All Forum Posts by: Dave Vogt

Ron,

Absolutely awesome ride you have had. Only wish we were closer. After 10 years in the biz I think we would have a lot to talk about over a coffee. Seems we share one very important ideal and that is...you can never know too much. I still consider myself a newbie after 10 years and learn something new everyday.

Love your attitude and I wish you all the best.

Aaron,

I have realized that even after 10 years of real estate investing and the ups and downs that it is not a get rich quick business. Every time I get into one of my lows I remember all the people like yourself and so many others who are super successful in life that always go through a down stroke at one point or another.

I listened to the story of the guy that owns Second Cup ( a coffee shop in Canada) and how he was living on the street and with the help of one mentor who just encouraged him to be a better person took a nothing company and built it into an empire.

For every person out there starting out there are going to be ups and downs, good deals and bad, but ultimately it is part of the journey. The best thing you can get is a good education, and hopefully a good mentor. It is especially hard when you have been kicked a few times. Its too easy to give up.

Aaron you are a fine example of that solid stick to it attitude that will always keep you moving forward and always towards your success. With the right mindset and attitude anything is possible. Follow your dreams....it is really the only thing that matters. You are already a big part of the way there and accomplished what others only dream of.

Congratulations.

We usually install laminate in the lower end homes we flip, but we use a 12.3mm with a beveled edge. The thickness gives it more stability the bevels make it look more real. We pay $1 per square from a large wood floor wholesaler in our area. The underlay we buy from a different wholesaler. It costs us approx $0.05 per sq/ft. Laminate is tough stuff, but you can't get it wet.

I have four dogs so in our house we went with engineered hardwood. A lot of these products today are floating and click together. We purchased an end of lot color at home depot for this and payed $2.49 sq/ft for this product and used our inexpensive underlay to put it all together. I find engineered or prefinished hardwood has a much harder finish then hardwood that has been refinished. All of my dogs are large and I was really nervous in the beginning. The floor is dark and they still look great after 4 years.

I think the most important thing is to have it installed correctly. I personally install all of my own flooring. I use a good quality undercut saw to get under the door jambs. I scribe all of my cuts to ensure that i get my required clearances while still getting the flooring to slide under the door opening to give it a nice finished look. This takes patience and some thought before installing the floor. The finished product always looks awesome.

Shop around and you can certainly save a lot and like any job have the right tools to do the job right the first time.

If you could work with a private lender you would be further ahead. Not sure about HUD or REO's in the US as I am a Canadian boy, but I would assume the same would apply as any bank sale here. You will need funding to back you in order to place cash offers.

Having only 10K to invest is ok as long as your private lender is willing to put up enough to make it work. Since you are just getting your feet wet I would either partner with someone who knows the process or really do your due diligence. You wouldn't want to get off on the wrong foot. Me and my partner started flipping with 10K on a conventional mortgage with a fixer upper property off MLS. So it is certainly possible.

We only made $3500 plus we incorporated some of the tools into the costs for tax purposes because we didn't really have any. Probably made about $4/hr for our time, but we have gone on to do over 20 now and still going strong. Everyone has to start somewhere.

All of our money now comes from private lenders. Still working with one of our original investors and have added only one more since. We are now looking for one or two more to grow our business. 2 investors are funding 3-5 deals a year for us now. So one good private lender is all you need to get started.

Again I will stress do your homework. Know the cost of the renovations, know the area you are working on, don't mess up your after repaired value, and don't over improve for the area. These are a few of the golden rules.

Hope that helps.

I always flip with OPM(other people's money). We do private mortgages through RSP's in Canada or for the US I believe 401K's (may not have this right). Our investors put money through RSP's or personal funds into 1st and 2nd mortgages secured with the real estate. The numbers have to work, but very seldom do we ever put in our own money.

Offer your lenders good returns. We do 8-12% returns depending on the investor and the project we are working on and we cover the legals as well. Most flips don't go past a 6 month period. We just roll the funding into the next deal and keep the funds working for the investor. Besides most banks won't lend on the really ugly stuff anyway. It's important to spell out the entire process to your investors and break the numbers down to show exactly how you intend to profit.

I think the #1 reason this strategy works so well is the ability to pull the trigger quick on a good flip and do a quick closing. We have often beat out better offers with no condition quick close offers, but you need to really know what you are doing before you jump in both feet on something like this. A simple oops on your math can wreck a good deal. The #2 reason this works really well is that you can balloon payment these loans at the end of the flip especially if its an RSP loan due to the fact that the lender really can't touch this money anyway so monthly payment don't make or break the deal and this frees up more cash flow to run the flip.

Sorry I got off on a tangent there....hope this helps.

Dave

Welcome Stephen,

I would wholeheartedly agree with Aron on this one. You are in a fantastic spot with your RV and some cash to play with to buy great flip or hold properties. In my opinion I think that both areas would be a great place to invest. I would think it would be up to both of you to decide on what place fits the best. Which area does your gut say is the place you want to be.

I have been fortunate enough to work and play right in my back yard flipping 3-5 properties a year making a good living. The best part is I love where I live. The people are great and the area has a lot of perks that make me and my partner happy. Local business is supportive of what we do and our ability to network and truly understand the area we invest in is a big key to our success.

I hope that helps....I am a little jealous. Its cold up here in Canada right now. I love Florida and have friends and family there.

I wish you much success and happy travels,

Dave

PS Once you settle on an area get involved in the community, learn the good and bad areas, meet good local Realtors (ones that have investment properties), drive for dollars(preferably in a tag along car which I hope you have), join the local investment group (if there is one). You can ask people at the investment club about potential partners for your team such as title companies, attorney, etc.

Welcome Josh,

I too am a hands on rehabber and flipper from Ontario Canada. I think you will do just fine. Get as much info from the forums as you can and if you have any questions I would be happy to share some of my experiences with you.

Funny thing...when I saw you are from Philly the song from Fresh Prince of Belair came into my head....bet your singing it now too!

See you around

I would agree on your background. I think you will do fine. Lots of info here and lots of great people indeed. I think you already know that after lurking on the site for so long. LOL!

Best of luck on your endevours.

Yes Brandon,

All done thank you. Think I might change my flip and flipping keywords. My inbox is getting hammered lol. Good to know that a lot of people are discussing the topic.

I will do my best to help when I can and certainly learn as much as I can too.

Cheers

If I was down your way I would definitely give you a hand to get your feet wet and work with you. Unfortunately I am up in Canada. If you ever have any questions there are some great resources in her. Danny over at flipping junkies is great too.