All Forum Posts by: Steven Satterlee

Curios anyone's thoughts on this service for a real estate agent/team.  I have a real estate team that will do about 100 deals this year and I'm looking to scale and focus more on sellers.  Additionally, myself and the other 2 agents on the team invest and I see this as a great opportunity to find investments for us and our clients.  Thoughts on using it as a lead generation tool to find sellers as our primary focus?  Any info would be great!  Thanks so much!

Thanks again everyone for all the great input.  I let him know we would replace it for him.  I'm hoping that by doing what seems to be the right thing, we will keep a happy tenant and hopefully he'll stay for the 3 years!  Thanks again!

Thanks for the quick responses.  I truly appreciate it.  I just wanted to see if the BP community echo'd my thoughts.  Thanks again.  

I have a new tenant that moves in today.  He just moved to the area and signed the lease without physically seeing the property however we used FaceTime to walk him through the property prior to lease signing.  During the FaceTime he mentioned the carpets looked like they needed replaced.  I mentioned we could get them re-cleaned or ask the owner about replacement, however in an also the owner.  

This is my first rental property and my first attempt at property management.  

The carpets are in poor shape and should be replaced soon.   Technically my contract is with the Army Corps of Engineers since the tenant is in the military. There's a good chance he will be in the home for the next three years since he is temporarily assigned here for three years. I feel like if I get the carpets traded out for him it'll increase the chances of him staying for all three years. Otherwise technically our lease is only for one year.   Additionally I feel like because he is a government employee and specifically in the military,  he will be a good quality renter. 

 He does not fit the bill of the other tenants that I interviewed in the process and I feel very comfortable with him as a tenant. All that aside I would love to hear any feedback or advice from experience landlords. Thanks so much for your time!

Steve

Hi Becky-

I work here in the Boise/Meridian market as well.  My 2 cents, deals are hard to find right now, if your looking for an investment deal just be patient and eventually something will come along.  Don't worry about offending a seller, your not looking to make friends.  Your write up an offer that is good for you.  Consider going through the list of cancelled and expired listings that meet your criteria, then offer on them.  

We are all having the same issue as you right now in this area and many areas around the country.  To me this is a sign that being patient is going to be key.  The market is way up here so we need to invest carefully.  

When I write up low offers, I always contact the agent first, explain why the offer is going to be low, then provide them the comps to justify it.  I've found that I rarely offend people.  Many times they will just say no which is fine.  

Most of my business is writing offer for my clients and not for myself.  However I still do everything the same way.  I urge everyone not to just into buying an investment just because it's the hot thing right now.  Waiting for the perfect property or the right deal will be worth the wait!

Lastly, on the last 3 properties I purchased, I offered over asking price. I did so because I wanted those houses and they were worth it to me. One of them was a flip and even going 10K over asking I still made $28,000 profit or 25% ROI. Sometimes it's worth overpaying on the asking price. Not all agent know the market well enough to price accordingly. Also, many agents in this area use terrible photo's to market a property which lends them to being under marketed. Those can be great opportunities!

Keep at it and I'm sure properties will come up eventually!  Just be patient.  Best of luck.  Reach out anytime if you'd like to chat!

I like Park Place property management, they have been great to work with for my clients. They are a larger company here in Boise/meridian but do a good job. There are a lot of new small PM companies popping up so just do good research and ask the right questions! Best of luck!

I think it is a great idea. I had the opportunity to do both for about 15 months during the super low interest rates of 2012-2013. I had been a real estate agent for 7 years and got offered a job working in a loan production center for a bank doing mostly refinances. I found that that experience gave me great insight to the lending process which ultimately led me to being a much better real estate agent. I believe knowledge is power and as a younger real estate agent it can sometimes be tough getting clients (since everyone seems to know a few agents). So for me, being able to speak intelligently on loan options and fully understanding the loan process has been a great tool. I believe when potential clients see how educated I am regarding lending, it gives them comfort that I know the real estate side of the transaction as well. That is just my personal experience. And of course now that I'm not in lending, I always preface anything that I tell them regarding lending with, I'm not a lender so you should contact your lender to verify the information. Lastly, my position at the bank was very flexible and did allow for me to leave to show houses when needed. Definitely consider what possible opportunities you could miss out on while working from 9 to 5 at a bank. It makes it very difficult to be an effective agent while doing both unless you have a very flexible schedule as I did.

Scott, good questions on the insurance for the 10hr guy. My contractor is licensed and insured so hopefully he can fall under his liability. I have insurance on the house but I haven't explored that particular question yet?? This is where I was hoping that hiring an experienced contractor would come in handy. Good point about the staging, I'll have to reconsider this.

As for colors, we can probably come up with something that will work since it's a we don't have a kitchen to do (it was already completely remodeled) so that will save us a bit. I was just going to pay the $100 consult fee to have a interior designer to give her opinion.

Robert, yes the deal is slim but were committed at this point. Not worried about the numbers, we'll definitely make a return and learn alot.

I agree, 50/50 seems a bit generous if the profit margin was larger but with a slim margin, I felt it was appropriate so my contractor made what was fair.

We did a pretty diligent inspection and although many issues can arise on a house that old, so far it's in great shape. We have already demo'd the inside and found nothing major at this point.

I'm pretty certain on the ARV and Rehab cost and have broken down both pretty thoroughly.

I guess we'll just see how things turn out!

Yes the numbers are a bit short but the ARV is very conservative estimate, the $25,000 rehab cost is including a 20% already. No loan so holding costs are low, I'm the listing agent so only 3% for the selling agent, misc. other holding and selling costs have been considered. We both knew going in that it didn't meet the 70% rule but I had spent 6 months looking and writing multiple offers, going to auctions, trustee sales, ect. so we decided just to jump in regardless. I'm not too worried how much we make on the 1st one. Just looking for experience.

So to clarify, my contractor's labor is free, he will get paid 50% of our net proceeds after closing. He will be hiring a $10/hour guy that will be paid for our of our rehab budget. Just wanted to make sure this was a fair deal for both him and I. I figure he will work about 1 month on the project 50hrs/wk, and at the very least make $7,500. So for him overseeing the project and performing half of the labor, he will make appx. $37.50/hr. That seems like fair wage for this area? I just want to make sure he isn't under or over compensated. Especially since I saved up for years to get the cash needed to make this investment.

Hey everyone-

I have a partnership questions, I just purchased a home to flip. Here's the scenario:

I am the Realtor/Investor (all cash)

My contractor partner is going to act as the General for some items (plumbing/electrical/HVAC/Roofing/garage door/carpet) and will do the other work himself(roof tear off/siding/5 windows/exterior trim/interior trim,minor interior framing/1 full bathroom rehab/, ect.). He brings no cash to the table.

He also will hire a general laborer to help him for $10/hour and want's that to come out of the total rehab budget. This general laborer will help him with anything needed plus cleanup.

He will also be hiring for landscaping, fencing, and final cleaning.

We will be hiring a designer to help with colors, staging company to stage the home and I will run numbers to re-list.

The house was built in 1925, it's 960 sq. ft, Purchased for $76,000, ARV $125,000-$135,000. The rehab cost will be about $25,000, this doesn't include the cost of his labor. Our anticipated profits after all numbers are accounted for will be between $20,000-$30,000.

Our tentative split will be 50/50. So $10,000-15,000 each.

Numbers are kinda slim but it's the first one.

What are your thoughts. Is a 50/50 split good? I feel like it's more than generous on my part since I worked on the acquisition, am the investor (all cash which helps pad the numbers a bit) and will be the listing agent.

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!