All Forum Posts by: Kuba F.

I second Patrick, in that you should create a relationship with a realtor, and then you should have no problem getting comps.  You can probably get some referrals from your local investors group.  Instead of asking them cold for their time, offer to take them out for a quick cup of coffee to talk about your goals and how they fit into your plans.  You'll be surprised how far that goes.

I was just going to say that @David Robertson has a spreadsheet that is pretty good.

Hi @Leslie Sakal,

You have to look at whether the conversion is permitted or not, and whether they're customary. In my neighborhood homes with garage conversions won't even get financed.  Unpermitted work shouldn't be counted as part of square footage and shouldn't factor into appraised value.  Your area might be different, so you should talk to your realtor.

That being said, if that's something that's customary in your area then @Ryan Green is right.  You have to look at like properties.  So if you can find a few properties with the same room count that have a conversion, and a few properties with the same room count and no conversion, you should be able to determine the value of a conversion.  

Cheers!

Kuba

Hey Simon,

I'm building a tool that does pretty much what you describe, to automate what I'm doing in spredsheets.

http://www.reikit.com/comps

It uses zillow/google maps data for lookups, but I use it with my own comps that I got from my realtor, then I run my own adjustments to get an accurate ARV.

It's still early days, but check it out and let me know what you think.  I welcome any and all feedback.

Cheers!

Kuba

Either the numbers make sense or they don't. If they make sense, take the next step. Where do you think you're getting stuck?

I don't often talk in absolutes, but on this one I do. Never let someone tell you the ARV. Always pull your own comps. Unfortunately your experience is more often than not the norm. Good wholesalers are few and far between, they'll be the ones playing the long game.

I second Abel. Do the analysis with the intention of purchasing. Fastest way to learn IMHO and getting you doing deals, and you can always rely on a second set of eyes if you're unsure.

I'm building something more sophisticated than a spreadsheet for analysis and I'd love to hear as to what you feel you're missing from the options available...spreadsheets, bp analyzer, just going to Zillow, mls.