All Forum Posts by: Kerry Smith

@Lisa G. Congrats on your first real estate deal and first post on Bigger Pockets. Lisa, I would strongly recommend your next post be an introductory post in the New Member's Section of the site. Next thing is to fill out your BP profile, and upload a picture of yourself. Completing your profile helps people get to know you, and understand what you are looking for as a real estate investor. I am assuming you're looking at this condo to flip it?

Ok, on your deal:

1. After Repair Value (ARV) - You need to find out what the actual ARV of the property is. You can do this through a myriad of ways, but the easiest is to find yourself a good agent, who is also an investor themselves. Yes, that means interviewing agents to find the right one!

2. Repair Estimate - Now that you have an ARV, you have to estimate the repairs needed. Most flippers are going to use something similar to the 70% Rule, or J Scott's "Flipping Rule," to determine if a property is a good flip. Knowing this, you must estimate the repairs needed to bring this condo to full market value. There are multiple ways to estimate the repairs: Estimate them yourself, Find a good contractor to do the estimates, or take an educated guess. If you have the opportunity to visit the property yourself, and can take 30-60 minutes to go step-by-step through a rehab analysis spreadsheet that is probably your best bet. I recommend J Scott's book on Flipping Houses and it's partner The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs.

3. Determine Desired Profit - How much do you want to make on your first wholesale deal? $2500, $5000, $10000? Make sure that you include your desired profit when you crunch the numbers, otherwise you will be cutting in to your Buyer's profits - which is a no-no in wholesaling. 

4. Get The Deal Under Contract - Now that you've run the numbers, and if everything makes sense. Get It Under Contract! There are several purchase agreements available in the BP File Place. Make sure you have the "assignment of interest/position" clause in the agreement, so you can wholesale it to another Buyer.

5. Find A Buyer - You've got a deal under contract, great! Now you have a few weeks to find someone to sell it too. If you've done a good job on your numbers, and it is in fact a deal - You should be able to find someone to sell it to. After a few minutes of Googling I found that the Boston area has an active REIA club near by. HERE is their website. I would suggest starting there to find a cash Buyer. Your other option is to shop your deal around in the BP Marketplace. There are several active cash buyer's on BP, and I am certain there are at least a dozen working the Boston area.

6. Close The Deal - You've arrived at the closing table, depending on your title company you may execute a "double closing," or a simultaneous closing. Once the A to B and B to C contracts are completed, you will get your check.

Lisa, remember as a wholesaler you really need to BRING VALUE to the table for all parties. It's not just a money game. How are you helping the Seller? What problems are you solving for them? In regard to the Buyer, how are you helping them? Are you providing accurate ARV/Repair estimates? Is this a truly "deal"?

Lastly, take some time to listen to the BP Podcasts. There are a lot of good podcasts centered on wholesaling:

Podcast #67 w/Tim Gordon

Podcast #42 w/Mike Nelson

Podcast #31 w/Lamar Cannon

Podcast #21 w/Jerry Puckett

Podcast #12 w/Sharon Vornholt

Good luck!

@Yonelle Baptiste you mentioned negative feedback from your friends and family. Do not let the naysayers hold you back! Chances are the people who are acting as headwinds against your goal of financial freedom are not wealthy themselves. Wealth is composed of three things: Family, Freedom, Fitness

Your Freedom is made up of your most valuable asset - Time. The only way you can get your Time back Yonelle is through passive income streams. You are on the right track. Continue your education, and turn those headwinds blowing against you into tailwinds blowing at your back!

I agree with @Paul Timmins welcome again!

@Yonelle Baptiste Welcome to Bigger Pockets! This community has singlehandedly changed my life, and I am certain it will change yours as well!

If you haven't taken the opportunity to complete your profile and upload a head shot of yourself, you will want to do that as soon as possible. Completed profiles with photos will lend credibility to your postings, plus it helps us get to know you better!

