All Forum Posts by: Keith White

I created a long post a few months back with all of my current and upcoming projects but instead of updating that one figure I would create a new post just for this house and share the info with the BP community.

Here are some before pictures and a link to the house on zillow for after pictures. Let me know what you think of the project and ask any questions I'm a open book. I can't wait to share more on here as our area is flooded with deals like this and very limited competition just need to come up with more funds and grow even bigger!

Sorry to hear that your first project did not go as planned. I am curious though what were the details on this house? Purchase price? Reno cost? Reno details? And current estimated ARV? I think I am spoiled by the potential in my area that I feel a deal that clears 20% ROI would feel like a giant loss I just can't see how to be in the red, not trying to bring you down at all just would like to hear the numbers and see where the loss is. Don't quit though keep at it and learn and grow

Welcome to BP, it is a great place to meet people and gather information. If there is one thing that I would always tell a new flipper is to invest your time into understanding the remodeling process. I truly be,inve the biggest thing that helped me succeed was my knowledge of construction in every aspect. Unfortunately the best way to learn is hands on, anyone can research online about real estate technics but it is hard to understand electrical/plumbing/hvac/etc without getting your hands dirty. I highly suggest getting with a contractor doing some side jobs earn some cash and earn some knowledge and build a great base of guys you can trust. Hope this helps and I wish you success!

Price per square foot to me is ridiculous and honestly I believe using this approach is a recipe for being taken advantage of by a contractor. Think about it a 3 bed 2 bath 1200 sq ft rancher compared to a 3 bed 2 bath 2,100 sq foot home. Where is your biggest expense coming from or should be coming from..... Kitchen and baths. one is 80% bigger does that mean the total expense should be that much more heck no! Assuming these homes are in the same class or area the kitchen and baths will cost the same, the remaining larger footprint usually is just bigger living space which includes  flooring/drywall/paint and if you have a good trustworthy contractor or knowledge to find people in these fields these task are inexpensive when compared to kitchens and baths. Sorry for the rant I just think price per sq ft only benefits contractors and as an investor you need to look past that. 

@Su 

@Sundeep Amin yea I couldn't believe I got it for that price either, it is outside our norm but we will adjust accordingly.

@Crystal Smith yes the home is within a historic district that has its set of rules and regulations on what can and can't be done and a board of members that govern the area when it comes to stuff like that. Luckily for me my good buddy that bought the home for 250 in the area is now on the board and the head of the board is who I am meeting with today to be interviewed for our article, so they are very excited to have us doing this and expressed how that want to make it as smooth as possible for us.

We will have to keep the stain glass windows ( which we would anyway) and everything that can be seen from the road has to look to period date. But that is our goal anyway, apparently she has a photo of the property from the early 1900's which we want to use as a guide for us.

Someone who buys this property wants that style home so we want to stay as try to form as we can, while adding the modern finished of a upgraded kitchen and master bath in particular. Which we will stil try to throw that Victorian charm into like for example our master bath will include an antique claw tub along with the nice modern frameless glass shower. Fixtures will be key in this home to keep that feel throughout.

Good call, def tear out and Drywall. You don't need a permit for that. Not sure what it will cost you but my guy charges $20 a sheet to hang and finish. Can't tell how far it goes over but I'm guessing 2 sheets of drywall will cover it so $25 in material and $40 labor plus demo maybe $50 if they have to take it away. If your contractor is doing a lot of other work in the house this should cost you next to nothing to fix. I would be paying maybe $100 total if I was giving him the rest of the house. Good luck with the project. 

@Crystal Smith first off congratulations on taking the first step from reading about it to doing it. There is nothing you can read that will give you the knowledge that you will gain from each and every flip you do. I saw you said a contractor is your biggest concern and I am so glad that you understand that. People really do not understand the value in a good contracting. I see some of the numbers that people pay for work and it blows my mind, people are just getting screwed over. If you ever have any questions or want to run a contractors quote by me please feel free I think that is one area that people constantly lose money at and I wish I could help people understand that. Also check out my post of some of my current flips as I will be updating and feel free to use them as examples or ask any questions you like. Good luck!!

Well the first project (Monticello) is completely financed with cash by us, the second project riverside is the one that we are using a partner on fellow BP member to finance the project. The third home was a FSBO and I worked a deal to give the owner $20,000 cash up front and the remaining $60,000 within 6 months which I will use the money from the first project or cash reserves that I have lined up for the Victorian home. The fourth home the Victorian I have cash reserves for now but I am considering looking for a private lender to finance Reno as I could then use those reserves toward other things.

Me and my buisness partner both work 8-4 jobs and got started by doing side work (HVAC installs, building additions, bathroom and kitchen remodeling) and saved every penny we earned for a couple years. Put in 80-90 hour weeks to get enough saved up but here we are and it has all more then paid off. 

I do want to expand and will need financing to expand but so far I have kept everything in house cash out of my pocket untill this riverside home that I am doing with @Norm Park

I have been wanting to start a thread with all of my current projects and ones that will be starting shortly, but have been so busy lately have not gotten around to it. Here goes nothing, feel free to ask any questions as I hope sharing my stories can help others.

To begin with I do all of these projects with my buisness partner and lifelong friend and between the two of us we have the ability and knowledge to handle any construction task ourselves if we want to put some sweat equity in and if not know friends in every field which helps us keep our cost way lower then the average investor. We also had my wife get her realtor liscense to save us on closing cost and to help with networking. We grew up in the area that we invest in so have an excellent knowledge of the market and since it isn't a competitive area there is a lot of opportunity. Now to the houses....

