All Forum Posts by: Suzanne Griffiths

Hi Raj Kumar being that closing to going to market I would be really hesitant to remove it. You never know what you'll uncover behind the stone, or what damage could be done to the exterior sheathing if the stone is difficult to remove. This could open a whole can of worms that could be additional time and money you didn't want to spend. If it were me I would first consider painting the stone. Could you pint it a color that either accents the rest of the house or helps the stone die away and not be as prominent? I would also contact a stone mason and see if they can face over the top with a more desirable stone. We've had this done on brick fireplaces, it looks great and the cost was minimal.

It definitely helps to have some construction or building background. If you want to estimate the repairs yourself there are a few different options; read some books in rehabbing houses. There are also some spreadsheets out there called repair estimators that will have line items with per unit national averages. The last suggestion I have is a CRM program called Realflow that has a contact organizer, property analysis and repair estimator module. I can got you a discount code if you want to try it. In the end, from a liability standpoint, it may be best not to try and estimate the repairs. If someone's deal goes sideways because they used your numbers they could try and come back to you. Disclaimers will help, but in the United States of Litigation you may spend quite a bit of $ just defending yourself. Probably the best bet is to schedule an open house at the property. Any and all potential buyers can come and do their own estimate of repairs taking you out of the equation.

Well, I had hoped to add more updates to this diary as we went through the process. It things have been so crazy busy it's been hard to make the time. However, we all learn from mistakes and challenges so I'll try and update as often as possible. We are still waiting for permit approval for the addition so we've been doing as much as possible in the existing structure until the permits come through. What has held the permits up? Well, the permit office is back up, but the bug delay was that the site plan for the property is missing from the file at the city and the one they had was almost literally on a napkin. So, we go the surveyor in there and now have a detailed site plan for review. This was a couple weeks wait and $1500 as all the companies have a pretty booked schedule. But, now that it is in the city has said they'll push the review through. We've been working on the demo ourselves to mitigate costs and put in some sweat equity. The plumbing was old galvanized pipe so that has all been removed. We've created the new hallway, fully gutted the bathroom and have new sub floor down so it's ready for the plumber and electrician to do their work. The mason will come in next week and repair the top two courses of the chimney and put new flue's and caps on, the. Layout the new hearthstone (the current ones are cracked). Cabinets are being ordered this week so they'll arrive just in time. Also this week will be the removal of three trees that are where the new addition will go. We'll get ahold of Centerpoint this week to get the gas meter moved and the electrician will start later in the week demo'ing out wiring and starting to pull new for the new layout as well as we are moving the panel. With the addition it won't be in an exterior wall anymore. So it will move into the new garage. So, although we've lost about 30 days on the true "start date". We've been able to be productive and make sure that everything moves quickly and efficiently once construction starts.

@Kyle 

@Kyle Vogt an agent could help you learn the market and get you access to MLS. If focusing on off market deals you wouldn't need an agent, you'll be working directly with the owner and then closing with your title company or assigning the contract. No need to bring in an agent and pay them a commission.

@Chris Frydenlund  yes, you would have to state that you are an owner occupant on your offer.

For the refinance question it would depend on if the property needed any work in order to qualify for a conventional loan.  In order to save the high cost of hard money and if the loan qualified for a conventional mortgage, yes I'd refi it right away.

Kyle Vogt for wholesaling your team members I would start with would be Title Company, Real Estate Attorney and Accountant. It will be important for you to find off market properties. The ones on the MLS are available to all of the people that you want to be able to wholesale to. You can still make offers there, but you have to be able to get the properties at an aggressive price to be able to turn around and wholesale. Make yourself a direct mail machine. At the same time you can gather a buyers list so that when you do get a property under contract you have people to market to.

Chris Frydenlund for a foreclosure property you may have to have cash to purchase. Have your RE agent look at the comments in the listing so you know ahead of time. Keep in mind that Cash doesn't always have to be your cash. For some properties, as an owner occupant, you'll have an advantage over an investor for the first 15 or so days. The advantage is you can offer on it in the first timeframe and then after the 15 days it opens up to investors to be able to offer. Think about using a private money investor for the purchase then refinance to a conventional. For a conventional you will need to make sure that the property will appraise in it's as is value. There is also a loan that has been mentioned on the podcasts recently. 203k maybe? Don't quote me on the name of it, but it allows you to also finance the repairs.

Chris Frydenlund I would suggest you look at a conventional mortgage, like an FHA loan or one that will give you a low interest rate. Then make sure you know how long you would need to own/live in it to avoid the capital gains taxes when you do sell. I believe it is after two years, but consult your accountant. The reason I suggest it is with little or no construction experience it will take you longer than you think it should. Plus living in the home tasks generally take longer than if it were vacant. Also, make sure you are prepared to have your home be your job 100% of the time. Giving yourself a longer timeframe will take a little of the stress and pressure off and allow you to make the upgrades with quality. You really want to avoid having things look like "a homeowner special", never helps the resale.

This is really an individual decision. Many people agree to 50/50 because of the equal division which won't cause hard feelings at the end. I heard a great strategy between two investors recently. They broke the process into 1/4's, 25% for each of the following: Aquisition, Funding, Rehab, selling. So, whoever took 100% responsibility for each of the items got the cut. Another alternative would be to ask them what they thought a fair cut would be. That way you know what they are thinking without insulting them. Good Luck!

Joshua Davis in reading your posts and questions my suggestion for you would be to get out from behind a computer or desk, out of your comfort zone and go to your local REIA meeting or a BP meetup. The Real Estate Investors Association meetings can be found either on their website or on Meetup. They are usually the first Tues or Wed of the month which is next week so it's great timing. You can search BP Events for your local meetings. Once there just start talking to people, what is their niche in real estate, why do they like it, how many deals do they do, how did they get started? Then decide on one Niche that you want to tackle; wholesaling, flipping, rentals, commercial, notes. Get good at that and then start broadening from there. Put together some short term goals, what do you want to achieve in 3-6-9 and then 12 months. Then start to think about what your game plan is going to be to achieve the shortest term goals. If you want to flip or wholesale and you aren't a licensed real estate agent, reach out to 2-3 or 20. Meet with them and find someone that is "investor friendly". Pick their brains and start getting properties to analyze. Once you have something tangible that you want to offer on go back to the contacts that you made at the REIA meetings and ask them to help with what you have. I would be more willing to work with someone that had made some effort on their own to make progress and take actionable steps rather than someone saying "I want to be an investor will you help me?" Hope this helps, and remember "actions speak louder than words"