All Forum Posts by: Tegan Lehman

@Flavia Hollinger Hilltop is still pretty rough.

Would love to hear how this ended!

Have you tried the BiggerPockets calculators? They're a great place to start!

I'm hoping things stay a little bleak for a while because the current environment has gotten a lot of big players out of my sandbox and made acquisition of sad-case properties a lot easier.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

A quasi-Brrrr. We always intended to add a bedroom and bathroom, but ended up gutting the existing structure also. Took the property from 2 bed 1 bath to 3 bed 2 bath.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We would have preferred something that was at least 2 units, but Columbus is very competitive market these days. We didn't have the cash to go much bigger on this first project. As it was, we only were able to get this by using creative financing. The fact that the property was in a condition that no traditional lender would consider worked to our advantage.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

@Brandon Sturgill found us this deal on the MLS. He also got the price down 14% from asking based on the condition of the basement.

How did you finance this deal?

Finance of America Fix and Flip loan (Do not recommend. We used this because it's our first property and we didn't have the cash. They made us regret using them at every stage of the project.)

How did you add value to the deal?

The property had a breezeway and garage all under the existing roof. We finished those into a master suite and extension of the existing kitchen, increasing square footage by 60%.

We did the majority of the work ourselves. My partner/brother-in-law is in construction and did most of the work, but it was a family affair.

What was the outcome?

We'll find out when I catch up with my book keeping? We left some cash in the deal, but not much. Market increases were enough to cover our beginner errors. We did the real estate equivalent of falling up the stairs.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

So many challenges. An inherited tenant who took 70+ days to get out, then left the place a disaster--literally with rotting meat on the floor. The lender sold themselves as "like a hard money lender" but required a ridiculous amount of documentation to access rehab funds. A zoning variance that we didn't think we would need resulted in a 151-day waiting period for building permits. The jobsite had 2 break-ins that cost us ~$2k.

But just think how prepared we'll be for the next one!

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

@Brandon Sturgill

This is maybe a silly question, but how does one actually make a cash offer on a property without a realtor? This there a standard contract or form?  

Thank you, @Ed W.  I actually already know how to use Google and my phone. What I'm looking for here is a frame of reference from someone who has recently contracted a surveyor.

Does anyone know a surveyor they like? I need a boundary survey for a small lot in south Columbus, and the first quote came back at $1,000 and 3-4 weeks out.  Naturally, I was hoping to dedicate less money and FAR less time to this. Are my expectations unrealistic?

I have an oversees friend looking to set up a REI team in the US, and he is looking for a recruiting agency to help him find talent. Does anyone have a recommendation for that?

@Tonye Jack Here's a heat map I stole from behind the paywall of the Columbus Dispatch. As you can see, most of Columbus has very strong growth. The darkest block you see there on the east side is Whitehall.