All Forum Posts by: Steven Barr

Never did one in GA .. my experience is in CA.. I was raised in the land business and sold land exclusively for many years. And I still finance land flippers all over the US.. so perk test and soil test we deal with every week on our funding's.

U need to talk to a local that does septic systems  just like a good well driller they will know the areas generally that are a problem.. Auction buying is a risk just is.. So you have to weight risk to reward.. and sometimes we have to eat one that we bought it happens.. But keep in mind if your using money you cant afford to get back then buying action property might not be appropriate for your current endeavors and its better to just buy open market were you can do proper due diligence and know you have a build-able site.

PS before the hedge funds jumped in about 2011 to 2012 I was an activce courthouse buyer in Henry county and a few of the counties on the north side of Atl metro so been to many of the  auctions having them all on one day is a cluster .. you have multiple criers crying sales simultainously it can be hard to follow but you can also squeeze out one that folks missed.. we did quite well until the hedge funds knocked us little guys out of the area.. I bought about 65 homes over that two year period.. did very well..  And I did buy 13 lot package in Henry county but it was all sewer and water.. smokin deal 3k a lot held them 2 years and sold for 35k a lot :)

Quote from @Steven Barr:

Has anybody ever purchased foreclosure land from the courthouse to build on?

If so, how have y’all figured out level 3 soils tests before purchasing the land at auction?

I can do all the due diligence beforehand, except the soil

I have bought a ton of land at auction and tax sales over the last 40 plus years.. You just have to know the area  the soils and or get owners permission to do a test if they will allow it ( pretty rare i suspect to be able to do that).. Also I would talk with those that install systems they usually have a good feel for areas and maybe will do an onsite inspection.

for me if just vacant land and all i need to do is dig a 3 foot hole to get soil samples I am going to just do that.  Unless it’s fenced and posted no tresspassing.

I respectfully disagree with Paul above. Of course, slap and list plays, where it's a few cosmetics updates and re-listing properties mostly as-is was the strategy for some, and in those cases they are priced out of the market now for reasons he stated. BUT, for flippers who take inventory that cannot be sold as-is, requiring large updates and investments to become livable and desirable, that is massive value. It creates inventory on the market that wasn't there before and increases surrounding home values in the process. 

The process and numbers can still work, it's just harder to find deals... 

Hi @Steven Barr

David Friedman provided valuable insight on this. 

There really is no cap on how many you can take out at once.  I will say if you are actively trying to take multiple loans out at once, the lender will limit their exposure to you to 1-2 deals at most until those loans have been paid back.  Meaning you cannot takeout 10 loans with the same lender. 

Having (10) loans with (10) different lenders is possible but is not sustainable in the long run. 

It's best to utilize one lender and revisit them as you will get better terms/pricing on each new deal. 

Quote from @Steven Barr:

Quote from @Ronnie C.:

Quote from @Steven Barr:

Quote from @Ronnie C.:

Quote from @Shayne Mitsuuchi:

What are you looking to make on a fix and flip? How many properties are you typically underwriting on a given day?

If you can't make a minimum of $45 grand on a deal, it's not worth it!!! I can/could easily make that off a new spec house and more. Unless you are turning in volume 10-15 or more houses a year.  I could turn 15 plus rehabs a year! But i've been struggling for almost a year to get 1 deal! $10-$20 grand on a deal is pathetic and not worth my time! Heck, you gotta pay taxes on it too, and you also run the risk of the unforeseen and problems along the way with a rehab.

Lets see, I paid my fees and got back on MLS last May, and signed up for Privy. Did nothing for 3 months straight but sit at this computer looking at potential on market deals and crunching numbers!

Now I just call or text agents and say hey, I'm a flipper, before I spend time and travel to go look at this listing, how flexible are your sellers? It's not worth the 1/2 hour to hour trip (one way) to go look at a potential deal, then crunching numbers, then spend another hour on all the paperwork required to submit an offer in writing on a MLS deal.

I also used Jerry Nortons "Flipster" last year for the free trial period! What a joke! If you are wanting to take the time and expense to mail people, I'd spend DAYS scrubbing list of people to mail to. If they haven't owned the house for 15-20 years (with a mortgage) then they aren't gonna have enough equity for you to buy it as a flipper. So i couldn't depend on Flipster, and the comps for on market properties or even an off market address I ran through Flipster was WAY-OFF. Nothing beats MLS and training from a broker who'd been in the business 20 years, and partial training from an appraiser, and this was 22 years ago. I had to school a so called wholesaler last week on his comps, lol!

I also tried Property Radar for a trial period in this time as well. Nope.

I stopped doing mailers, cold calls, etc back in 2007 and relied on MLS. I always got my deals and best deals from MLS or wholesalers who used the proven formula of 70% of ARV MINUS REPAIRS MINUS WHOLESALE FEE.

I found out the hard-way my 1st year that 10s of thousands of dollars or all the time out of my life trying to save money and do it myself was not worth it to maybe get 1 deal trying to buy direct from owners.

Best of luck to ya :)

 @Ronnie C. why were you unable to turn 15 specs in a year? Or am I misunderstanding?

