All Forum Posts by: Mike B.

A little bit of a catch 22 I guess...

Thanks Kelly and Eric. I do want to establish a relationship with a buyers agent that i hope develops into him or her representing me for the long haul. Eric - yes I am looking in the Richmond area.

It sounds like there is nothing wrong with calling the listing agent for these first few looks as I do my DD on a buyer agent and get closer to an actual purchase?

Thanks again,

Mike

Hello All,

In learning/DD stage getting ready for my first ever deal (2b a renovate & sell). I want to kick the tires or window shop a little bit on a short list of what would be potential deals for me if I were trying to buy today. Just to get my feet wet in a walk through, test out my rehab estimator, generally get the feel for that step and start to fine tune my processes. They are all mls listed.

What is the proper way I should go about this? Should I just call the listing agent and say I am a soon-to-be investor and I'd like to see the home? Should I not bother volunteering any info and just call and say I'd like to see it? Technically speaking these home are potential buys since Im only about two weeks away from being ready.

I've had no contact with any agents as of yet. Would it be better to choose a potential buyer agent and ask them to contact the listing agent for a viewing? I know I'm not likely to buy a propoerty right now and its important to me to look at a few first before I switch into buy mode (which will be after Im set up with my financing).

Any advice would be appreciated!

Mike

Thanks all - awesome comments. I'm actually now starting to look into construction loans and running numbers on them. I got some good referrals from a fellow BP memebr in my area for bankers with underwriting/decision ability at local banks.

My finances are just about in order and I'm getting really close to going out there as a real buyer instead of just window shopping like I've been doing for months!

Thanks again!

I was wondering the same thing. I'm still new and about to do my first deal (reno/resell) as an investor. I assume there are a lot of wholesalers out there not worth dealing with since this is a common starting point for people with no money - and that being said, a lot of folks jump in and then move on to something else in life? This is not meant to criticize wholesalers I hope that is clear - I was just thinking that for every solid, good wholesaler there are a few (or more) folks who just jumped in trying to get rich following a book or seminar?

Is it reasonable to assume the properties a good wholesaler brings are either not in MLS or if they are, they have a contract well below the listed price?

Thanks

Hello all still in learning stage getting close to my first deal on a buy/reno/sell

I am doing a "mock" write up of a real property in my area, central VA. I am determining the amount of up-front cash I will need on hand to get me to the point of selling. Let me know what you think about my assumptions.

Project:

Purchase Price: 85k

Cash Needed Until Sale, Assume 4 month hold time, financing w/ 20% down w/ bank loan (details of loan type not final I have a 4% for this example) :

Renovation Estimate: 14k (assume best estimate plus contingency)
Closing Cost Buy Side: 3,400 (400 inspection; 1000 title,attorner, recorder etc 2000 origination, appraisla, underwriting, prep, etc)
Downpayment: 17k (assume 20%)
Holding Costs: 2,814 (debt service $1294; tax 520; utility 800; insurance 200)

Total Cash Needed: ~$37,200

Not part of the original question but I then have an estimate of 11,454 coming out at the back end of the deal (7,854 in commissions, 3,000 in buyer closing, 500 warranty, 100 termite)....I am assuming the back end comes out at closing like my residential sales and I dont come to the table with any $ (assuming its a profitable deal!).

Thanks,

Mike

Thanks J.Scott that clears up my confusion perfectly.

Hello all still new here. I'm still in education mode but getting closer to my first deal - reno/resell an entry level single family.

My question concerns "advice" and "direction" contained within various educational sources (and not necessarily specific to my strategy but Im educating myself on various strategies) to "make tons of offers". I hear/read it a lot - "you must make a lot of offers and eventually you'll get a few accepted"....and different variations of this.

First just a clarifying question - does this mean multiple offers in parallel or sequentially?

If parallel does it mean up to how ever many units you could afford to buy at once if you get multiple offers accepted, or just go hog wild, accept the best one(s), and back out of the rest?

I cant imagine backing out of offers is a good idea so I am going to assume that when people say make tons of offers it is meant to make a lot of offers one at a time, one after the other, until you get one accepted.

I realized that the podcast 6 was one that I had not finished. I stopped listening minutes before he got into the exact topic I was wondering about....at the Wal Mart part. Very good stuff....except for the image of a naked grandma I can't shake from my mind!

Thank you very much Brandon and Mike. I did some searching for local clubs and came up with a bunch of dead links (REI clubs). I'll check the suggestions you guys made.

I am hoping there are "investor friendly" small banks out there....