All Forum Posts by: Jonathan Carpenter

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Whitefish.

Purchase price: $267,000
Cash invested: $150,000
Sale price: $525,000

Purchased from online auction with minimal investigation.

Home was being used as a drug house prior to our purchase. Rooms were added all over the place, HVAC was ducted improperly to heat parts of the garage. The place was just a disgusting mess.

The basement was completely full of mold due to the power going out and no operational sump pumps, the list goes on.

Able to fully remediate basement mold, strip out ad hoc interior walls, completely renovate the property including landscaping.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We were interested in finding deals we could fix and flip due to television shows when we were younger. Finding this property with massive mold issues was the perfect fit for us and our company.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found this deal at a garage sale. Neighbor told us it was going to auction, we found it online and won at an online auction.

How did you finance this deal?

Private equity partner for a portion of the purchase price, the remainder of financing was with a hard money lender in the area. All renovations were cash flowed personally through leveraging our business. We really didn't have any idea what we were doing on this as far as the financing went. We were lucky honestly.

How did you add value to the deal?

We spent 10 months and $150,000 on the home to repair all the damages and bring it up to speed as a luxury home.

What was the outcome?

We were in a multiple offer situation. Had the home listed for $475,000, sold for $525,000 before renovations were even complete.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We learned to have ALL your financing figured out! Sheesh, what a nightmare!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Whitefish.

Purchase price: $267,000
Cash invested: $150,000
Sale price: $525,000

Purchased from online auction with minimal investigation.

Home was being used as a drug house prior to our purchase. Rooms were added all over the place, HVAC was ducted improperly to heat parts of the garage. The place was just a disgusting mess.

The basement was completely full of mold due to the power going out and no operational sump pumps. The list goes on.

Was able to remediate full basement mold, strip out ad hoc interior walls, completely renovate the property including landscaping.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We were interested in finding deals we could fix and flip due to television shows when we were younger. Finding this property with massive mold issues was the perfect fit for us and our company.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found this deal at a garage sale. Neighbor told us it was going to auction, we found it online and won at an online auction.

How did you finance this deal?

Private equity partner for a portion of the purchase price, the remainder of financing was with a hard money lender in the area. All renovations were cash flowed personally through leveraging our business. We really didn't have any idea what we were doing on this as far as the financing went. We were lucky honestly.

How did you add value to the deal?

We spent 10 months and $150,000 on the home to repair all the damages and bring it up to speed as a luxury home.

What was the outcome?

We were in a multiple offer situation. Had the home listed for $475,000, sold for $525,000 before renovations were even complete.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

We learned to have ALL your financing figured out! Sheesh, what a nightmare!

Hi there, I have a small storage unit complex in Kalispell and am looking to fill it out. As of this upcoming weekend I'm at 18% occupancy when all the surrounding area units are at 80-100% occupancy as I understand it. 

We purchased the units last year as a stopgap measure for our main business as we were looking for a new place to use as our HQ. The units were empty upon purchase.

Any tips for marketing the units to fill them up? We would love to have this property cash flowing as it is for sale and I think the sale price would dramatically increase if we had them full or close to full.

Thanks.

As far as the HOA goes, it's at least worth at least looking at.

When were the documents drafted? If it was 1975 and none of the original property owners are even part of the HOA anymore, you may be able to propose lifting the ban and having that agreed on and put into the documents. This would be legal, and there would be no problems moving forward. Obviously if the neighborhood sentiment is still a no-go, than that idea is pretty much dead in the water.

So what Charles here said is correct. I've done a couple owner finance deals in Kalispell and have the title company actually service the deal. So the extent is this, you agree to purchase for a set price, you make those payments as outlined. What you do with the property from then on is up to you fully. I'm building warehouses and tearing things down. The previous owner has no say once title paperwork is signed and recorded. 

Hope that helps.

Hey there, I purchased a small (29 unit) storage facility last year and have realized a few things.

1. I don't like invoicing

2. I'd rather own a more passive appreciating asset as opposed to a business that requires more interaction like storage.

3. I have too many things on my plate to worry about something relatively small like the property I purchased.

I know that the storage business can be great for people, but getting to know myself through this exercise has been far more beneficial to me personally.

Lead Abatement is EXTREMELY expensive.

There are other options, however. We recently completed a VERY large project (over 100 units) where we performed work under the EPA's RRP guidelines. This is sticky territory so make sure you're careful with verbage.

Any painter or contractor who might interact with paint pre-1981 (I think that's the date) is supposed to know the basics of these guidelines and actually be certified every 5 years. Whether or not they actually do that is up for debate. Lol.

You can use a product like Fiberlock LBC (lead barrier compound) and seal off lead containing paint as long as you're following RRP guidelines. It will save you 10's of thousands of dollars. Just make certain that you do not claim to be doing any lead abatement work or you could get yourself in a pickle.

Hey, so some things to consider when attempting to remove linoleum (or vinyl) flooring. 

First and most important is the age of the home. This is important because that flooring can very often contain asbestos. Many will say that vinyl flooring is a non-friable material and this is true, until it is removed. Some of the highest exposure one can get doing asbestos abatement is removing vinyl flooring...

Second is that it is just a very difficult and terrible job. The "subfloor on a subfloor" that you're referencing should be what we call u-lay around here. It's a smooth surface (made to varying heights) that you lay before these thin resilient flooring styles that was most likely laid to raise that level of flooring up to the same height as your living room floor... you'll probably have better luck removing that layer with the linoleum intact on top. And there's a good chance that that will level the floors as well.

So, no solid answer here, but maybe will actually help? I don't know. HA

I'm really excited on Rob being added full time! I think he has a great personality, he's quick and brings a lot of entertainment to the show. Been a fan of his YouTube for awhile now.

Our realtor is telling me that that won't be as attractive of an offer as a conventional, and this particular property has a laundry list of offerers... Would a more aggressive financing option be able to be rolled into an FHA loan as a refinance?