All Forum Posts by: Mario Casarez

I ended up joining Thach's mentorship program "Springboard to Wealth" after not really finding good support on Bigger Pockets. I have learned things from being in the mentorship program that you simply couldn't find in any of the BRRRR books I mentioned. Having a mentor personally showing you the ropes is much different than reading books. Having Thach as a mentor has been inspiring.

I joined Springboard to Wealth in Aug and went through the 12 modules they have where they teach you how to find properties and how to evaluate them to see if you have a deal or not. There is also a coaching call every tuesday where Thach coaches you and then opens up the zoom call for Q&A, which is a time you can bring your questions on any deals you have or anything in regards to finding deals and he will give you his advice on it.  There are 2 other coaches in the program that are on the call too that help with the psychology and mindset questions as well.  

They teach students who are starting out to wholesale and honestly, if you don't get your first wholesale deal before your first year in the program, you are not doing what the program teaches you.  The minimum wholesale fee is $10,000.  Most students report getting $20,000+ assignment fees on their first deal!  The $5000 you pay for this mentorship program pays for itself when you get your first wholesale deal!  After you see your first check, you are motivated to go find more!

I was so surprised when i received my first interested seller. All I did was do what they teach me in the program and i got a call from an interested seller. The seller ended up deciding not to sell off market and list it on the MLS, but that's okay. They teach us to encourage sellers to list it if they want the most for their property. Some sellers don't care about getting the highest price for their property, they just want to sell right away. I'm keeping going. My first deal is around the corner and Thach and his team are helping me along the way.

Hey everyone,

I think I have analysis paralysis or something because I have just about everything down in regards to BRRRR investing except for getting a contract signed. I plan on using Deal Machine app for finding my leads. I prefer to not use an agent, but at the same time, an agent I trust would protect me from falling into a pit that I will regret and possibly end my REI career before it begins. I've looked at some BRRRR or Flip mentorship programs, but they all want $5-7k for training. I've not found a clear solution to writing purchase agreements here on BP other than being advised to go to a Real Estate Lawyer to draw one up for me. Is that really all there is to it? This seems to be the only thing holding me back. The fear of doing this without an agent and then getting screwed up or not knowing what to do when I meet an interested seller.

Any suggestions?

Thanks everyone. Lots of helpful info in this thread. 

@Will Barnard I agree. That's why I found it strange that those numbers were from a thread made this year.

@Robert Geiser

That's the thing, Im new to BRRRR investing and am trying to get contractors to give me quotes on properties so I can get an idea of the costs of rehabbing a property, but most contractors won't go out unless I'm already under contract.

That leaves me in a tough situation because I need to know the rehab cost estimate before I can make an offer.

Offer = 70% of ARV - REHAB COSTS.

Am I right?

@Bruce Woodruff

Ah yes. Good point. I should have mentioned that this is for a BRRRR property. I want to keep my costs low and get this property ready for rental or flip.

 300k?? That would be 50-60% of the purchase price here in SoCal. This is the first I hear of a rehab costing that much in SoCal. Yikes. 

I recently had a contractor come out to a property in Whittier, CA (1640 sq ft home on a 6400 sq ft lot) that needs a complete gut rehab and below is the soft quote he gave me and everything he'll cover for $170K.  Notice how this quote does not cover room conversions (open concept), plumbing, electrical or roofing.  It seems kinda high for socal, but maybe this is what should be expected with lumber prices soaring?  So should i expect over $200k for a gut rehab if i include roof, electrical and plumbing, and room conversion (open concept).  By the way, when I say open concept, i mean the kitchen, dining room and living room are one big room.  I think "open concept" is the term?

Anyways, i've seen charts that show rehab costs to be much lower as seen in this quote from this thread.

As you can see, this is for rehab costs in San Diego.  Still part of SoCal.  I'm in Los Angeles county and I imagine San Diego and LA county have similar rehab costs.  So what am I missing???

THIS PRICE COVERS

Kitchen- white /gray shaker cabinets with soft closing hinges. ( all appliances stay in same place. Meaning no moving Electrical, gas lines, plumbing,)( customer to provide appliances)

Electrical- 4 resesed lights per room (More than its an extra cost per light)If theres an existing ceiling fan and upgrade is needed , you provided fan and will install.Install all new electrical outlets and switches

Flooring- laminate flooring through out. (We'll provide samples) New basemoldings and installation. (We provide samples)

Bathrooms -Soft remodel. New tile install throughout. New shaker vanity install new valves install. Install hot mop where needed ( customer provide tub, valves,faucets, toilets and tile of choosing)

Counter tops. Will provide counter top samples and installation

Exterior windows and doors. New double glass energy efficient white windows. (Window will be provided by us)

Interior doors- all new white shaker doors and new casing all around. New door knobs

Interior painting -Walls and ceilings All one color Bathrooms semi gloss one color

Exterior paint:one color.

New tankless water heater

All demo and trash to be haulaway by us

TOTAL 170K
No roofing

No Electrical panel upgrade

No permits at this point

This sounds awesome! Do you plan on setting up another date here?

As a new Real estate investor, this has been the most challenging/expensive part of the process. I tried calling the Water Company to see if they can provide a list of addresses with the water shut off and nope! Can't provide personal info in California. So my question is, what method do REI in California use to get lists and phone numbers to be able to cold call homeowners interested in selling their properties?? Will the court houses do that? Will apps like Deal Machine do that with the privacy laws here in California?