All Forum Posts by: Sean H.

The property is in need of exterior repair, plaster repair, and general updating.  It could be turned into a 2 or 3 unit property near the Waterfront in Pittsburgh.  It could even be a flip with some solds and on market deals around $200,000.

Here is a video walk-through of the property:

Click here for the walk-through

What the House Has:

6 Bed Rooms

2 Full Bath

Large Living Room

Multiple Great Fireplace

Strong Foundation

Fenced in Back Yard

Multi-Unit Zoning

Hi @Corby Goade check out House Flipping Spreadsheet

Thanks and great work @Lonnie Freeman!  

You mentioned the importance of the property management company.  How did you go through vetting different companies and ultimately deciding on one?

A huge profit potential property in the high end Pittsburgh suburb of Cecil PA has come up for sale. While this can be rehabbed to be a rental, the real value is in flipping this property. The ARV is in the low $300s, depending on finishes.

There is some foundation work that needs to be done.  We have bids from a local, reputable firm who will warranty their work.  The bid is $24,300.  I can share this with you or feel free to have your own expert review the job.  Aside from that, it is as a lighter rehab with only the kitchen needing more attention.    

Here is the video walkthrough of the property:

133 Valleycrest Dr Cecil Pa 15321

I would also add a terrible experience with Lending Home.  I have a project going on with them right now and they are the worst at processing draws.  I would recommend you do everything to avoid using them.

We did end up closing on this last Wednesday, with minimal headaches.

Demo started yesterday and we should have most of the demo work completed by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.  I'll be able to post some pics once the work is complete.

@Ray Lai There are a lot of great episodes, but when I say specialty mail pieces, I am mean what Justin Silverio is doing with Open Letter Marketing.  He is another service provider (and overall great and knowledgeable guy!) I highly recommend.

@Savvy King I use soft costs to define things like closing costs (both buying and closing), financing costs (interest, points), holding costs (taxes, utilities, insurance), and realtor fees.  

A quick update, the closing was delayed until Wednesday.  Our local water authority is making life a bit difficult and is delaying getting a final payout number.  I hope that everything is taken care of by Wednesday and we can get started!

@Ray Lai I definitely agree on the numbers being the sexy part. We were pretty conservative, so hopefully the actual numbers come in even better!  Check out Tucker Merrihew's Real Dealz podcast and his Deal Finder's Academy.  They go really deep into marketing, a portion of which is the specialty mail piece.   

Thanks for the feedback @Mary B. and encouragement @Benjamin Gobel.  Here are some before pics of the property...pretty rough!

I wanted to put together a deal diary for our upcoming flip project in Pittsburgh. It is in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh which is a very trendy area.

We found the property using a direct mail campaign targeting absentee owners with equity. We used a specialty mail piece and @Ryan Dossey's live answering service to book the appointment. From there, we met with the seller and walked the property. He ended up buying two houses side by side and his wife was only letting him keep one to live in. We agreed to purchase the property for $90,000. The numbers should play out like this:

ARV: $215,000

Purchase Price: $90,000

Rehab: $45,000

Soft Costs: $39,000

Total Costs: $174,000

Expected Profit: $41,000

We are using a hard money lender to finance the deal. We got in a bit of a jam and got this project, as well as four others under contract at the same time, so finding lenders who will allow us to keep our projects moving forward is a struggle.

We are set to close next week, so I will keep everyone updated as we go through the process.