All Forum Posts by: Rodney Marcantel

Listing Spark offers marketing services for only $7 per day listing placing your property on MLS, Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com. They do a one time email blast to local agents, provide a sign and for $99 extra they provide signs and marketing for each open house (if you run the open house) and $199 (if they provide a local agent to run the open house). I paid for an open house showing but never had to do one because of the great offer in 4 days.

My first flip was over 3,000 sq.ft. and I put $90K into it (had a pool that needed $10K in repairs and $10k in popcorn ceiling removal/new texture/paint). Ended up losing money on that one but more than made up for it with this one.

So lesson learned. I'm sticking with 2,000 sq.ft. or less properties and looking for them in really bad condition but in good neighborhoods. Also, observing other updates in those sub-divisions to get a feel for price/sq.ft. and curb appeal.

Ready for next one if I can get this house closed sooner than mid June. FHA buyers take longer to close if you purchase and complete rehab in less than 90 day.

Just got an offer 4 days after listing my latest flip property $6,500 over asking. Working with Listing Spark for the first time has saved me over $6,500 in commissions! So that's $6,500 over asking plus $6,500 in commission savings = $13K in additional profit over asking price.

Breakdown of which I did 70% of the work myself...

Purchased home for $112,000 (Cash) 2/24/2017
Closing Costs: $1,461.06
Rehab Expenses: $58,540.78
Holding Costs: $278.17 (Utilities)
Offer Accepted: $230,500 (Asked $224K) 5/8/2017
Profit: $52,637.22
Total Rehab time: 69 days
Days on market: 4 days

Home Facts: 1576 sq.ft. 3/2/2, new roof, foundation (21 piers), masonry work, new HVAC, New Appliances, New cabinets (soft close), totally gutted bathrooms, new floors throughout, new landscaping and sod, painted brick and all interior and 2 non-load-bearing walls removed in kitchen.

I've just been approached from a family member of close family friends who both passed away and she has the home in a Trust. What's the process for getting the home out of the Trust so she can sell to me and how long does this usually take? I'm in Texas (Dallas County) as this might be helpful since this can vary from state to state or county to county.

Home hasn't been updated since purchased in 1961 and is only 1,254 sq.ft. A great quick turn depending on foundation, roof, HVAC and electrical/plumbing. Homes in the area go for $175K - $195K depending on updates. Tax roll is $109K which to me is a good baseline to offer minus big ticket items listed above.

So, @Rohan Attravanam, you're asking what an RE Lender is? If so, look at my website. Buy Dallas Investments . com. Investing our funds in properties purchased by others allows us to put our funds to work. We converted our IRA to a Self-Directed IRA and consulted our CPA on options with regard to real estate investing and flipping/buy-and-hold.

I would never recommend purchasing RE outside of driving distance within 8 hours for any new investor. Two many variables at risk. Only if you're a seasoned investor and have good relationships with agents, management companies, and contractors would I recommend long distance investing. If it's too expensive to invest where you are, you have 3 options...

1. Move to a more desirable area.

2. Use your funds to wholesale deals.

3. Become an RE Lender (need an LLC) and let your money work for you in Real Estate until you can either do item 1 or 2 above or afford to invest where you live.

Sorry @George Smith, we don't lend or invest outside Texas and Oklahoma at this time. Happy New Year and God bless.

I just signed up with www.reiguard.com and they were very professional and provided exactly what I needed for my flip at a reasonable price. Thanks REI Guard.

@James H.  I'm not saying to stay away from wholesalers as they can and do provide a good service to rehab investors. Their profit on the sale to a rehab investor in most cases offsets the cost that a rehab investor would spend to get a deal under contract with the cost of time and marketing which can cost several thousands of dollars. All I'm saying is you have to run the numbers first before bidding and if you do, you'll be a smarter investor and lessen the risk of failure that so many new investors fall victim to.

Yesterday I went and looked at a house from a wholesale company locally in north Dallas (Carrollton) area that had a house they had under contract for $211K and selling to several investors for a starting price of $217K with a final sale price of $222K. What's enticing about the property (before walking the property) was location. The house faced a greenbelt area that is beautiful with walking trails. The houses on either side looked very well manicured and clean. The picture of the house looked nice. And then I went to view the property (while bumping into other investors touring the property and hearing all they would do).

About the house on walk through...

• Massive tree within 2 feet of the front of the house.
• Cracked foundation in living room. Easy to spot since most of the house was ugly painted concrete floors.
• Awful smell of dogs. They had 3 large dogs.
• Every room needed gutting. 3 bathrooms and kitchen.
• Driveway in back (alley) sloped down at least 5 feet towards the attached garage.
• HVAC looked ok but compressor outside was covered in dirt.
• Hot Water heater looked good.
• Tons of paneling in living room.
• Kitchen appliances hadn't been replaced since house was built in 1983.
• Gables outside had lots of water damage but roof looked good.

So I walked away from the property because of my analysis prior to the walk through. I analyzed the comps put the house in very nice condition (ARV) at $285K max. Other nice homes near the greenbelt were selling for $260K - $320K depending on size and updates. This house was on the lower end of size at 2,136 sq.ft. Houses in the $300K - $320K were about 2,500 - 2,800 sq.ft.

By the numbers...

• $222K selling price (I did my analysis prior to showing at $219K). 
• $285K ARV, $35K Rehab Budget, $5,652 closing costs. $240 monthly holding costs and loan payments.
• My initial (before walking property) rehab estimate was $20K. After walking property, that number jumped to $35K and one of the other investors agreed with me when we introduced ourselves as we were leaving the property.

In order to break even on the property, I would have to keep to my budget and get financing with no points and 7.83% interest rate with 6% realtor fees and closing fees total. My agent works with me to market house for only 2%, 3% to buyer's agent and 1% for other selling costs = 6%.

I'm not in business to break even so I walked away and you should too. Even a tidy $5 - $8K profit wouldn't be worth the hassle and time. If I had not done my analysis prior to viewing the property, I might have bid on the house due to the location and what I've seen elsewhere in the area where prices are on the rise.

Here's a picture of the house... (looks good. NOT)

On my power team is Rusty Reid - President/Attorney at Russell D. Reid, PLLC - Chicago Title in Coppell.

He's amazing and does work well with me on closings. Tell him I sent you.