All Forum Posts by: Suzanne Griffiths

Stephen Harris welcome! My husband and I have been in the construction industry for 20+ years. He came up through the trades as a carpenter, site sup, project manager and general manager. We are loving our REI projects and are looking forward to doing this full time. Get involved and take action and you'll do great!

Jalal Soltani we are newer to MN as well. We use google maps a lot. We have talked with friends, co-workers, people at coffee shops etc Gatling information on different neighborhoods. Then we'll go drive those areas. You can put addresses into a spreadsheet and create a map with the properties pinned and then bring up on your app and get directions.

Hi Malcolm Darensbourg I commend you on getting going in REI at a young age. We are working with our son (19) to help him get started as well. Here are some suggestions I have. If you haven't already start building your credit history. Since you don't have any experience this will be really important to help push through some of the "no's" that you'll get. It take a couple of years as a young adult to build a solid credit history. Consider "house hacking" or live-in flip as your first investment. Getting a traditional Mortgage will help you build your credit and having renters will help pay the mortgage for you and start building some cash reserves moving forward. I would suggest starting with whatever bank or credit union you've had your checking and savings with growing up. Especially if it's a smaller bank you'll have an easier time with them approving you. Outside of that look for a mentor that has credit and experience that you can work with in the first few years. Be cautious and make sure you take time building a relationship with that person or consider someone you have a relationship with currently before you jump into a partnership. Most of all, take action and don't let a few rejections stop you. You will get many of them in this business.

Hi Jimmy Nguyen I see just a couple minor things. -initial closing costs, make sure you are including title company fees, title insurance, pro-rated property taxes, etc. -holding costs, make sure you are including utilities. You'll have porta potties, temporary power and water initially and the actual utilities once you connect services through the end of the project. -seasonal challenges. If you start now, when is your completion date, will it run you into winter or into a busy season for contractors? Are there potential delays due to snow etc. -cost per square foot, I would figure conservatively closer to $125 per square. This will vary based on your area but will also provide you a contingency. -comps. Try and find comps within 6 mos, same bedroom bathroom profile (you don't want to compare a 3 bedroom to a 5 bedroom), +/- 10% on square footage and only new construction. Watch the distance from your current location. Try using Redfin instead of Zillow. You can use the filters to find more like matches. -last make sure you are conservative on your days on market and the holding costs after the construction is complete. When we are running our numbers we won't do a project if it doesn't have a 20% ROI, we don't look much at the dollars as that can push you to make an emotional decision that could cost you Good luck!

Jason Clark I like what you are doing. I think there are people that will appreciate this and will rent from you because of it. On the flip side there will also be a group that won't, not because they don't want to donate or contribute but because they may feel like it is intrusive on their lives. It's more of a personality thing I think. So as long as you are ok with limiting your tenant pool to those that will want to openly participate and commit some of their time to your causes, why not.

Engelo Rumora Hello! I know this was your first post from awhile ago, but I just wanted to reach out quickly. I am newer to BP but investing for awhile. I am working my way through the podcasts and just finished listening to #89. Wanted to say that I love your comments and perspective. I am also a soccer fan and a girls competitive soccer coach. Have a great day and keep crushing it!

Vijayakumar Subramanian auctions are a tricky one, it really is a gamble. You have to be willing to purchase as is and face anything that may be wrong head on. I am in the Midwest, having a house sit for a year or more is not uncommon, the foreclosure process is long and the redemption period is 6 months. The biggest challenge for us is the winters and if the home was winterized properly and then the age of the home. We have a large inventory from 1900-1930's. The age can mean structural, and mechanical code issues as well as lath and plaster on the walls. The scrape and build the national average for new construction is $125 a square. This can fluctuate up and down from $90-$150 depending on the finishes. If you assume you property is a scrape and build the price you pay at auction is your cost of property, add for demolition, then add for the cost of the build. Are there comps for new builds in the neighborhood? Is there a desire for a new home in the neighborhood? As with any purchase it's all about the numbers, purchase, repairs, holding costs, cost to buy, cost to sell and ARV. For us once we add and subtract all of that if we aren't at a 20% ROI we won't look at it...no matter what the $ amount is, it the percent of the whole deal. A low percent is too risky even if you are looking at $30k profit, that could be gone in an instant if you miss something.

Yes, sorry, when I looked at it on my iPhone it doesn't show.  Looking on my computer now and I see it.  Thanks!

You could try ReDwell. We haven't used them yet but like their work, were impressed with past work and references were great.

Hi Sean Blomquist ! How do we get the date/time of the meeting or sign up to attend?