All Forum Posts by: Shawn Clark

As someone else just said, photos need to be excellent and staging is not a bad idea. I almost always do professional photos on listings and I may do staging for my flips in the future. It's hard to spend the money, but look at home builders. They ALWAYS stage their models, and they are the PROS at selling houses.

And never put AS IS on a retail listing. TRUST is a huge issue with buyers. Make it as easy as possible for buyers or they will make it tough on you by not making offers.

I always plan on listing flips below market right off the bat. That’s the only way to make sure they go quickly. Squeezing for max price (or even fair price) will usually take time, especially in winter. Having said that, sometimes it’s just bad luck. I had a slam dunk waterfront listing last year that had tons of interest and tons of threats of offers. But I just couldn’t get an actual offer before the seller had to pull it (after 6 weeks) because they lost the lot they were going to build on. It happens.

Self fund flips. But I have a construction background.

Originally posted by @Matt Schelberg:

Be prepared for a sharp increase in the property tax assessment.  Taxed at 2.3% they can eat you alive.  The current assessment seems low at $156k and Baltimore City WILL raise them eventually, even with no improvement in the local market.  Crunch your numbers and make sure your deal can survive an assessment increase to $250k.  (That would cost you $2,100/year!)

 Good point about the taxes. That can sneak up on you in Baltimore City and I always forget to consider how the taxes will change once they see the new price/value. $2,100 per year is $175 per month, GONE, poof.

Originally posted by @Ned Carey:

Welcome to BP @Dustin Burns Lots of members are here from the area. I too grew up in Montgomery county and now live in Howard county. I invest in Baltimore city as the prices are lowest in the area there.

 Hey Ned, sorry we didn't get to talk at lunch the other day. Nice seeing you there nonetheless.

Do they really rent for that much?

Have you looked at financing? What kind of interest will you pay? How much down? Don't use the calculator on redfin unless you can get the same rate/payment.

Originally posted by @Brendan Henry-Lambert:

Hey BP community! Experienced rehabbers, I am curious:

1) What is your criteria for a fix and flip project (such as age of the property, location, size/cost of the project, etc.)?

2) Why is this your criteria? Does this make it easier to identify and make offers on potential deals? 

3) How can I develop my own fix and flip criteria catered to my market (specifically Baltimore, MD)?

Thanks! Brendan. 

My criteria is that I have to be comfortable with the type of work needed and that I can get the ARV I need. I also prefer SFH in the County where I have room to stage materials in a driveway. I hate lack of space.

Just make sure you can SEE what you are doing. Can you accomplish the work for the right $$$. Can you get the ARV. Is there a margin for error? I usually plan on selling slightly below market so it will move fast, and I have about $5,000 fudge factor on the work cost.

Originally posted by @Martinis Jackson:

@Shawn Clark I agree, things definitely need to go as planned, especially with the rehab. We are using a line of credit for the rehab costs. No hard money involved. There is a solid comp two doors down that sold for 160k, we are trying our best to bring our property up to par with that renovation. 

With a row house you shouldn't have much trouble getting to your ARV. I keep looking at SFH which is what I'm used to flipping, but they keep coming in quirky or on bad streets or something. I can't get comfortable that the ones I'm looking at will bring the ARV I need. Hoping to find one soon.

It was fun for me to run the numbers and see what the lender's return ended up being. It was way more (percentage-wise) than for a hard money lender, despite an entire year going by. Either way, congrats, great project. Love the pictures.