All Forum Posts by: Scott Dwyer

Hi Brandon,

Thanks for the kind words. The least I could do is say thank you to the people who helped me. This site is great for that.

What part of Philly are you from? I'm in Bucks County. My flip is on the edge of Univ. City.

Are you currently investing in Philly? What kind of properties are you looking for?

Maybe we could network and bounce some ideas off one another. Two heads are better than one.

PM me if you're interested.

Cool topic!

I've just started my REI career. Closing on my first flip next week.

I currently work as a personal chef. I've been in the cooking biz for almost 13 years now. I love it, but it's hard work. In this economy not too many people with the disposable income to devote to personal chef services.

My plan is to learn as much about REI over the next few years to be able to support myself from that alone.

Hi guys,

Another update:

Inspections went well. Of course the buyer found some small things they wanted fixed. We were more than happy to oblige with their requests. It appraised at 121K, so no problems there either.

Just got a call from my realtor today and he tells me the bank wants to push the closing up. Originally it was schedulued for March 4th, but they want to move it up to the end of February.

What's the reason for this? Why does the lender want to get this done before the end of the month? I'm not complaining by any means, but I wasn't sure why they want to do this. Is this common?

I'm just happy I get my money a week earlier and pay one week less utilities.

Thanks for all the support you've all given me throughout this. This site has become a new addiction for me. There truly is a wealth of information on here.

Can't wait to start searching for the next deal!

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the response.

The buyer is going FHA and they're putting down 10%. I was told by my realtor and another realtor friend that 6% is pretty common for FHA.

Sorry I mispoke with the "pass" inspection. They might find some little things but I'm more than happy to accommodate to anything within reason.

As far as permits go. We didn't have to do anything major to the property. ie plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc. The house had pretty good bones. We basically just put lipstick on it.

I'm pretty sure you don't need permits for paint, carpet, refinished hardwoods, tile flooring, windows, new int. doors, ceiling fans or light fixtures etc.

Married life is agreeing just fine. Thanks for asking.

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to come back and let you guys know what was going on with my flip.

I haven't been here in a while. Obviously a ton of stuff going on over the last few months.

Of course the contractor took longer than he quoted. The job started the 3rd week of September and didn't get finished until just before Christmas.

So it took three months as opposed to six weeks. Damn contractors.

The only unexpected problem we had was a roofing issue. We had that corrected for $2100.

We listed the house on Jan. 2nd at 119,900.

We received a full offer on Monday (17 days woo hoo!)with 6% sellers assist.

In total we're looking to profit around 12K.

I'm pretty psyched we were able to get it under contract so fast in this market.

Couple of questions:

Since the buyer is pre approved we shouldn't have any financing issues should we?

Of course it needs to be appraised by the bank and have inspections done, but I'm fairly confident it will pass all inspections.

Is there anything else that could potentially go wrong. This is my first deal so I'm not to sure what to expect during the closing process.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Hi Robin,

I sent you a PM.

Hi Jason,

Thanks. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm hoping to be able to wholesale a deal or two while I'm flipping this one to generate some extra cashflow while my money's tied up.

Any words of advice for a wannabe wholesaler?

Should I worry about developing an extensive buyers list right away or should I just go find some deals and build my list that way.

I'm more inclined to think that other investors will take you more seriously if you actually have a deal or two under contract to show them.

Hi Roc,

I'm not holding this property. I'm flipping it. Unfortunately it's hard to get a property to cashflow with the taxes in Bucks County. That's why Philly is a goldmine. I've seen annual RE taxes in Philly as low as $120. Compared to taxes in Bucks in the 3-6K range annually.

West Philly is only a 40 min. drive so it's not that bad. It would take me close to the same time to get to Croydon or Bristol from where I'm at.

Thanks for the input Roc. Are you currently investing in the Philly area? If so where?

Hi Everyone,

I've been scoping these forums for about a month now and I'm just getting around to introducing myself.

My name is Scott and I live in the Doylestown area in Bucks County. I've been interested in REI for a few years now and I'm just getting started.

I have my first deal under contract in West Philly(closing 9/05/08) and I'm looking forward to networking with other area investors and RE professionals.

Tim,

Thanks for the kind words. We've been together for almost eight years now and I think this will actually help us grow stronger. She's just as if not more excited than I am about this deal. Being an accountant and someone who is financially savvy, she's been interested in investing in RE for quite some time now. It just took us a while to stop dipping our toes in the water and finally jump in the pool.

I told her last night that we can still back out and we wouldn't lose anything. She asked me if I was crazy. So I'm pretty sure she's on board.

Thanks again for the congrats Tim. I'll keep you guys posted on how things turn out. I met with the contractor this morning and he's ready to go two days after we close. The job is scheduled for 4 weeks but I've budgeted for six. Maybe I'll try to get some pics up on the gallery with before, during and after shots.