All Forum Posts by: Jean Ambuehl

I would say, if you already have a good PM, let them place the tenant and move on to the next deal. Why waste time trying to find someone when you can be acquiring the next property?

Missed this thread by a couple days! Dang! Let me know when the next meetup is!

I would not let the flooding scare you off, after all, this is Houston. I know plenty of investors who are seeking out flooded properties. If the property had flooded multiple times, I would recommend raising the existing building or tearing it down and replace it with new construction.

However, since the property only flooded during Harvey (a 1000 yr flood) and has already been renovated after the flooding, that means the city permitted the renovations. Like Michael Le said, insurance will be a factor in your decision and you should review the financials for the last year prior to making up your mind.

Since you don't have to make any renovations, you might want to look into ways to deal with future flooding. For example you could add a detention pond to the property or rainwater catchment.

Hope that helps!

I agree with Steve, you need more time and more due diligence. Why is the property in foreclosure? What are the current leases? P&Ls? What is going on in the area and how are comps doing?

Also do you have a company setup? You should never try to do a commercial property in your private name. If you do decide to do the deal, check into Triple Net Leases.

Thanks for the responses everyone.  I'm just trying to stay positive. Another property I was looking at just got snatched up by another investor so I'm on to the next one...

Hi Lindy,

As someone who has lived in a flip property, be prepared for chaos. Life in a construction site can be very frustrating and requires a ton of patience. If you can, don't live in the property while trying to flip it. As far as how much money you should plan on, that all depends on the scope of work and size of the property. Needless to say, a 1000 sq ft house should be cheaper to flip than a 2000 sq ft house. Check out home remodeling apps to get an idea of prices in your area. You can also consult with a contractor for a ballpark estimate. See what the price would be and then determine what (if anything) you can do yourself. Also you have to consider that doing the work yourself will naturally take longer than having a contractor do it for you, so you have to weigh the price of the contractor versus holding costs when you do it yourself. The best books I've read were the Ultimate Beginner's Guide from BP and Rich Dad/Poor Dad. Good luck!

My name is Jean Ambuehl. I am an Interior Designer in Houston, TX. Ever since I graduated I knew that I really wanted to be a Real Estate Investor. I talked my husband into buying a foreclosure for our first home and did the entire remodel ourselves over the course of five years while both working full time. My husband is a Chef and I was working for a Landscape Architect. While we didn't make as much profit as I wanted when we sold the house,  we did make some profit selling for 96% of asking price after only 30 days on market.

My husband found Bigger Pockets back in January and we've spent the last few months trying to figure out how to work in Real Estate Investment full time.  To quote my husband, we've been Real Estate Addicts! We've looked and bid on several properties but each one was purchased by other Investors before I could get funding together. Through this site, I managed to find insurance and a hard money lender. However the lender will only finance about 62% of the necessary funds. We have spent the last month trying to sell our RV in order to finance our percentage of the funding. Although we have shown the RV to several people, there have been no offers yet.

So, I'm feeling extremely frustrated and like I've hit a roadblock that I can't get around. I know this is the field I want to work in but without thousands of dollars of my own, I just don't know how to do it. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get started in Real Estate, even if I can't get my own project right now. Is there anyone out there in Houston that needs help?

Thanks,

Jean