All Forum Posts by: Johnathan Osborne

@ Ryan D. , I will definitely need a second pair of eyes and all contacts will be helpful, Thanks!

@ Brian Walsh, will do.I am nervous starting 2 hours away but will give you a call for some leads once if figure out the best path for me.

@ Valerie H., Valerie this is a ton of useful information and it does scare me trying to get into a market that is a 2 hr drive.I simply can't jump in the car and check on thinks or manage as I could if I could find something in Asheville (35 minutes away).My goal in contacting a realtor was following Brandon's 30 steps in assessing a market such as average selling price, REO prices, length of time on market and what areas are seeing the most growth etc...He was very helpful and informed me that 9100 homes have sold in the last 12 months in the area and was very specific about what areas are seeing the most growth.He also gave me a list of large companies moving to the area, but again 2 hr drive is going to be a huge challenge especially for a newbie. Great advice.

@ Mark Nolan thanks for the welcome.

@ Chris C. I am really looking at all options and would like to do the same flip a few houses per year.I have a certain $ number that I would like to achieve in the next 12 or so months, so if I head to that area I may be in touch.Also do you know any guys up the Asheville way? Thanks again.

@ Anthony Dadlani, stay tuned I would love to have some prospective properties for someone with experience to review.I did miss an opportunity and could kick myself b/c I did not pull the trigger. I was driving for dollars and found a sign stuck in a yard FSBO.I call the owner and then check out the house.He was asking around 70K and needed to pay some taxes on the property. Based on my limited rehab knowledge it could have used about 40K in repairs maybe less maybe more.Someone snatch it and flipped it.It looked amazing when they were done and sold it for 175K, kicking myself!

@Rod thanks for the advice.I am looking at all options b/c the one thing I don’t want is to fail.My daughter (3 years old) always say “daddy where are we going, you can’t look at houses today”.I’m working on the knowledge part and remote may be a bit much at this time for a first deal.

Flippers,

I am newbie looking to invest for the future and have been a member on Bigger Pockets for some time.I have read and am still reading regarding flipping and the flipping process.My short term goal is to flip with the hopes of funding for future buy and hold for long term.I am ordering J. Scott’s books and have read many articles/postings on Bigger Forums.

Now for what I see as a dilemma: So is it possible for a newbie to flip houses two hours away from home?I live in a very rural area north of Asheville, NC which does not have much going on as far as real estate movement so I’m looking at other areas.Asheville is hot right now and has set record sales/prices for 2015.This has put the little inventory that is available out of my price range.Asheville would be my long term goal.According to Zillow (which I’m not sure how accurate it is) market health index for Asheville is 9.4/10.Other areas I’m considering are Greenville, SC (market health index 7.8/10 ) and Johnson City, TN (index of 5.9/10), both with more inventory in my price range.Asheville is 35 minutes from my house, Greenville 2 hours, and Johnson City 1 hour.

I have made contact with a realtor in the Greenville area and that area really looks like it has potential.

I am a Nurse and my wife is a Physical Therapist so we have W2 income and would not need to live off flipping.I also have 3 days off a week to manage rehabs, plus downtime at work for research/studying markets.

I currently own my home and would like to sell it.  My wife and I live in a very rural area north of Asheville, NC.  We have 3 kids and trying to keep our house in top shape to sell is difficult to say the least.  We want to buy rental properties for our future and homepath has listed a modular that we are interested in purchasing still under first look. Here is the plan:

Buy the modular and move in it, live there until our current house sells. Once we get rid of our current house, turn the modular into a rental. Now what should I offer. We can afford both mortgages. Tax value which I know does not give the market value is 150K, homepath is asking 103K. The home is 1800 sq feet, constructed in 2007. I have not gotten a official inspection yet, but based on my inspection of the house it needs the following, heat/air unit, appliances, some flooring(laminate is torn). I have been under the house and in the attic, foundation and roofing looks good. So what should I offer. I think total repairs 10K, any suggestions would be helpful. Also the property would should rent for $850mo, $35/mo HOA.

Thanks,

Johnathan

Yes Barbara I have considered an FHA loan with rehab cost, but the bank would not give that loan since I have one on my current mortgage.

Thanks for all the info. some great options here.  I will need some financing and was thinking about paying the rest with a loan from my retirement.  I do not have all cash to purchase the home which I should have clarified in my post.  The realtor said the first offer did not go through b/c the bank would not lend due to the condition of the home, so I guess the bank decided to drop the price by 20K.  I'm going to run some more numbers and maybe have a contractor give me an estimate on repair cost, I feel this is what I need help with, getting a realistic repair cost to make the home livable.

So I have found a foreclosure that had an offer during the first look period, I am assuming the offer fell through and now the bank has lowered the asking price by 20K to $39,900.  The house needs lots of work such as new kitchen, bath, and replacing subfloor that has had water damage.  The bank (Wells Fargo) has placed a sump pump under the house and has done some foundation work.  It was built in 1976 has single pane windows, no heating/air, need some exterior siding replaced(water damage) etc.  I have the money to buy it, but not to do all the repairs.  I can do some of the basic repairs myself such as flooring, fixtures, etc.  My short term goal is to make it livable and move into it and eventually turn it into a rental or sell it.  I think the house would need at least 40K of repairs.  The tax value is 87k, 44k for structure and 43K for land.  Rental rates in this area for this size house would be 800-1000/mo so it may not fit the 1% rule if repairs were more.  I think one could sell it for at least 120K with basic repairs/upgrades.  Any advice would be great!

Eventually long term as in buy and hold single or multifamily, but 10k doesn't get you much in Asheville area.

What type of investment would you make with 10K?

Thanks for the help I'll be at the CREIA on Monday, not sure if I'll have the deal then but it will be good exposure.

Morris that's great, I hope to follow and one day have a similar story thanks for the post.