All Forum Posts by: Owen Dashner

List it on the MLS with this in the description, "Property to be sold as-is. Inspections are for buyer's information only, no repairs or reports to seller.". That will get you off the hook for inspection reports and having a buyer stick you with a bunch of repairs that you didn't know about.

No reason to not list it in this market.  We do this with all of our wholetail/as-is deals.  If priced correctly, you should still get multiple offers.  Every investor in the market is looking for deals right now.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Omaha.

Purchase price: $242,500
Cash invested: $10,000
Sale price: $285,000

This was an off market house in the Miracle Hills area of Omaha just off of 120th and Dodge. The seller was moving to NY and wanted an as-is sale right away, but wanted to have the ability for his family to stay in the house for 2 months until school was finished.

The house was pretty nice, just needed a cosmetic update inside, and the roof was shot. We decided to fix the roof only, and give the house a thorough cleaning and list it on the MLS as-is.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

This house was in a great area and at a price point that would sell quickly with very little competing inventory.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

We dealt directly with the seller who found us via online search for "cash for houses". A key factor for him was having the ability to close on it and delay our possession for a couple months to give his family time to finish school and get ready for the move. We got a good price in return for our flexibility.

How did you finance this deal?

We bought using a LOC.

How did you add value to the deal?

We cleaned up the yard and did a thorough cleaning on the inside. We also replaced the roof for $7,500.

What was the outcome?

We probably had about $10K into it after factoring the roof, cleaning and carrying costs. We ended up selling the house for $285,000, ending up with a profit of about $20,000.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Listening to the sellers goals is always important, as money is not always highest on the list of priorities. Delayed possession was the key factor in making this deal work.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Angela Thiel with KW Elite was again our trusted agent to get this baby sold quickly.

Michael, I am not 100% what you are saying in your response.  But, I guess my point is, if you don't know anyone in your network that is a possible solution to your problem, then the problem is the size of your network.  Definitely invest time in expanding it.

Your first steps need to involve networking. Join your local REIA, find all of the local investor meetups that exist and join them. Look in Facebook groups for active investor pages and join them. If you don't find one you are looking for, start one of your own. I cannot stress this step enough. You will meet key people at these events that you can develop relationships with over time and who are critical to building a good business.

Set a goal to take a new investor/agent/contractor/lender out to coffee or lunch every single work day.  Keep doing that alone and things are going to quickly gain momentum for you.

I would also recommend that you get up to speed quickly on knowing how much properties are worth. The best way to do this is to find properties that fit what you are looking for on the MLS, and get showings from listing agents (so that you don't burn out a buyer's agent showing you 50 properties without buying anything). Go through a LOT of houses until you know exactly what a house/property is worth just by standing in it because you have seen so many of them. No shortcuts for this one. You need to understand values, and the only way to do that is by seeing them and analyzing them.

Networking and analyzing deals are my 2 best things to focus on for newbies.  Just don't get overwhelmed, break it down into manageable steps and you will make progress quickly.  Best of luck!

It depends on the asset that would secure the commercial loan, and whether or not we are talking portfolio lender or secondary market. I have a bunch of commercial portfolio loans on single family properties, as well as apartment complexes. DSCR and appraised value are typically used for SFR assets, and those plus NOI for commercial assets. They will still typically get an appraisal to establish the LTV number, but I also work with lenders who use desk valuations. Definitely get referrals to lenders from other investors you know and hit the phones to find some that best fit your needs.

If the issue is simply the down payment, why not source that from friends/family if the deal still makes sense?  If the larger issue is running out of money quickly and not being able to scale, consider equity or private money partners.  That's a quick way to shortcut your growth.  50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

Use a Realtor, negotiate a discount. You want your property on the MLS in a market this hot so that you can attract the most buyers possible. By trying to save money, you may be costing yourself top end profit.

Thanks Santiago!

I have noticed wholesaler "deals" are definitely thinner now that at this time last year. We are still seeing fantastic margins on our off market deals though (generated via marketing, not from wholesalers).

With all due respect, you need to take accountability for the lack of oversight on the project.  Do what you can do get the property sellable quickly, cut your losses and move on.