All Forum Posts by: Steve K

Orlando is completely overrun with wholesalers who add virtually no value.  It seems the standard protocol here is always to put a bank owned property under contract, grossly overstate the arv, email the "deal" to thousands of people and hope there is a sucker there ready to buy.  Sometimes they are deals because of an appreciating market, but usually they are not.

There are a small handful of good wholesalers sourcing real deals out there, but unfortunately the majority out there are creating the reputation that you're trying to avoid.

One of my personal ways to evaluate a wholesaler is to see if they own any property.  Most don't.  I have no interest in buying deals from someone who isn't capable of being in the game themselves.

I think you'll be in for a few surprises if you expect to build a 2,400 square foot house in Florida for $73k in 90 days by doing all of the work yourself.    If you proceed please post a progress thread.

It's a good education to get through with a profit on your first deal, no matter how small.  

That being said, what went sideways? Rehab cost more than expected? ARV wrong? Other factors?

This pretty much sums it up.  The scrape / build process is for the most part pretty easy but lots of people seem to get beat up by putting a house in a location that doesn't really support new construction.  If your area does support tearing down and building it just becomes a matter of whether the numbers work.

Is anyone who is successfully marketing to infill sellers willing to share what is working for them in today's market?  Are you blanketing equity owners in areas that you want to tear down and build new / renovate?  Very specific targeted marketing to individual properties? Yellow letters?  Postcards?

I've been doing a combination of all of the above with mixed results so trying to hone the 2015 strategy further to beat the wave of competition.

On another note - is anyone telling the sellers that you plan to bulldoze their house 15 minutes after closing?

Progressive just sent me an $1,826 renewal invoice.  It seems to have jumped up significantly with no claims.  Clearly I need to do some shopping around.

I'm not sure how Florida costs translate to Austin, but we recently looked at building some three story multifamily and estimates added about $10 per foot on top of single story construction costs.

Going four stories here would almost certainly require a robust fire sprinkler system which is comically expensive.

DBPR is going to be the slowest route to resolution.  Hire local counsel and let them deal with it.

Vfr transition route through LAX?  That has to be pretty surreal.

I've seen similar results as mentioned above.  The nice houses a pool is a benefit, but anything less than class a it becomes a significant nuisance.