All Forum Posts by: Nicole Pettis

@Daniel Guas

As they say if you are doing the work yourself then you are working in your business not on it. Trust me I know from experience that you doing the work will not save you that much money in the long run. Because you don't have 40 hours a week to dedicate to construction, your projects will take much longer and the amount of money you spend in holding costs will delineate any of the money you saved by doing the work yourself. 

The whole concept of becoming a flipper is to run the business and come up with systems and process put them into place, so your business can run and be profitable. And you can't do that by doing the majority of the work yourself. 

You have to figure out what your time is worth? Is it worth you doing a $20 an hour job, or is your time better spent finding, acquiring, managing a team and making an average of $20k per flip?

Now if you just want to do one or two here and there, then yeah go ahead and do your own work. If you want to make a business out of it, then you need to treat it as such.

So to answer your question, if you have time to be the project manager, then you don't need to hire a general contractor. You just need to have a good group of subs. But if you don't have time to project managing then I suggest you get a general contractor or a project manager to help with the flips.

Good luck!

@Maroun Youness

Yes, you need vacant property insurance. Make sure it's covering the amount borrowed on the property.

Count me in @J. Martin

@Pete Perez

I understand where you are, because I have been there. It took me about a year and a half to get someone to help me. You just have to keep sharing your passion, goals and keep talking to people and eventually you will have someone that will be willing to help. 

My suggestion to you is if you have a good paying job, then start saving money, so you can have some "skin" in the game. If you have much personal debt, I would pay that off and then really save some money.

While flipping is hard, it is doable, but you do need to have the ability to either borrow or just have a solid emergency fund, because it will be needed. As for HML, they will lend on the deal. So if you going to them as a "newbie" without a deal of course they aren't going to lend. But if you go out there and find a solid deal and are able to put some skin in the game, then you might peak their interest.

A true HML isn't going to turn you away if you have a solid deal, they just won't do 100% financing. You will have to provide 20% down, plus points, plus 6 months holding cost. So things to keep in mind.

Biggest thing is you need to list your big goal and figure out the baby steps to get there. 

Hope this helps! Have a great week. 

Nicole 

@Nicole Romano

This is true. We all have our naysayers and then we have our cheerleaders:) The real estate business is a roller coaster ride, it has it's ups and downs. Every time you take on a new project, you get a different education. What I have learned is that nothing prepares you for flipping, except hard work, determination, persistence and grit. And you seem to have those qualities.

So keep doing what you are doing, make those connections, find your tribe. Find the people that will help you up when you have fallen. And while we have much of that here on Bigger Pockets, it's even better when they are a phone call away.

Here's to following your passion and getting it done!

Congrats @Nnabuenyi Anigbogu way to get those deals done!

@Account Closed

It works wonderfully well. Vanilla is a natural odor neutralizer. I used with my last project. The duplex was full of animal oder & between doing that & refinishing the floors they went away. 

Peppermint oil will work. White vinegar will work as well. You can also add vanilla to the paint and it will help with odor. Although, you might have to refinish the hardwoods to get the oder out, because if it has seeped into the wood and subfloor that will be hard to remedy with sprays and neutralizers.

@Kristie Hurst

Hi there!

What area is he building(these seem to be more Ladue, Clayton, Kirkwood prices...I grew up in STL:)) 

In all honesty if you have that kind of money to invest in REI, I would start out on a smaller scale either flipping or buy and hold. There is a lot you can do with those kind of funds in STL that doesn't entail so much risk.

St. Louis is a strong market with tons of opportunity. I know it's tempting to partner with someone that is building, but what he is doing is a huge risk for someone new. Things to look at. Days on market, how long does it take to sell these higher end properties? Like Tim Johnson mentioned really research the comps and make sure this ARV is realistic.

If you have any questions or would like to talk more feel free to PM me.

Have a great day!

Nicole

Great job @Devan Mcclish!