All Forum Posts by: Mike V.

One consideration is how hard is it to get a starting position at a bank versus finding a leader in the field you are really interested in to not only mentor you but pay you to learn from him.

Currently right around 60% but trending higher every year. So far I am way better at picking houses than picking stocks.

I try and keep my properties loaded with as much debt as is comfortably serviceable just to have the cash to do deals and to keep the property from becoming to big a target for lawsuits.

Mike- you are right, this is a risk that I am taking because I won't actually own it. Less days on market is my main concern. Do you typically stage the entire property or just the main rooms? What do you think this will cost me if I go forward?

Thanks for your response.

I typically stage the entire property - maybe overkill but by that time I usually have already spent a lot of time/money/effort on the rehab and hate to leave any part of it looking unfinished including the staging. We do all our own staging so I don't have exact numbers but around here, stagers typically charge at least 1% of sale price and have a minimum of around $2000.

If your hoping to sell back to back then you are talking about staging a property that you don't even own. I doubt any staging company would do this for liability reasons. I guess you could always do it yourself. I am a firm believer in staging and do believe you will get your money back not only on higher sale price but also less days on market.

I stage every bedroom but I use an air mattress on top of a 2x4 frame that comes apart with only 14 screws. Less than $30 (not counting the linens) can easily be moved and stores away easily when not in use.

Hey Andy,
I don't quite meet your criteria of full time and 5 per year but since you haven't gotten much response I thought I would weigh in. I flipped 3 SFR last year and 2 this year as well as picked up several rentals along the way.

1. How many properties do you buy/sell per year?
2-3

2. Where do you find the majority of your deals? Direct mail? Foreclosures? Referrals? MLS etc....?
MLS except one that was from a wholesaler contact.

3. Do you finance your purchases or pay cash?
Once with cash the others with bank loans

4. What is your average pretax profit per deal?
21% of ARV selling range of 95K - 200K.

5. How volatile do you think your income is? How likely is it that something would change in the market that would prevent you from being able to earn a consistent income at this? If so what?
This is a big concern of mine - what happens when the market picks back up and the REO/short sales/other distressed sellers dry up.

6. From purchase to sale, what is your average hold time? I don't know my average off hand but my rehabs have taken 1-2months, under contract 2wks-9wks, my best was 33 days from closing to closing and worst was almost 6 mo.

7. How many offers do you make before getting an accepted offer?
A little under 1 in 8.

8. How many hours per month to you devote to this?
60 hours a month.

Can't give much advice over what J Scott has already shared, but if I had 300K cash I would quit my day job today and start flipping.

Chris,
I have used a HELOC on my personal residence several times to purchase a home when an all cash offer was required or when time was of the essence. I think the previous responses have covered the risk and benefits pretty well. It comes down to what you are comfortable with. My biggest fear was the bank freezing my line so I always withdrew all the money I would need plus some cushion before the closing. You won't find cheaper money than a HELOC and an interest only payment keeps the holding cost very low. Often my total utility payments exceed my HELOC interest payments.

I love CL for filling rentals but hate it for selling due to all the nuisance calls from realtors trying to list it for me or "investors" offering me 20cents on the dollar for a rehabbed home in a great area just because some guru told them it was that easy.

I was thinking of doing the same thing since there seems to be an abundance of mismanaged/negleted multi's in my area but have decided not to just because of how hard obtaining commercial financing has become. I'm pretty sure I could swing it with the relationship I have with my bank, its my buyers that I would be worried about. When I compare the qualified commercial buyer pool to the qualified residential buyer pool it was a no brainer to continue with the SFRs.