All Forum Posts by: Shane Dreffs

Hello Meir,

I live and invest in Birmingham area, please DM to connect!

Hi Han,

I live and invest in Birmingham area, please DM to connect!

Hi Roberto, I'm an investor in Alabama and live a little north on Montgomery (45 minutes). I would like to connect with you and share knowledge. 

I would be interested, are you currently working on mobile home park deals?

Quote from @Jay Compton:

Hey Shane,

Congratulations on selling your business. I'm guessing fixing old houses won't be as much fun as robots, but...there's just nothing like taking an old dog of a house and turning it into something all the neighbors are proud to see everyday. It's a cool experience.

I'm local to you here in the Bham market, too. Let's talk RE sometime.

Jay

 Jay, robots are cool, and I still consult / program but I really enjoy real estate! I also love taking something run down and bringing back to life. I really enjoy drawing up house plans or taking an older home and re-designing and making better use of the space. I like that there are many options and different investment strategies with real estate and less stressful than robotic and automation. 

Hi Zane,

I live and invest in Alabama, but the answer to your question depends on your strategy:

Are you looking for turnkey or distressed / rehab properties, do you plan to self-manage or use a property manager, what class neighborhood, are you buying cash or how much will you put down, are you willing to look at cities just outside of Huntsville? 

Send me a message if you would like to discuss in more detail. 

Hi Kevin,

I am an investor not a real estate agent, but I seek agents that work with investors and invest themselves. Because, you are partially correct, investors look for distressed or under market value properties and often make multiple "lower" priced offers. (This can take more time and more upfront work for an agent). But the investor is always looking to buy more properties so the agent will likely get repeat business. Investors also talk to other investors, so if an agent is helping an investor find under value deals, they will most likely refer to other investors. You have to find the agent that understands this as a value, you can look at the biggerpockets agent finder, go to local meetups, or talk to other investors in your area. 

Quote from @Amy Lemaistre:

Quote from @Shane Dreffs:

Check your contract and make sure there was a defined process for change orders. There should be a process or something similar to:

The contractor identifies an issue that is outside of the scope of work, you review and determine is it in the scope or not. If it is not in the scope the contractor will provide a quotation for the work and is not allowed to start the work until you approve the change order in writing with the defined and agreed upon price and terms. 

Thank you. Nope nothing like that. I did not have an actual contract written up. Yep, my fault! This is my first flip. 

Don't feel bad, this is part of the learning, especially on the first one! (make sure in the future to have a written and signed contract with scope of work and terms defined clearly).  I would also have a conversation with the contractor and inform them that you will not pay for any extras that are not approved with price and terms are agreed upon first. If they understand they will be doing the extra work (outside of the quoted work) without getting paid, they will stop.

Check your contract and make sure there was a defined process for change orders. There should be a process or something similar to:

The contractor identifies an issue that is outside of the scope of work, you review and determine is it in the scope or not. If it is not in the scope the contractor will provide a quotation for the work and is not allowed to start the work until you approve the change order in writing with the defined and agreed upon price and terms. 

Are you renting it as an STR right now? There are some lenders that will loan on the STR rental amount. It will depend on the ratio usually around 1.25 or 1.5