All Forum Posts by: Nick Wing

Well LA is huge and it varies by the specific location where you will choose a market desirable finish.. A more accurate answer to the original question.....   $100-120/sf for basic low end finish .. $150-160/sf for top of market finishes... And that's building only not including land... Land also varies by market essentially being most expensive by beaches and on hillsides and least expensive the farther inland you go. 

I would have to agree with the ductless mini split. Much cheaper and they work pretty good. 

Its all about measuring ROI and Risk vs. Reward.

With that being said, the more affordable a home is the faster it will sell. It doesn't matter if it is an affordable home in a bad or good neighborhood. However if both homes are affordable for their respective areas, generally speaking a $1MM home will sit on the market longer than a $100K home. Price reductions on a $1MM home are much larger than a $100K home. At the high end price buyers are far more picky with the quality of the rehab, and repair request tend to be an extreme list of repairs. 

I have experience with multiple projects in both types of markets. From Million dollar homes in Los Angeles to homes on the worst streets of San Bernardino City. I would have to say I prefer the lower markets. It really comes down to the buyer you are going to have to deal with. Buyers in the lower markets are just happy to not being paying rent anymore. The fact that the home is nice is just a plus on top of owning their own home. Buyers in the higher markets generally have already owned multiple properties and are very picky. 

Both foods are good, but which one carries more risk of a stomach problem? 

#daisychain 

Every lender is different. Although the loan is asset based, lenders must verify you are who you say you are. They also will look at your financials not only to protect themselves but to protect you. Some people have an asset that may qualify for a loan, but the individual may not be able to pay more than a month or two of interest payments, and/or may show very little income. For the most part we run credit and ask for taxes to verify identity. Usually taxes and credit will not disqualify a borrower unless there are multiple bankruptcy, foreclosures, or fraud/criminal activity. 

As for using it for a "pre approval", some lenders will make a file with all of your personal documents, corporation documents. They can verify all of your documents prior to you bringing an actual deal so that when you do bring in a deal all they will require you to provide are the documents for that specific transaction. Some lenders prefer to do this, some prefer not to work on a file until there is a deal on the table. We let our clients know the faster they provide documentation the faster we can close. Therefore some have set up files with their info so that when the deal comes we can close in as little as a day or two. 

Hello  Amber,

This is always a good question and is always a tough decision. The difference in cost is great enough to go with the carpet. You will get the best bang for your buck with carpet. 

I am a little confused also but I think I know where you are going with this It sounds like you are referring to getting into real estate flipping and/or buying rentals? Learning the lingo would benefit you but i think there are more important things to learn first. 

1. Obtaining Value Accurately: I believe the single most important thing is to be able to obtain the value of a property. Whether it be the current value, or the after repair value.

2. Networking: This will help you get many perspectives from individuals who have experience. Also it will help you in connecting with industry professionals (i.e. Brokers, Lenders, Flippers, Landlords, Agents, Contractors Appraisers, Wholesalers). Pick the brain of these people. 

Hello Shawn,

Even if it appears to be original square footage it may still have been an addition. It could even be a permitted addition that the county has not accounted for. Have you checked with the city to see if there was ever any permits pulled for an addition? They might even have the original plans as it is a fairly newer home. The county might be wrong, prove them they are so you can get the value from the sqft.

It has happened to us twice, where the home had a permitted addition and the county tax assessor did not match the new sqft.  We went through the process to prove to the county that the square footage was legitimate. 

The first it was pretty obvious that the added sqft was probably at one time a porch or patio. However it was a LEGAL addition. It was a short sale, the short sale lender most likely gave us a price based on what was on record for taxable sqft at the county. When we were ready to rehab, we did research and found the permits. We showed the assessor and they updated the property's legal sqft. We gained a little bit of value for the extra space.

The second had a full 2nd unattached unit, it was actually permitted by the county to be built in 1950's. The property was being marketed as a duplex with sqft by owner, and made sense as a rental. Therefore we purchased it cash with less regards to sqft and more into rooms/bathrooms. We received a code violation notice before starting the rehab stating we had an unpermitted structure! Wow did this scare us. We did research, finding records showing that it was all legal.  LA county updated the property profiles to reflect the new found square footage. On this one, the benefit was not as great as we already paid cash for the property as a duplex. It will benefit a refi. 

This has been my experience in Southern California - LA County and San Bernardino County. 

Good Luck! Hope all the best!

Lenders will never lend the full ARV. If a lender is basing their loan amount on ARV, for the most part, it will never be above 75% of the ARV. Most lenders base their loan amounts on the current value and usually do not lend above 65% of the current value.

What was the benefit of this negotiation? Is this a flip property? Whats the condition? Do you analyze by price per square foot?