All Forum Posts by: Rip Rittell

That's how it is over there. They have some sweet pockets that you can get great houses in for a good price. Really need to know the neighborhood/street. They have a couple of very knowledgable guys that invest in that area that go to the RING meeting / Baton Rouge REIA. If you are interested in that area definitely hit them / that meeting up.

They have a Real Estate Investors meeting on the second Tuesday of the month in Baton Rouge at the Hyatt Regency on Bluebonnet. Pretty good place to meet other investors and pick their brains. Its on meetup. "RING" Real Estate Investors Networking Group. 

-Rip

If it's a great deal then I would have told your agent you were going to try and bargain with the listing agent and then give your agent a cash kicker for turning you onto the deal if it works out. that way everyone wins, you pay a little more than your offer but hey, you got a great deal. Depending on how that conversation went with the broker determines if you burned that bridge or not.

Here is a pretty good article since LA is a bit of a unique state. 

http://gwrome.com/2012/02/louisiana-tax-sales-a-fi...

If you are in LA you are going to be getting a Tax Deed but there is a lot more to it. 

-Rip

From what I understand a bank won't be able to loan against any of those due to the cloudy nature of the title. You would first have to find title insurance that would provide a policy up to the amount of leverage you would want to take against the property and then maybe a financial institution would be down to do it. I wouldn't necessarily lead with "here are some tax sale lien houses", maybe just get title insurance on them first and try to get a loan on one. Im in north BR and tax lien sales are kind of crazy. 

Rip

Hey Justin, we use Lemoine, Triche and Associates for our accounting. Marla Dodds usually works with me on everything from working in / setting up QuickBooks stuff, figuring out the best way to space out depreciation, how to structure llcs and all of the regular day to day expenses and write offs. They are pretty investor (real estate specific) friendly. They are located off Highland Rd so not too far from you if you need a face to face. 

Good luck man.

Rip "The Sandaled Carpenter"

@Ryan Melander I like the deal. If you can get it refinanced at a 80% LTV and still make a 20% Cash on Cash then I would say go for it. You would net about $150 a door. As long as there are no hidden expenses or other downsides I would do it. Then just repeat 10x and you will be rolling! Good luck man. We are rooting for ya.

Hey @Ryan Melander don't forget property taxes. What do you think the property would appraise for? 

I really like Lane Bennet at Title 2 Land off of Sherwood Forest. They are super nice people that will really take care of you.

This is going to be a great opportunity and a lot of laughs 4 years from now if yall make it through it. I did the same exact thing a few years ago with my wife (then fiancee) we made it. She bought the house, I did the total rehab on my days off over the course of 12 months. I moved walls, ran new gas lines, scraped popcorn, textured, painted, installed all new floors, etc. We had a fridge line burst about 3 weeks after we finished the new floors and had to replace 1500sq ft of them..... We custom poured a 9 ft x 5ft island bar out of white concrete. This was a Huge remodel but it was fun! After all the sweat and tears it will be worth it. Here are some of my tips.
1. Isolate your work areas: don't work in all the house at one time, if you are going to do the bath then mask it off with plastic and work only in there. 
2. Have a staging area. If there is a covered parking or garage have your materials there. Don't clutter the house or hallways with tools, materials, etc.
3. Have a safe area. Do the master bedroom first and the master bath second. This way you have a place to relax and you can shut the door and not have to see remodel mess. You can destress and relax and have a place that is finished and yours.
4. Celebrate small victories and checkpoints in the remodeling process. When you finish the second second bath all the way go out to dinner and a movie to celebrate, when you finish the kitchen cook a nice 3 course meal or order in a nice one from a local restaurant, etc. 
5. Document everything. It's easy to get lazy in this area especially later on in the process. Take a lot of pictures before and during. This will be great to show banks on the next project down the road. Keep track of all your receipts. Get a binder and keep them in it all well as any magazine clippings of design inspiration or stuff you like and want to incorporate into the house. 
6. Lastly I would try to journal at least once a week. Write how y'all feel, what is going on with the rehab, what you learned and what you did wrong. You will learn/grow so much it will be amazing. 

I knew a lot going into our remodel but YouTube and Google know way more ;) I hope this has helped you a little. You definitely can do it and it can be fun too. Take it a small piece at a time and you might even end up with a spouse at the end of it! Congrats and good luck!