Flip #1 (New Monticello home) 

    We had already flipped a house on the same street last year so we felt very comfortable with this project. 

3 bedroom 2 full bath 1,600 sq ft with 400 sq ft walk out garage

Purchase price: $74,265 after closing cost

Reno budget: $22,000 (8-10 weeks) 

ARV: $155,000

Here are a few before pictures don't want to overload now I will put together better side by sides when complete:

Here are a few current pictures of the project I took the other week I will get more pictures up once things get cleaned up more. I usually don't like showing pictures to friends and family untill the project is done but I think people here would like to see the process.

We removed the wall between the dining room and kitchen to allow for a more open space. Along with running the same driftwood grey flooring throughout the whole home. New cabinets granite counters are on order, hall bath and master bath are completely gutted and full remodels with relocating the washer/dryer out of the bathroom allowing us to expand the master shower, more pics to be coming soon.....

House #2 ( Riverside home)

This project will be a very fun project to track on BP as I have teamed up with a fellow BP member from all the way across the country in California that I met through the forums here. So a big shout out to our buisness partner @Norm Park (not sure if I did that right so that it will link to his profile). We are looking forward to building a great partnership where we can build off each other and would like to allow people to track this experience as it is new for us to take on outside investors but so far we couldn't of found a better fit.

3/4 bedroom 2 full bath 2,150 sq ft

Purchase price: $92,000 (estimated closing cost an additional $4,000)

Renovation budget: $40,000

ARV: $215,000

Closing has been pushed back on us twice due to the fact the deed was never transferred by the bank after the foreclosure but finally we got word last week that this was complete and they were waiting for it to be recorded with county and we should be closing in the next two weeks and beginning Reno immediately. Here are a few before pictures:

Little sneak peak of me in those photos there haha. This home is in a well known location of town and has a ton of potential. We will be doing a complete gut along with opening up both the dining and living room wall to make one giant kitchen/dining/living space. that space and the massive master bath will make the home stand out from anything in the area. We can't wait to start this project as it has some of the best potential of any of our properties to date.

Home #3 (In law flip)

This home will be our first flip directly to a buyer that we already have lined up. We will be completely Reno the house along with adding a in law suite where the now garage is. This project will not get underway for a few months but we are under contract with the current owner which we gave a deposit to and will be paying him the remainder once the completion of the monticello home. 

Purchase price: $80,000

Reno cost: $55,000

Agreed new purchase price: $175,000

I will get some before pictures soon and post them up.

Home is currently 3 bed 2 bath will be same 3 bed 2 bath with an additional 400 sq ft in law studio consisting of full bath jointing w/d room with the main home and kitchnette. 

Home #4 ( Historic Victorian home)

This is home is the most intriguing project and will be our largest and most amazing transformation to date and is drawing much interest in the area. So much so that we have been contacted by the local historic society to write a article on our flip of this project and docutument it along the way. 

This is an area that has huge potential growth and they are really trying to revive so we have really sparked an interest on their part into our buisness. So much so that they are excited to help us market the home and to find new buyers once this is complete that can work directly with us in which we would purchase the home and renovate and flip direct to them. There ar emultiple homes in the area that can be had at amazing prices with huge upside potential.

With us getting in on the ground floor and getting the support of the historic society and this article we are very excited. We are considering taking on another investor in this project as it does have very high Reno cost and we have a lot of current projects going on but we have not decided which route we would like to take yet. If anyone is interested feel free to contact me like I said I'm not sure we want to go that route but it is a option.

The home is built in 1882 and was once the parsonage home for a pro inane local church, it is registered with the state of Maryland as a historic home. It is anywhere from 4-8 bedrooms depending how you look at it 4 full bathrooms two living rooms a formal dining room and kitchen. 3,800 sq ft of living space and a front porch and a two story rear porch with a private master balcony.

Purchase price: $15,000 (yes 15 haha I could not believe I won't he auction that low it does need a ton but still)

Reno budget: $70-90k

ARV: $200,000 ( this might be conservative as two fully Reno homes on the same street just sold for $222,500 and a good friend of mine paid $250,000)

These are the only two Reno homes in the area fully done mine will be the third but this is where everything is expanding to and the city is determined to make this area great again so hopefully this can kick start me into getting in on the ground floor ESP with the support of the historic society and the local NHA.

I will get more interior pictures soon as I am meeting with the lady from the newsletter Sunday for a photo shoot and interview.

Wow that was a long post if you managed to hang in there and read it all thank you. I am going to try and keep this post active with maybe weekly updates of progress and answering any and all questions. Thank you and hope you enjoy

Well $300k is a excellent starting point if you are in the correct market. If you were to sell your home would you buy or rent? And what would this cost? 

I would not rent the unit for $1,000 a month if you have that much equity to use, you could use that money to make you way more then your ever going to make renting if your looking to supplement income.

I guess the real question is to figure out what you need to bring in monthly to live the way you want and once you have that number then you can move forward. 

Every market is different obviously, 300k in my area could make you 80-100k a year flipping three homes a year  if you know what your doing and know the market (if not it would be key to find a partner to work with in your area). 

I know it prob didn't answer your question as it's just some food for thought. Wish you the best.