All Forum Posts by: Valerie Hiscoe

Hi Ali

I haven't had a lot of experience but you'll realize not too far into your flip that you really can't estimate on a square foot basis and be successful (or prepared).  There are definitely ranges that prices fall into but you are still going to have to go through the tough work of itemizing everything and estimating it.

For that reason, I'm going to recommend the things I think will give you the info you need to make you a better flipper.

First, I'd recommend "The book on estimating costs" as mentioned earlier.  If you order "The book on flipping houses" from Bigger Pockets thru the tab above (rather than Amazon etc), you will get the estimating book thrown in for free.  Both books are like buying confidence.

I recently purchased the spreadsheets, etc. from HouseFlippingSpreadsheet.com and am very pleased with it.  It has way more than I thought it would - all kinds of stuff.

And finally, another awesome tool i've recently been using is Homewyse.com  Between those things you'll feel really in control of your flip and give it a much better chance of working out for you.

The only way you can really get out of doing the tough work is by hiring a GC and letting them do all the estimating for you.  If I were you, I'd wait until you have worked quite closely with a contractor a couple of times before doing that.

Best of luck Ali!! 

Hi Ahsan 

To look for wholesalers and realtors, I would start another thread titled "Need realtors and wholesalers near Herndon, Virginia". You'll get realtors who are investor friendly as well as the odd wholesaler.

Unless you've agreed on what your partner was getting to 'manage' the job, why would you pay him? How are you splitting the profits? Need more info to address that situation.

Someone like Keianna above can help you through stuff, even remotely, (there are the same big box stores everywhere), and Mindy Jensen has written a lot of articles on finding students etc to help with design. Stagers are a good resource though.  Once you get a combination of materials you like, you can usually repeat the same materials in your next flip.

Hope things get back on track for you.  Best wishes 

Hi Danielle 

I'm going to recommend two things. ...well, three things actually, that will help you immensely: #1 'The book on flipping houses' from Bigger Pockets. If you buy that through the tab above (instead of Amazon), you also get J Scott's other book 'The book on estimating costs'.  I recently bought another awesome tool, the 'House Flipping Spreadsheet'(.com). The books help you figure out what you're doing and all the stuff that comes with 'the spreadsheet' helps you do it.

More info than you asked for but...

@Calvin Kwan

I have probably missed something here because the answers all seem more complicated than they need be if I understood correctly.  For one, I thought that 'Option A' was the way the kitchen was configured NOW and that you were hoping not to do too much moving around.  For two, I thought your main concerns were 1) that you were worried that the dishwasher might be too far from the sink in Option A and 2) that you were worried about not being able to simultaneously access the stove and dishwasher with Option B.      IF those are, in fact, the issues, then this is what I would advise: Move the stove/microwave/fan and above cabinet to where your dishwasher is in your Option A.  Move your 24" base and upper to where the stove was.  Put the dishwasher beside the sink.

The complicating factors I can see from that plan are: 1) the cord for the stove may not reach - that's unlikely but.... 2) venting for the fan would have to be rerouted. 3) The dishwasher might not FIT beside the sink and still open. It might need an inch or so clearance that your 24" base cabinet isn't giving you.  In that case, I'd first try to add a little filler and move the sink cabinet and fridge down an inch or,, if worst comes to worst and there's not an inch beside your fridge, you might need to get a smaller sink cabinet.  It's easy to find a smaller sink and maybe even a sink cabinet at a used building supply place like Restore (Habitat for Humanity store), although it probably won't be a farm sink (I DO find some pretty nice sinks there though).  Having the dishwasher beside the sink is a much higher priority than a farm sink (although you want to stick to a smaller double sink ideally).  If the dishwasher has enough clearance to open once the stove has been switched over 24" though, you'll probably be able to keep everything else as is.  Seeing as you have no counterspace between the sink and fridge (can't be helped), the additional space between the sink and the stove will be welcome.  The counterspace on the left of the stove is not as functional as the same counterspace on the right of the stove would be, being closer to the sink.

It's probably more convoluted than that, but that's as complicated as I can make it.

Good luck with it all.  You seem to have good instincts so I think you'll work it out for the best.  Good work with Google Sketchup by the way.  I'm totally going to try it out.  Thanks

Cross of the impossible and do what's left but never give up!

Looking for a residence that's 'subdividable' makes you look at the places you're touring in a whole new way.  It gives you a WAY better idea of what to buy.  A mother-in-law suite or 'mortgage helper' is a great way to kick off your real estate investing career and you'll learn about renovating too.  Seeing as there is just the two of you, you could buy a place that's older and add a quite nice suite that YOU could live in (it'll be new once you renovate it - smaller but new and functional) while you rent out the rest of the house for a quite nice boost to your income.

Buy the ugliest house on the nicest block and make sure parking won't be a problem.  Parking is the #1 reason your neighbours might not be happy about you having a suite.  Put the money in your suite and the exterior and you'll be laughing all the way to the bank.  You'll add resale value like crazy because - who DOESN'T need a mortgage helper!

I hate to chime in and burst your bubble as well but even without the closing costs, the STRESS of buying and selling can eat you up.  If it were as you say - everyone would do it - just like you're doing now.

Do your numbers carefully.  Use the calculator from the tabs above and see if you can make the numbers work.  Make sure you know the minimum amount of money you would accept making for the amount of work you're going to need to put in.

In Vancouver, where I am, most house-hacking is done by making either the upstairs or the downstairs into a suite - so you look for a single family home that has separate access, windows above ground on both floors, ideally a bathroom on both floors (you don't really want to start from scratch when it comes to bathrooms - kitchens, yes).  If it's more upscale, separate laundry.  If you're near a university, charge per student.

Good luck Ahsan!

@William Summer

Hi William

Sam is a great resource and can probably offer some invaluable insight in investing in general.  He runs a website called InvestKamloops.com and is really active and knowledgeable in BC.  My investments are in the US right now but when I bring them back to BC, Kamloops is probably somewhere I'll look just because of Sam.

Fort St John has seen awesome growth over the last few years and it just skyrockets a little more with each news announcement with the pipeline approvals.  Western Canadian Properties has been there pretty well from the beginning.  There's a saying that the best time to have invested in real estate is yesterday.  The second best time?  Today.  Never hurry your decisions about the particular investment, but the decision to invest - you'll be glad you're doing it now than later.

Welcome to Bigger Pockets, both you and Sam!

@Jason Noah Choi

Sorry.  I only saw page 1 and didn't see you had corrected yourself on page 2.  You made some other good points though (like offering a win-win exchange of slightly higher price for longer closing) and gave some good information.  Apologies again for my error.