All Forum Posts by: Logan Gill

Hey thanks @Matt Pena!  I heard good things about Red Oak while we were down there. I'm definitely still keeping my eye on Ellis County too. Lots of good opportunities.  I will send you an IM with my contractor's info.  He's a great guy and even worked through the night on multiple occasions to make sure we would hit deadlines. Let me know if you run into any deals in that area if you need any other contacts or would like to partner.  

@Bryan Blankenship Thank you!  Hopefully I can post another one soon! 

@David Robertson we definitely learned a lot! We put about $50,000 into rehab to ensure that we would hit the top of that particular market. I missed it by over $15,000! The biggest factor was that this was our first flip outside of our normal Middle TN market and also our first one hiring in outside contractors. Luckily for us I planned on the lowest possible ARV which was also more than $15,000 under what we actually sold for. Thanks for the reply!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $125,000
Cash invested: $180,000
Sale price: $220,000

My wife and I acquired this property from an off-market wholesaler in December. Since we were new to the area (the state for that matter) it took a couple weeks to find a contractor, but once we signed with a contractor that was willing to work with us (we did a good bit of work ourselves) it took seven weeks from demo to contract. This was a fun project and we learned a ton from it! We sold it through a killer agent who got us multiple offers and even a bidding war. Biggest take-away here is that who you have on your team makes a huge impact on your success.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We were interested in this kind of deal because we need to build capital for other investments (mainly buy and holds and lending).

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We found this property from a wholesaler that had a fixed price.

How did you finance this deal?

We financed this deal with cash.

How did you add value to the deal?

We added value to this deal by pitching in our own sweat-equity and bringing a humble attitude to how we lead our team members (contractors, agents,... etc). We also enter into these types of deals with an attitude of integrity and excellence. More specifically, if we wouldn't live there by the time it's done then we did something wrong.

What was the outcome?

The outcome was a positive cash gain, longterm connections/friendships, and inspiration to move the next deal.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Like most newer investors we ran into several challenges. The first and potentially most devastating was a miss-judgement of rehab budget. I had even ordered The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs @J Scott prior to this project but had not read it yet (SMH). Our vision just costed more to make a reality in a new area. Thankfully, our ARV was Very conservative and actually jumped about the same as our rehab numbers.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Yes! If you are in the Ellis County area (Waxahatchie, TX) I highly recommend the Quintana Team at Keller Williams. Dawana and her team acted as our selling agent and did a fantastic job marketing and negotiating our sell in a timely manner.

@Dave Peterson I'm interested in the Laramie, Cheyenne, Ft. Collins area.  Are you still working in that area?  If so, I'd love to treat you to coffee and chat when I get back there in a few weeks. 

@Mandi Martinez I'm glad you actually took a breath! haha Totally understand how stressful those first properties can be.  Reach out if you ever need some help/advice.  I'm no expert, but I love building healthy relationships with other investors.  Plus, my wife and I actually have some ties to FL.  Also, my mom went through radiation years ago... Thank you for the work that you're doing with patients like her in your "real" job.   

@Allan Smith thank you for sharing some solid advice and tips! I’ll definitely be applying some/all of it. Cheers!

I'm humbly requesting input regarding your experiences finding and hiring rockstar property managers, contractors, agents, and lenders.  @Brandon Turner and @David Greene have mentioned on several occasions that "rockstars hangout with rockstars."  So, as a newer investor/flipper, I want to hear how you found, interviewed, hired, and kept those rockstars. (Don't worry, I'm not asking you to give them up or share; although, please feel free :)  I know that what may work incredibly well with one type of investor may clash horribly with another so, I'm looking more for the how and the whys.

For example: 

What questions did you ask potential property mangers or contractors to help you determine that it was a good fit for your leadership style?  

How did you determine (before you were connected to a specific market) which people to reach out to? 

Why did you choose your current team members? 

*Bonus points to the long distance investors willing to share how you located those new markets and built teams there* 

@Mandi Martinez, Mistake or no mistake... You will ultimately be OK, so breath :) haha

It is hard to say without seeing it but, generally speaking, on flip properties we want to keep things like fixtures and colors as basic and neutral as possible.  The main reason being that the more "custom" or "loud" we go we can actually limit the size of our buyer pool.  Think of a custom paint job on a car... picture bright colors or even hand-painted pin stripes or flames... this can often reduce the amount of people that will even stop to look inside or test-drive it.  It may be a high quality car but the visual aesthetics may simply not be as appealing to some.  There may be 200 people searching for that make, model, and year of car but maybe only 10 of them that think flames are still cool. That being said, if you do end up having fewer showings or offers... paint is cheap!  As a wise man once told me, "a coat of paint will hide a great deals of sins." I wish you well and a fast sell

Hello everyone! My wife and I were recently asked if we offer hard money or short term renovation loans. We primarily deal with flips and buy/hold but are considering trying our hand at lending. At least early on, this would be $150,000 or less. What advice would you offer someone that is new to lending? What are the norms (rates, terms, etc...) for renovation loans? For example, a request for $25,000 on a projected three/four month flip. Thank you in advance for your input and advice. Logan