All Forum Posts by: Tim Kunz

@Abdul Azeez it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect to pay some money up front to get several bids.  Once you establish a relationship with a contractor you like they probably won't continue charging you to give estimates based on the fact that they are most likely going to be given the work.  If you are looking for ballpark estimates I would suggest educating yourself on the cost of construction.  This education may include paying a contractor a couple hundred bucks to walk through a property with you, take notes and ask questions.

If you expect us to be the architect, the designer, the inspector, and the contractor I think a small fee is pretty fair.

Giving the right estimate has nothing to do with it, contractors have different overhead costs (more professional ones may have an office staff, professional office/warehouse, ect.), different labor costs, 

It really all comes down to you get what you pay for.  If you are given a free estimate there is probably a reason for it: contractor is out of work and needs the business, he is a new contractor trying to get his foot in the door, etc.  On the other hand a reputable contractor who has a good reputation and a steady flow of work doesn't necessarily need your project to stay "alive" and therefore is probably going to charge for their time.

@Abdul Azeez the two situations are a bit different.  A real estate agent has a contract with a seller to get paid for their services, they perform little to no work dedicated to one specific property prior to signing of the contract.  In a real estate transaction there is a uniform profit/commission for a real estate agent across the board that is recognized by the industry as a whole, this doesn't exist for contractors. Therefore as a smart owner/investor it wouldn't be smart to select a contractor without receiving multiple bids (because pricing can vary widely).  Although many times contractors with advertise "free estimates" as a marketing tactic that doesn't mean every contractor should be expected to provide bids for free.  Like @Matthew Paul said an accurate/thorough estimate takes several hours to put together, and many times these bids do not result in getting the job.  Even when contractors do advertise free estimates you can be assured these hours will be included in the bid, but if they don't get the job they get nothing for their efforts.  Just to add to this, the most accurate bids will come from the best contractors, these contractors most likely have a full plate of work currently and into the future.  If you expect to pull them away from a project they are actually getting paid to work on it's probably going to cost you.

@Par Attaran welcome to BP, as others have said start educating, reading, listening, watching, networking, etc.  The only advice I would give is don't give up so quick on your local market, there are ways to build a buy and hold portfolio in the Sacramento market with limited capital, it comes down to creativity, networking/partnering, and learning.  There are plenty of posts here on BP who provide proof of this.  Best of luck to you, hope to see you around town at one of the REIAs.

- Tim

@Tabi Traughber welcome to BP! You seem to have a solid plan in place which is a great foundation. Sacramento has a solid investor community, if you're interested in networking there's a number of REIA meet ups in the area and also a handful of BP meet ups from time to time. Hope to see you around town!

Best of luck,

Tim

@Dede Hunt welcome to BP, lots of great info here.  Definitely start with the links @Dmitriy Fomichenko recommended, if you're truly interested in wholesaling learn to:

1) Estimate rehab costs or link up with somebody that knows them, J Scott's books which can be found here are great starting points

2) Learn to ACCURATELY determine ARV, I see far to many wholesalers boosting ARV by selectively choosing only comparable that support their targeted ARVs and passing over ones that may be better comparable to the property but do not support their inflated ARVs

If you have any questions feel free to reach out, best of luck!

@Aaron Bry I know they built a new community, about half the size as the one it looks like they're building now just north of this new one.  Those homes were built just before the crash (04-06), and looks like they are going for $150-$175/sqft now, I imagine they got hit harder than a lot of the neighborhoods in Sacramento.  It will be interesting to see what they price these new ones at, it may come down to school district, if they become part of the Elk Grove school district they can use that as a selling point which may put them on par with Laguna home prices, if they are part of the Sacramento school district they will probably be affected by the C-D Meadowview neighborhoods to the north.

If you are interested in Probate sales like @Penny Clark mentioned there is a meet up on Wednesday that will be all about probate sales, heres the link

Agree with @Shane Pearlman #152 then #72, #152 the bed is the main focus of the logo and the house is secondary, that's how it should be.  I'm hoping whoever makes it to your site already understands you are a rental business and that they are looking for a house to rent, the bed portrays what kind of rental business you are running.

@Chris Mason @Carrianne Mucho I agree the student loan debt in the country is a huge issue and must come to a head at some point.  

I don't know if they qualify as predatory lending as much as they point to the lack of common sense by the lenders and the government, who has guaranteed a majority of these loans.  When I think predatory I think duping the borrowers through shady tactics, other than the false idea that a degree automatically leads to a great job with great pay, which the lenders don't promise these loans are straight forward (at least mine was).  Now with the realization that these loans may never be paid off and "forgiven" in a lot of cases I don't know how the financials play out, maybe the interest from those who have paid covers the loss from those who default.

I think this will definitely affect the potential for young homebuyers to enter the market, due to both high debt and credit issues from defaults.  I don't think we've seen the full effect of it either.

@Justin Silverio thanks for the reply, the conditional formatting worked great, that was a no brainer should have thought about myself. A follow up to the second question, I was thinking blank envelopes but it sounds like you are branding your envelopes with some form of print and then using a different source to actually label them with individual lead information prior to mailing.  Is that correct?

@Hugo Luna those units, at those prices will be very hard to cashflow. The Mill is unique in that I can't think of a similar development in the Sacramento area that close to the River, which should be enticing to buyers, but also that close and accessible to the downtown area, both those factors make it tough to determine rent potential. I haven't done much research on the Mill but I'd imagine HOA fees won't be cheap either adding to the burden.