All Forum Posts by: Linda R Harley

@Tom Burns

Yeah, that is mostly what I'm concerned about.  I would imagine that an offer of $105k would get straight out rejected.  I would love to get in touch with you.  I'm sending you a private message, so that we can connect.

Hi all

So I am putting my first offer/deal together. I would really appreciate any insight or advice that you can offer me, as I'm a total newbie - but I am taking action, which I've heard is important in almost every single BP podcast I've listened to so far. 

The house has not been listed yet, so I'm getting in early.  The property is being sold by a daughter who is moving her mom out of state to live with her, since her mom's health has deteriorated. So I believe it to be a good opportunity, since these are motivated sellers. It's my sister-in-laws neighbor, so I know the neighborhood pretty well. It's close to a park and in a good part of town.  They don't owe any money on the house.

Comps in the area (3 bed and 2 bath) are selling for $170k-$200k without any rehab done to the house. The seller is considering listing the house at $190k, which I believe to be above market average price for the state the house is in. I believe a more realistic current asking price would be $170k, and that is by looking at comps available from zillow and Remax. Sadly I don't have access to the MLS system, so I can't pull actual comps yet. The zip code is GA 30078, if anyone wants to check it out.

After inspecting the house, I believe there is ~$50k worth of rehab that needs to be done, in order to flip the house.  With that in mind, I think we could get $220k for the house once it's rehabbed.  New houses in the area of comparable size are selling for $300k.  So if I did the math....

After Rehab Value = $220k (since I'm conservative; and I feel like I'm pulling the number out of thin air.  Admittedly I need to go look at more homes in the area to get a better feel.)

70% rule = $154k

- Rehab = $50k  (Mind you I've not priced everything out, which would be my next step, but I have a list of everything that should be done)

Thus I should offer them a $104k, or walk away?

My question is.... do you think $104k is too much/too little/just right/can't decide cause you need more info?  What other things should I be considering?

For financing, I have enough funds that I can pool from family partners to cover these costs.

My goal is to flip the house, so that I can build the capital to flip more homes. Once I have enough capital built, I'll start moving towards holding multi family properties.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to look at this.

Linda

So admittedly I'm a newbie at this, and I'm not afraid to say it but I'm not afraid to learn and roll up my sleeves.  I have a few quick questions.

1.  What is your favorite book/blog/vlog/podcast that describes the math involved with Real Estate? 

2.  How did you come up with your criteria for the first house you purchased?  This still seems magical to me, as no one has been able to give a clear precise method of making these decisions. I'm an engineer, and so I'm hoping that the answer to question 1, will help with question 2. I'm methodical and need reasons. I know its a personal decision, but I need to know what to avoid and how the math works.

3. What was your biggest fear when you first started, and how did you overcome it?

Cheers

Linda

@Josh Hooper thanks for the solid advice. I appreciate it. 

@Josh Hooper those are all excellent questions and ones I have been thinking about. Don't have all the answers yet as I'm still doing my homework. I think my biggest fear is screwing up and losing money unnecessarily.  I gues this makes me a cautious buyer. I want to cross all my i's and t's before I dive in.

As a follow up question... I've been wondering what are the pros/cons of hiring a property manager?  And what criteria to use in selecting one?  I'm sure there is a post about the topic somewhere, I've just not gotten there yet. What's your opinion?

Linda

Hi all, I'm new to BiggerPockets, and have been listening to the Podcasts.  There is a ton of great info in there and I'm enjoying learning about real estate investment.  

I live in the Atlanta, GA area, and have been trying to do some research on the market opportunity in the area, but have come across some conflicting information. Some articles I've read said Atlanta is a hot place to get into real estate investing, because there is a shortage of homes available, while others have said that Atlanta is a poor place to invest compared to other cities because of increased costs for labor, rehab, etc. 

I was wondering what the BP community thinks and what they would advise.

My current goal is to get as quickly as possible to ~25 single homes (which is predominant in my market, not a lot of multifamily homes currently in the market) that I hold and rent, as the profit from this would be enough to supplant my current salary, allowing me to go full time into real estate. Is this doable in the Atlanta market?

I know this is a broad question, but I'm just looking for peoples opinions on whether they'd go for it.

Thanks in advance.

Linda

Real inspirational. I've been trying to crunch the numbers, I wouldn't have expected that much of a return on investment for a flip.  I'm still in the educational stage of my journey, but hope to get to some action this summer!