All Forum Posts by: Matthew Shapson

Please PM me and I can shoot over a couple of names.

Cheers

They don’t call! They don’t show up! They overcharge! They lack professionalism! They just won’t finish the job! The list goes on and on.

Hiring a GC is usually a nightmarish situation and when you find a good one, hold them tight! As an investor in the Philadelphia market, my partner Mike and I have been buying and developing our own properties in a part time capacity for a number of years, and without a single complaint about our GC. We hit our budgets and are competitively priced, build quick, high quality and have a meticulous eye for detail. How did we do this? How did we hit the GC jackpot? We decided the only ones that understood the needs of an investor, and the responsiveness and management requirements was ourselves. We started our own Philadelphia based GC company and built our own jobs for years!

Fellow investors have been asking us to build for them, but our focus was to keep small and focused on our jobs. We heard the nightmare stories too often and it finally pulled at our heartstrings enough that we began building for a select few.

Things have been going very well and we are now reaching out to the community and seeking out those investors who haven’t found a reliable GC they can trust. We bring competitive bids and open book pricing to every job and typically, accelerated timelines.

If you’re in the search for a better than good GC, please reach out. We would love to chat with you!

Matthew Shapson
Point Builders + Design Concepts
www.pbdconcepts.com
732.580.9714

Deshawn, I would agree that buying the property through traditional paths is probably your best bet since you can retain full legal ownership.  Keeping a realtor out might be good to save that 6% and if the deal is clean it shouldn't be an issue.  First, check, property.phila.gov and make sure everything looks correct under ownership.  

I would go to the bank/ mortgage holder with your uncle and explain the situation.  Most mortgages are not going to allow assignments but you'll need to check the mortgage contract.  

You could however discuss a transaction where you could put little or no money down since the sale price is substantially less than the value.  A lender may provide you a mortgage using the existing equity as your downpayment. 

Best of luck!

Thank you for the feedback!  It's good to know what people are seeing out there.  @Noman Tariq I will PM you.

Hello BP folks! I am curious to know what other people are finding to be average CAP rates and price per unit in the Philadelphia market for large apartment buildings? Any help is appreciated! Cheers, Matthew

This is a great question. I have not done this yet but actively planning / searching for properties to pay cash, rehab, then refinance to get the cash out. If you use investors and can refinance properly to cover their interest return, you should be able to essentially end up owning the property without using your own cash. I've been developing spec homes but now planning on using the BRRRR strategy with cash up front to start incorporating buy / holds. If I wasn't doing a rehab, i would definitely get my financing up front as long as it doesn't hinder the opportunity to acquire the property. Sometimes cash and a quick close is what's needed, but that's the only benefit I could see paying cash for a turnkey property. Best of luck!

Hello Bob,

I have purchased a few properties from a retired attorney who heavily uses Roth IRA's and other self directed retirement accounts to purchase / sell properties. He owned his firm and set up his accounts as a self employed business owner. He teaches people the details and methods of this style of investing and I am planning on working with him on this although I have not done so yet. I will PM you his contact info.

Best of luck!

Matthew Shapson

Thanks Rob, I'll definitely check him out further.  I scanned his website and seems well qualified.  

Hello BP folks,

I've been working with an accountant for years for both my personal accounting and business accounting.  He does a great job however I am really in the need for an accountant with creativity and constant vision on tax strategies in the real estate world.  My current CPA is rather broad in scope and ability and I can see how having a CPA that specializes in real estate investing would be a huge advantage.  I live in Central Jersey but my market is focused on Philadelphia.  Does anyone have any recommendations or contacts?

Cheers,

-M

Would you sell and manage the property but allow me to do the renovations?