A great starting point is the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide. It breaks down all of the basics of real estate investing, and will give you a solid base to launch your real estate investing from.

One of my favorite resources is the Bigger Pockets Podcast. Each week Josh and Brandon interview a different real estate investor. These podcasts cover everything from Buy & Hold investing, Flipping, Wholesaling, to Note investing and beyond. Josh and Brandon do a great job of keeping the podcasts lighthearted and entertaining as well!

Another great resource is the Bigger Pockets File Place. In the File Place you can find several deal analysis spreadsheets, due diligence checklists, and numerous contract and agreement templates.

Lastly, once you have a real estate investing deal in your sights, make sure you stop by and check out the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Investment Calculators. I have personally used the .PDF report that they create to present my deal analysis in a professional and concise manner.

Oh! If you want to tag someone in a post, simply use the @ symbol and then begin typing in their profile name. A drop down list of names will appear at the bottom of the reply box, and you can then click on the person you wish to tag.

Again, great having you on the site. Please do not hesitate to ask questions and be active on the forums!

All the best!

Welcome to Bigger Pockets! This community has singlehandedly changed my life, and I am certain it will change yours as well!

If you haven't taken the opportunity to complete your profile and upload a head shot of yourself, you will want to do that as soon as possible. Completed profiles with photos will lend credibility to your postings, plus it helps us get to know you better!

A great starting point is the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide. It breaks down all of the basics of real estate investing, and will give you a solid base to launch your real estate investing from.

One of my favorite resources is the Bigger Pockets Podcast. Each week Josh and Brandon interview a different real estate investor. These podcasts cover everything from Buy & Hold investing, Flipping, Wholesaling, to Note investing and beyond. Josh and Brandon do a great job of keeping the podcasts lighthearted and entertaining as well!

Another great resource is the Bigger Pockets File Place. In the File Place you can find several deal analysis spreadsheets, due diligence checklists, and numerous contract and agreement templates.

Lastly, once you have a real estate investing deal in your sights, make sure you stop by and check out the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Investment Calculators. I have personally used the .PDF report that they create to present my deal analysis in a professional and concise manner.

Oh! If you want to tag someone in a post, simply use the @ symbol and then begin typing in their profile name. A drop down list of names will appear at the bottom of the reply box, and you can then click on the person you wish to tag.

Again, great having you on the site. Please do not hesitate to ask questions and be active on the forums!

All the best!

@Account Closed Welcome to Bigger Pockets! This community has singlehandedly changed my life, and I am certain it will change yours as well!

If you haven't taken the opportunity to complete your profile and upload a head shot of yourself, you will want to do that as soon as possible. Completed profiles with photos will lend credibility to your postings, plus it helps us get to know you better!

A great starting point is the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide. It breaks down all of the basics of real estate investing, and will give you a solid base to launch your real estate investing from.

One of my favorite resources is the Bigger Pockets Podcast. Each week Josh and Brandon interview a different real estate investor. These podcasts cover everything from Buy & Hold investing, Flipping, Wholesaling, to Note investing and beyond. Josh and Brandon do a great job of keeping the podcasts lighthearted and entertaining as well!

Another great resource is the Bigger Pockets File Place. In the File Place you can find several deal analysis spreadsheets, due diligence checklists, and numerous contract and agreement templates.

Lastly, once you have a real estate investing deal in your sights, make sure you stop by and check out the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Investment Calculators. I have personally used the .PDF report that they create to present my deal analysis in a professional and concise manner.

Oh! If you want to tag someone in a post, simply use the @ symbol and then begin typing in their profile name. A drop down list of names will appear at the bottom of the reply box, and you can then click on the person you wish to tag.

Again, great having you on the site. Please do not hesitate to ask questions and be active on the forums!

All the best!

@Gene Jordan Welcome to Bigger Pockets! This community has singlehandedly changed my life, and I am certain it will change yours as well!