You misunderstood :). I AM able to turn more than 15 rehabs a year, "IF" I could find the deals! I haven't been able to find a deal. 

@Ronnie C. not rehabs, specs. Are you unable to find spec deals as well?

 Building lots are getting harder and harder to find! However, I know where I can still get them. The reason I stopped building new spec houses is because the market and the high interest rates. New construction in my area is sitting on the market 200-300 days going no where! 

But they will buy an older, cheaper,  rehabbed house in a heart beat. 

Quote from @Steven Barr:

Quote from @Ronnie C.:

Quote from @Shayne Mitsuuchi:

What are you looking to make on a fix and flip? How many properties are you typically underwriting on a given day?

If you can't make a minimum of $45 grand on a deal, it's not worth it!!! I can/could easily make that off a new spec house and more. Unless you are turning in volume 10-15 or more houses a year.  I could turn 15 plus rehabs a year! But i've been struggling for almost a year to get 1 deal! $10-$20 grand on a deal is pathetic and not worth my time! Heck, you gotta pay taxes on it too, and you also run the risk of the unforeseen and problems along the way with a rehab.

Lets see, I paid my fees and got back on MLS last May, and signed up for Privy. Did nothing for 3 months straight but sit at this computer looking at potential on market deals and crunching numbers!

Now I just call or text agents and say hey, I'm a flipper, before I spend time and travel to go look at this listing, how flexible are your sellers? It's not worth the 1/2 hour to hour trip (one way) to go look at a potential deal, then crunching numbers, then spend another hour on all the paperwork required to submit an offer in writing on a MLS deal.

I also used Jerry Nortons "Flipster" last year for the free trial period! What a joke! If you are wanting to take the time and expense to mail people, I'd spend DAYS scrubbing list of people to mail to. If they haven't owned the house for 15-20 years (with a mortgage) then they aren't gonna have enough equity for you to buy it as a flipper. So i couldn't depend on Flipster, and the comps for on market properties or even an off market address I ran through Flipster was WAY-OFF. Nothing beats MLS and training from a broker who'd been in the business 20 years, and partial training from an appraiser, and this was 22 years ago. I had to school a so called wholesaler last week on his comps, lol!

I also tried Property Radar for a trial period in this time as well. Nope.

I stopped doing mailers, cold calls, etc back in 2007 and relied on MLS. I always got my deals and best deals from MLS or wholesalers who used the proven formula of 70% of ARV MINUS REPAIRS MINUS WHOLESALE FEE.

I found out the hard-way my 1st year that 10s of thousands of dollars or all the time out of my life trying to save money and do it myself was not worth it to maybe get 1 deal trying to buy direct from owners.

Best of luck to ya :)

 @Ronnie C. why were you unable to turn 15 specs in a year? Or am I misunderstanding?

You misunderstood :). I AM able to turn more than 15 rehabs a year, "IF" I could find the deals! I haven't been able to find a deal. 

Quote from @Shayne Mitsuuchi:

What are you looking to make on a fix and flip? How many properties are you typically underwriting on a given day?

If you can't make a minimum of $45 grand on a deal, it's not worth it!!! I can/could easily make that off a new spec house and more. Unless you are turning in volume 10-15 or more houses a year.  I could turn 15 plus rehabs a year! But i've been struggling for almost a year to get 1 deal! $10-$20 grand on a deal is pathetic and not worth my time! Heck, you gotta pay taxes on it too, and you also run the risk of the unforeseen and problems along the way with a rehab.

Lets see, I paid my fees and got back on MLS last May, and signed up for Privy. Did nothing for 3 months straight but sit at this computer looking at potential on market deals and crunching numbers!

Now I just call or text agents and say hey, I'm a flipper, before I spend time and travel to go look at this listing, how flexible are your sellers? It's not worth the 1/2 hour to hour trip (one way) to go look at a potential deal, then crunching numbers, then spend another hour on all the paperwork required to submit an offer in writing on a MLS deal.

I also used Jerry Nortons "Flipster" last year for the free trial period! What a joke! If you are wanting to take the time and expense to mail people, I'd spend DAYS scrubbing list of people to mail to. If they haven't owned the house for 15-20 years (with a mortgage) then they aren't gonna have enough equity for you to buy it as a flipper. So i couldn't depend on Flipster, and the comps for on market properties or even an off market address I ran through Flipster was WAY-OFF. Nothing beats MLS and training from a broker who'd been in the business 20 years, and partial training from an appraiser, and this was 22 years ago. I had to school a so called wholesaler last week on his comps, lol!

I also tried Property Radar for a trial period in this time as well. Nope.

I stopped doing mailers, cold calls, etc back in 2007 and relied on MLS. I always got my deals and best deals from MLS or wholesalers who used the proven formula of 70% of ARV MINUS REPAIRS MINUS WHOLESALE FEE.

I found out the hard-way my 1st year that 10s of thousands of dollars or all the time out of my life trying to save money and do it myself was not worth it to maybe get 1 deal trying to buy direct from owners.

Best of luck to ya :)