney) and I have been browsing homes in the McKinney/Allen area for some time now. A simple search on zillow shows a number of homes in the McKinney area that are 3/2, approx 1400 sq ft, built around 2007, and would likely rent for between $1300-$1500. I think your Realtor should probably just do a little more research.

-Josh

Fredy F. you are sort of on the right track. Not sure what you meant by LTV of 72% but then saying they only owe $80,000 but here is the process as I understand it.

You need to start by finding an accurate ARV (after repaired value) for the house. Let's say you are right in saying it is $200,000. You should then multiply that by what the typical rehabber is looking for in your area, let's say they want to get it for 75% minus repairs. $200,000 x 75% is $150,000.

Now you need to estimate repairs. If it is only cosmetic repairs it might cost about $5000 for repairs, but lets be safe and say $10,000. If you can't estimate the repairs accurately you should find a contractor or somebody experienced in this area that can do this for you. As you will see throughout this forum, making accurate repair estimates is a huge point of failure for most wholesalers (along with bad ARVs). You are now at $150,000 minus $10k= $140,000

Then factor in a few thousand for closing costs, holding costs, and maybe 3% Realtor's commission for the rehabber (we'll say he is licensed and can list it himself saving him/her some money), lets say that adds up to $10,000. These are only estimates, you should do more research to see what they would be exactly. You are now at $130,000.

All of this means that you need to sell this wholesale deal to a rehabber for about $130,000. The difference between what you can acquire it for and this number is your assignment fee/profit. If you have talked to the owner and they are in fact happy to get rid of it for the balance of their mortgage plus whatever late fees they have acquired and some moving costs then you might have a great deal on your hands. Good luck!