All Forum Posts by: Sarah Ziehr

In a short sale they don't negotiate. You make the offer, it is presented to the bank and then you want 3-6 months before they decide if the price is right. 

Nice! Another good point. Always good to speak to at least 2 lenders for rate shopping, but also to interview them and feel confident they will get it done. 

Sorry to hear this, but sadly it's totally normal. 

This is why when I work with buyers I strongly urge they work with a lender I have experience with. If they are not a private banking client I will tell them about at least 20 times about the instances when a lender has screwed my client. 

By the way, you were not pre approved 4x, and going forward who ever you decide to work with- make sure they do a pre approval with full underwriting review. 

Call very early or very late. You could also ask if he has a personal assistant and talk to them.

No, not unless there is room to make it a true 2 full baths.

Zillow is a waste of time. 

Redfin is the most up to date but all the aggregate sites push information out there, then forget to ever update it or remove it once it is sold or under contract.

You may find some FSBO on there, but for the most part you will be looking at dated information that is coming from the MLS.

In your first post you say that after repair it will be worth $500k, that means you subtract the $40k of immediate needs from $500k, which places the current property value at $460k. 

At the current NOI, the asking price of $450k equates to a 7.2 cap rate.

A purchase price of $405k would hit the 8 cap rate you say is normal in your market. 

Thats awesome, congrats! Just saw a condo flip in my market recently. Original purchase price was $200k range, after repair it sold for $550k range. 

Hi Sid, In my market construction costs range from $100 to $150 per square foot depending on high end, low end and if you are purchasing materials in bulk quantities. Soft costs of another 15-20% include loan fees, taxes, architects and real estate commissions.  

Get to know developers in your area, but know that they will likely want to make a 25% profit. I'm not sure if you can successfully accomplish a project like this with contractors. 

Another thing to consider is understanding the standard lot sizes in your area, what you can build there and what is the highest and best use of the property. Now zoning comes into play and you may find that the competition for land or tear downs in your area is competitive. For instance, in my market there are areas you can buy land or a tear down for $400k-$600k, then accrue $1.1M in construction costs, plus soft costs puts you at $1.32M, you would need to sell out at $1.9M in order to make a 30% margin.   

If you aren't putting your offer down on paper, you aren't making a serious offer.