All Forum Posts by: Roland Rasos

Sorry about the reply everyone. Thank you so much for all the responses!

I've been quite busy, but I do have an update.

We went and checked out the property (along with a few more) with a contractor and my repair numbers were quite off. It seems to be my one weak point when presenting deals. I've decided to get in touch with a few contractors to learn a little bit more on this side. I'm relatively new to the flip-side of real estate, so it's a little bit of a learning curve. 

We found another deal that we liked and submitted an offer that made sense with the numbers. I'm not too sure if it'll be accepted, because we offered a lot lower than asking. It has been sitting on the market for a while, and I know that they're not getting a lot of buzz on that property.

We actually did sit down and discuss the other non-MLS options like direct mail campaigns and he's seeking other ways of prospecting for deals. I did stress that we can't expect huge HGTV margins from MLS properties.

We do have some searches set up, so he's instantly updated and ready to submit an offer as soon as something does show up in the market.

@Account Closed Never even thought to add that into the equation. I never even took that into consideration.

I know that the 70% rule is the range to aim in. I just listed the list price, however I know we should be aiming a little closer to that 70% ARV.

The only fees would be my realtor fees because I'm finding my deals off of MLS directly.

They're relatively new investors, and aren't too familiar with flipping in Houston, so they may have estimated higher margins in the market. 

@Michael Le What would you consider a good ROI? Or do you operate through the 70% rule?

I have a few clients that I'm helping out and maybe some Houston area flippers can help out a little.

They're all looking in the 60k-120k range and I'm finding flips with around 16-21% returns (I'm subtracting 10% of the ARV for commissions, insurance, utilities, escrow, taxes, etc.).

Example of deal that I've sent over:

120,000 ARV

59,000 sales price + 28,000 repair costs + 12,000(10% ARV)= 99,000 Cash out of pocket

120,000 - 99,000 = 21,000 estimated profit

21,000/99, 000 = 21% ROI

Would you say that these are decent ROIs and my clients are expecting too much from the market? Or am I just struggling trying to find deals?

I know that there are other areas and different pricepoints that return more, but it seems like I'm having some difficulty finding anything in their range that fits what they're expecting.

@Mieshawn S. I followed your advice and I had a contractor accompany us to a deal that I saw. I also contacted a few others too. It definitely made my investor feel a little more at ease, and we're putting an offer in for his first potential project. 

Hello, I'm currently working with an investor looking to get into flips. I'm wondering how you other agents/brokers present those deals to your investors. 

I have pdfs of the MLS listings that are potential projects for him in different areas, and comps that I've ran for him.

I'd like to know if any of you have different ways of presenting deals, while presenting more value to your clients.

It's possible, but not ideal. I was still a student for the first couple of months while I was a part-time agent. I spent a lot of time lead-generating on weekends though(open houses, door-knocking, networking, etc.). A majority of people are going to want to meet after 4 on weekdays and a lot on weekends to look at houses anyways. I got two deals while still going to school full-time, and it helped me learn a lot about the business. I feel like my transition into going full-time was a lot easier than the people that were just diving straight into it.

The biggest thing you would need to focus on is finding business. It's the hardest thing about being an agent. Being young(since you're a student, I'm assuming you're in your early twenties), makes it even harder because your friends are most likely not buying houses for the next 5-10 years. 

Just focus on building relationships and informing people that you're actively selling real estate as well. Work on weekends. In your off-time, study your market, read real-estate books, and preview the areas you plan on working in.

Like Russell said earlier, you should also be looking to spend thousands of dollars for marketing/office fees/signs/etc. It's not the best side-hustle job if you don't have the money set aside for these things.

@Deb Paternostro

I'll check E myth out. I've actually heard a lot of good things about it. I was also planning on check out a couple of the REIAs in town. Thanks for the suggestions and best of luck in your future investments!

@Tina Gross

Thanks for the welcome! I RSVP'd to the event. Hopefully I'll see you there! I'll also check out Real Acquisitions too.

@William E. 

Thanks for the link! I'll check it out right now. I know how to work with homebuyers and sell primary residences, however, working with investors seems like a whole different ball-game. I just want to do my best to ensure that I can be as helpful as possible. It hurts to turn away potential clients to other agents because I was never trained. That definitely won't be the case soon though.

@Michael Lee

Thanks for the welcome! I definitely plan to check out a majority of the books in this website.

How is it going, Zeeshan?

I'm relatively new to the site as well. So welcome, from another newbie!

I'm also a real estate agent in the Houston area. I could set you up on automated MLS searches in the areas you're looking for.