All Forum Posts by: Mitch Ferraro

GSI Foundations is the way to go. I've used them many times and they by far are the best option. They're absolutely awesome! I know they work with a lot of investors and if they are too busy you can also reach out to Haase & Sons. I have also used them and they are also great to work with. One recommendation if you are not able to GSI or Haase into your property. Don't let someone scare you that you NEED excavation. That is a last resort. Get multiple opinions from multiple foundation specialists. I'd even go so far to hire a engineer or architect to come in, take a look, and put together a report for you before going the route of excavation. Hope this helps. :)

@Yaniv Kehat I'll speak from experience with how we work with our private lenders. At a very high level, we offer our private lenders a percentage return on their money for lending it to us for our deals. Right now in our business our lenders are receiving 10%-12% returns when they lend to us on our deals. 

Now, before any of that money is provided to us we use a title company to draft up a mortgage note and a fixed rate note for the lender. Then, at closing all the funds and documents are executed and recorded by the title company. The mortgage note shows that the lender is going in 1st lien position on the actual property that we are renovating. This protects the lender in case anything happens during the deal. If something did come up the lender could essentially foreclose on the property and take the property over to recoup their investment. 

Next, is the fixed rate note. This note spells out the terms of the money that you are borrowing. So it will show how much the lender is lending to you, percentage that they are receiving in return, how long the note is going to be (if flipping a property this is typically 6 months), and if the term needs to be extended what type action is required. 

When we go to sell the property once it's completed that's when our private lender gets their principal investment back plus the interest for the amount of time that we held their money. 

I hope that info was useful. Please let me know if you have any other questions. 

Hi @Simrath Kaur! Check out Durante & Rich and also World Property Management. Both manage in Milwaukee. We work with both and both have been good for us. All of the points that Nathan makes are great. Be sure who ever you get is a good fit for you. Make sure pricing and fees makes sense for the rents you are generating. Also, make sure they are experts in managing what you have in your portfolio. For example, if you have single family homes but they are in rougher areas make sure the management company knows hows to work with those types of properties. Or another example, say you have larger multi-units be sure the management company isn't more focused on single family rentals. 

Hope this helps! Good luck to you! :) 

Hi Yaniv! Are you specifically talking about a private lender? Meaning an individual, not a bank or hard money broker,  that can fund your deals. 

@Anthony Vaiana, awesome! If you are ever looking in the Kenosha/Racine market definitely reach out. We invest in those markets along with Milwaukee and Waukesha. Good luck to you, bud! :)

Hey @Anthony Vaiana!

Welcome to BP! Love that your getting started with house hacking and then want to get into the BRRR strategy. We've used the BRRR strategy many times and it's a great way to acquire rentals at the same time, not tie up all your cash. It is also important not to get too over leveraged when using the strategy but it's an awesome strategy, nonetheless. If you ever have any questions or want to talk shop please feel free to reach out. Look forward to connecting! 😁

Thanks, @Daniel Idstein! Appreciate it! 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Wauwatosa.

Purchase price: $168,000
Cash invested: $52,600
Sale price: $315,000

Contributors:
Adam Slipher

Nice, mid-century ranch. Once under contract we put together our SOW to begin bidding out the work through our GCs. Once all our bids were back we awarded the project and put together our final SOW, payment scheduled, contractors agreement, finish schedule, and all proper docs that we needed from our GC. We worked with a great GC on this project and they did an excellent job of keeping things on time and within budget. Once completed, we put on the market and had multiple offers within a day.

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

Location, Location, Location

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

Our Director of Acquisitions found this deal as a FSBO and worked directly with the seller on negotiations.

How did you finance this deal?

Private money

How did you add value to the deal?

Renovated the entire home. Updated kitchen, bathrooms, new flooring, new paint, new appliances, new living space in basement, updated lighting fixtures, new landscaping, plus more.

What was the outcome?

Great renovation project that went for over asking on the first day hitting the market, which is always a good win! :)

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was actually a very smooth rehab for the most part. We had a very good GC and he stayed on time, within budget, and produced great quality. There was even a point in the project where the wrong grout color was put on the backsplash which the GC caught after it was done. He knew it was the wrong color and had all the grout ripped out and replaced, no charge. Hard to find GCs like this and very glad to have him on our team.

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

Yes, our listing agent and Director of Acquisitions. Also, our GC was absolutely amazing on this one. We also use the same title company for almost all of our transactions.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Wauwatosa.

Purchase price: $168,000
Cash invested: $52,600
Sale price: $315,000

Contributors:
Adam Slipher

Nice, mid-century ranch. Our Director of Acquisitions found this home as a FSBO and worked with the seller on pricing negotiations. Once under contract we put together our SOW to begin bidding out the work through our GCs. Once all our bids were back we awarded the project and put together our final SOW, payment scheduled, contractors agreement, finish schedule, and all proper docs that we needed from our GC. We worked with a great GC on this project and they did an excellent job of keeping things on time and within budget. This was a pretty smooth renovation and not too many hiccups during the project. Once completed, we put on the market and had multiple offers within a day. Property went for over asking, which is always a good win! :)

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

Location, Location, Location

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

Our Director of Acquisitions found this deal as a FSBO and worked directly with the seller on negotiations.

How did you finance this deal?

Private money

How did you add value to the deal?

Renovated the entire home. Updated kitchen, bathrooms, new flooring, new paint, new appliances, new living space in basement, updated lighting fixtures, new landscaping, plus more.

What was the outcome?

Great renovation project that went for over asking on the first day hitting the market.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

This was actually a very smooth rehab for the most part. We had a very good GC and he stayed on time, within budget, and produced great quality. There was even a point in the project where the wrong grout color was put on the backsplash which the GC caught after it was done. He knew it was the wrong color and had all the grout ripped out and replaced, no charge. Hard to find GCs like this and very glad to have him on our team.

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

Yes, our listing agent and Director of Acquisitions. Also, our GC was absolutely amazing on this one. We also use the same title company for almost all of our transactions.

Hey @Damon James! Hard money is definitely an option but one of the best options, in my opinion, is to raise private money for your real estate deals. Raising private money all starts with a mindset shift and understanding how to use your already existing network. Many people will say they don't know people with money but going to networking events, meetups, and REIAs will help you start building that network and that would be step one. Second step to raising private money is actually finding a TRUE DEAL. To get a TRUE DEAL you have to understand how to analyze properties. Once you analyze properties correctly you can start making offers, at the right price, on properties that turn into TRUE DEALS. 

There's actually a REIA event in Milwaukee tomorrow night at 6pm at the Embassy Suites in Brookfield. There is also one down in Kenosha every second Thursday of the month at 7pm at the Birchwood Grill. All great places to start connecting with other investors and start building your network. Hope that helps and let me know if you have any other questions. :)