All Forum Posts by: Ryan Irwin

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

Quote from @Ryan Irwin:

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

What are you looking to do in 2025 to grow, regulate, or downsize your portfolio?

Great post @Jonathan Greene and awesome goals!  

Currently my goals for 2025:

Complete/add six flip projects with a COC return of 20%+

Fund two private money lending deals

Explore converting a duplex unit into a MTR if tenant vacates

Love the last one as I think it's the best way to diversify inside a single asset. One long-term, one mid-term is a great hedge for more income.

Six flips would be a solid year. What's the most you ever have going at the same time? I was never a volume flipper so two was the most I ever had going on at the same time and that was plenty.

Lending has been on my mind as well. Great stuff.

Appreciate that! This year since May, we've flipped three homes. Figuring a full year, I think six is an attainable number. While I have great long term tenants in my duplex, with a VA hospital only a few blocks away, I feel there is some decent MTR potential so will test the market when that time comes.

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

What are you looking to do in 2025 to grow, regulate, or downsize your portfolio?

Great post @Jonathan Greene and awesome goals!  

Currently my goals for 2025:

Complete/add six flip projects with a COC return of 20%+

Fund two private money lending deals

Explore converting a duplex unit into a MTR if tenant vacates

Quote from @Pat Arneson:

Quote from @Tim Delaney:

There is some great advice here already. My approach was to partner with a GC, so he handles the rehab estimates with his years of experience.

Another option is to read J Scott’s book on estimating rehab costs.

I've heard a lot about this book. Is it still relevant? A lot has changed since 2019. If it is, I will certainly pick it up and give it a read.

 Pick up a copy of James Dainard's new book, the House Flipping Framework.  It was just released and I'm reading through it now.  House Flipping Framework

Quote from @Pat Arneson:

Another strategy would be to reach out to your local network of fellow investors/flippers.  Ask them what they are paying for their rehabs and you can use that as a baseline for estimating your costs, based on square footage, etc.  

While a lot of flippers won't give out their contractor info, they should be willing (or even proud) to tell you how much they are paying for rehab costs.  These conversations can help with sharing stories, etc.  

Hopefully you know some local fellow investors, but if not, certainly developing this local network is important and would put an emphasis on that as well.  

Quote from @Tom T.:

Congrats on setting yourself up for success on this one!  I think there are two other scenarios to consider as well if you haven't already.  

Option D: Seller finance the property to another investor.  They make a down payment, set up monthly payments to you and structure it as you feel comfortable with a balloon to fully buy you out.  This would help with capital gains along with keeping the income going.  Headache of being landlord is done too.

Option E: Sell property to tenant under contract.  Again, you can ask for a down payment, set up monthly payments that make sense along with a balloon payment when you want the contract to mature.  Nice thing here is property maintenance/expenses is turned over to the tenant/owner and you're out of the landlord game, but still get monthly income.  

Certainly would talk through all of these scenarios with your CPA (assuming they understand real estate) and what makes the most sense to you.  
 

Quote from @Deborah Wodell:

 Agree with what @Jonathan Greene said above.  Also something to consider is what is the appreciation play looking like?  If you have a scenario that the area is being developed or other factors that indicate value should go up significantly in the future, it might also make sense to hold and refi your capital out.  For example, I have a property that was announced as a grant funding development for 2025, along with the need to buy neighboring lots to clean up the land.  By hanging on to the property as a rental and selling the lots, the future value outweighs selling right now.  

Quote from @Alec Jacobs:

I am wrapping up a lot of the rehab of my first rental property and I was wondering how a basement of a rental should look like?

The main thing also to consider is how dry a basement is.  You don't want to open yourself up for issues down the road in a damp basement with mold/etc.  A nice looking finished basement will go south real quick with moisture and your tenant will soon be displeased (rightfully so) about the nice basement they initially thought they had.

See what the market is doing, but also consider what your specific property factors are.  Even if the local market and comps show a finished basement, an unfinished basement is better than one that has constant issues from moisture.  

Hey @Carter Jarvis, welcome to the BP forums!

Like @Jonathan Greene said, networking locally is a key.  I'm from Des Moines, let's connect and ironically there is a meetup tomorrow, let's get you plugged in, sending a DM now!

@Joe S. some great points by all, especially the list that @Don Konipol laid out.

One thing I would reinforce on what you said earlier, is start with a calm and professional conversation.  The contractor might realize he was WAY over industry price and adjust. 

Certainly I would talk to your attorney first on strategy, but my thoughts is if after you have this professional conversation and talk through how he came up with the price (comparing your other bid), along with him producing an itemized invoice.  From there, if not willing to budge/negotiate, then have the attorney jump in and dispute that unreasonable bill.  

Hindsight is always 20/20 but thanks for sharing your situation and let us know how it goes!

Quote from @Joe Casey:

Hey everyone! I’m new to the world of real estate and really excited to dive in and learn as much as I can. I’m fascinated by the potential of real estate as a way to build wealth and gain practical skills, but I’m just starting out and looking for guidance.

If you’re experienced in the field, I’d love any advice you’re willing to share about getting started, especially if you’ve found success as a beginner. I’m eager to learn from people who have been through it already and are open to sharing their knowledge. Looking forward to connecting with and learning from you all!

 Hey @Joe Casey as a fellow Iowan, welcome to the BP community!  Like it has been said, gaining knowledge is important, but taking action is even more so.  One piece of advice I took from Brandon Turner is do one thing each day to move the needle forward.  Look forward to hearing about your growth and success!