All Forum Posts by: Kelly Bellini

@Rich Hupper it's so frustrating to not find what you're looking for.  It really took us what seemed like forever to find ours.  We were struck a little bit by analysis paralysis, too, though.  I wish you luck on finding yours!

@Chris Fleming Thank you! We only wanted a house we felt like the two of us could handle, since we did ALL the work ourselves (aside from installing the AC/Heater and water heater). The house had been on the market for a while; I'm truly not sure why someone else didn't grab it first. Many of the fixes were cosmetic. As far as comfort with the ARV--I spent about 7 months on zillow, quickly analyzing properties daily, so I got very used to the home prices in the different areas near us. It also helped that there was some new construction on our street, which was only going to drive up the price. We knew that at the low end, the house would appraise at 120K--this was definitely not what we hoped, but even with this worst case scenario, we'd do ok. Plus, we knew our house would look better than the others we were comparing it to.

@Kevin Clontz thank you!  Yes, scary for sure--we second guessed ourselves on every step, and it was especially scary to put such a big chunk of money in it.  I hope to see my future successes, too :)

@Jeff Hug thank you so much, Jeff!

@Peter Stewart thank you for your kind words! I was a loyal subscriber to the bigger pockets podcast. I can't tell you how many times I heard Brandon Turner repeat himself about the benefits of a BRRRR. He's so right!

@Daniel Andrews thank you!  And congratulations to you on your first flip!  It's so nice when these things work out :)

@Justin Vasquez thank you, Justin!

@Jonathan Styer Thank you!  Holy cow, buying a foreclosure can be so frustrating!!!  So, we found it on zillow, selling for $104,000.  We offered $75,000.  After some back and forth, we agreed on $82,000.  And THEN, the bank decided to change their minds after a few days.  SOOO ridiculous.  They pretty much lied to us.  Finally after more back and forth (and us almost backing out), we settled on $89,000.  By this time, it was actually too late for us to back out without losing our deposit.  It felt like the selling agent, asset manager, and whoever else is involved had little communication with one another, which of course, falls onto us, as buyers.  But in the end, it got done.  We bought the home we live in with a mortgage, which was definitely a bigger process all in all.  Paying in cash was key to less stress in this situation.  It was lovely to not have to deal with a second bank (the lender); dealing with just the foreclosing bank was plenty!

@Account Closed  I really appreciate your kind words.  It's so true that real estate is not an overnight deal, where you'll instantly be rolling in money.  It took (and takes) time, for sure.  And there's SO much to learn.  I feel like you gotta be honest with yourself about your capabilities, and be open and willing to admit mistakes, and learn from them!  Thanks again!

@Joshua Benjamins thanks so much!  Out of the $103,500, approximately $101,000 was directly wired to our bank account.  We only had about $2000 (ish) in closing costs.  I'm baffled why they would only give you half of your cash out.  Did you pay for the entire home in cash or just a portion of it?  If you only paid a portion of it and took out a mortgage on the rest, then any cash-out from the refinance would go toward the old mortgage first, and then you'd get the rest in your bank account.  I don't know if that's your situation, but if not, and they're actually taking 60K, something's not right!!!