A great starting point is the Bigger Pockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide. It breaks down all of the basics of real estate investing, and will give you a solid base to launch your real estate investing from.

One of my favorite resources is the Bigger Pockets Podcast. Each week Josh and Brandon interview a different real estate investor. These podcasts cover everything from Buy & Hold investing, Flipping, Wholesaling, to Note investing and beyond. Josh and Brandon do a great job of keeping the podcasts lighthearted and entertaining as well!

Another great resource is the Bigger Pockets File Place. In the File Place you can find several deal analysis spreadsheets, due diligence checklists, and numerous contract and agreement templates.

Lastly, once you have a real estate investing deal in your sights, make sure you stop by and check out the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Investment Calculators. I have personally used the .PDF report that they create to present my deal analysis in a professional and concise manner to my lenders.

Oh! If you want to tag someone in a post, simply use the @ symbol and then begin typing in their profile name. A drop down list of names will appear at the bottom of the reply box, and you can then click on the person you wish to tag.

Again, great having you on the site. Please do not hesitate to ask questions and be active on the forums!

All the best!

@Chris Randall - Create curiosity and make connections through sound business practice and ethical rapport building. Trump and Branson did not get there giving away cars... 

Who are your customers Chris? What about renovating a home for a local family? Or giving away a free and clear Prius to a local family?  

I'm sorry, this sounds gimmicky as hell man, and I do not think it is in your best interest...

@Adam Johnson welcome to the site, and your first deal analysis! I am currently in escrow on a 4-plex in Fayetteville, NC, and we are purchasing a second 4-plex in the next 1-2 months. I just went through a similar situation and can empathize with you.

Property analysis is quite involved, and it can be time consuming until you develop a system for doing it. 

I am going to suggest you try out the BP Rental Property analysis tools located here:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investment-calculator

You have a free membership, but if I remember correctly you can pull 1-2 reports a month. These tools have helped me immensely in the past. I have used them to produce .pdf reports to send to lenders and private funding parties, both with good results.

A lot of the info that you need to truly analysis a property of this type may not be available until you get it under contract, ie rent rolls, maintenance records etc. However, you can use your county GIS website to find most of the tax information. Call your insurance company directly and request a quote. It should not take any more than 20 minutes to get it. To analyze rents I use the following websites:

http://www.zilpy.com/

https://www.rentometer.com/

I will also pull 10-20 ads from Craigslist for the same sized apartment/house in the area. Drop all of them in to a spreadsheet, and then get the average rent number. You can also call local property managers for their opinion. Between all of these resources you should be able to have a fairly accurate picture of expected rents.

If the units need repair, you can figure at least $2000-$3000 for a cosmetic rehab, maybe more depending on materials used. Laminate flooring, tile, new appliances etc, will bring that number closer to the $5000-$6000 range. If you are going to spend that much money to rehab a unit, make sure your are going to actually be able to "force appreciate" the rents and property. You do not want to find yourself throwing money at a rehab that isn't going to increase your NOI - unless it is absolutely necessary.

When you have completed your analysis, please post it on the forums so more experienced investors can help you, and newer investors can learn the process.

All the best!

@Johvany Medina - Great! Welcome to BP Nation!

I am up in NC, but I love your part of SC! We usually get down that way 1-2 times a year. It is beautiful!

I personally LOVE the BP podcasts. They have been the best source of information for me. You can listen to them at 1.5x speed on the way to work etc. There are several very informative podcasts on wholesaling in the BP podcast directory HERE.

You mentionedaking action, and that is great, but take this time to get your REI investing business off to a great start (Yes, it is a business!) One thing you may want to consider is working with another wholesaler in your area. There is also nothing wrong with taking 6-12 months to study the ins-outs of your particular REI discipline, network with other wholesalers in your area, and THEN take action!

It also appears that you are married. I'm not sure how supportive your wife is currently with the idea of REI, but she is likely going to take some convincing as well. I know mine did!