All Forum Posts by: Tylor Williamson

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $164,000
Cash invested: $18,500
Sale price: $239,900

Light rehab. The sale occurred in a slow market, so it took a bit to sell. But overall, it was an easy flip

Quick point of clarification. They would not be secondary leanholders, as title of the post said. They would be primary lien holders. I just can’t figure out how to edit the title of the post on my phone.

Last year I did about 30 fix-and-flips in Utah and Florida. As I have been looking over my books, I am finding that I spent approximately $500,000 last year just on interest, lender fees, etc. for those properties  

I have been thinking about posting on my social media accounts, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, seeing if there are any private individuals who have cash sitting in money market or bank accounts, who might be willing to become private money lenders for me. 

My thought is most of these individuals are earning somewhere between 0.5% - 4% on their money. I could get them a much stronger return of their capital, with relatively low’ish risk due to my experience and they’d be listed on title as lien holders. This could potentially save myself substantial amounts of expenses over the current lenders I am using  

My question is if I post something like that on social media, asking people if they have interest in being a private lender for me, would I be running afoul of any type of securities laws? I know that most syndication funds need to be registered with the SEC.

Would something like this fall under a category of investments that would require registration with the SEC? Or would it be different since the individuals would be lenders to me, rather than equity holders? 

Hello. I am also looking to connect with investors in the Rock Springs, WY area. I picked up a house in Evanston last week and have a SFH in Rock Springs under contract to close on the 16th. It is a bit far from home base (SLC) for me to tackle myself, so I'm hoping I can connect with local investors who may be interested.

Please connect through the direct messages with any recommendations. 

I own a HomeVestors franchise and have been extremely pleased.  I will agree with others and suggest that nobody should extrapolate individual data points onto an entire franchise system.

There are over 1,000 franchises in the US. Collectively, they buy (and then sell) thousands and thousands and thousands of homes every year. So of course there will be a periodic bad apple. To see that there are only 13 BBB complaints over the last 3 years seems incredible to me, especially considering the industry we are in if trying to buy homes at a dramatic discount. I am confident there are many smaller, local investors who have many more complaints than this  

Operating in so many markets, results for individual franchise owners certainly vary dramatically. For me, in Salt Lake City, the cost per lead feels a bit high due to fewer leads than I would prefer. But the quality of the leads I do get are incredible. So I have still been happy.

Each franchise is open to dispose of properties however they prefer (assign the contracts to other investors, fix-and-flips the homes, or hold onto them as long term rentals). So you will see different owners each operate differently. Though, it seems like the majority of the deals are assigned to other investors. 

Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out through direct messaging with any other questions. 

Hi Ridge. Congrats on the live-in remodel. That is a great way to get into real estate. I hope it works out great for you. It is an excellent way to  get the snowball headed downhill and picking up some size.

Regarding you neighbors deal, it may be tough to wholesale. Much of it depends on where in Utah the home is located. I have been seeing most wholesale deals in Salt Lake County in the mid-70% range of ARV. For other counties, it seems like the deals I have been seeing are in the lower to upper 60 percent of ARV. Obviously, those numbers can drastically vary based on exact location, condition of the home, etc. but they are good starting points. So you would need the home to be worth something well north of $200,000 for most investors to be interested, because whoever buys it has to factor in selling costs, financing costs, risk, repairs, and of course profits. Plus you would need to factor in a profit for yourself for the wholesale fee of what you friend will sell it to you for

The easiest way to get a value is to talk to a good realtor in your area. While their price will not be the same as the value that an appraiser will put on the home for a bank loan, a good realtor who is active in your area will be able to tell you exactly what other homes are selling for in the area.

There are plenty of good realtors on BP and I am certain one of them will be willing to help. If not, reach out to me via the messages. I can get you in contact with my realtor. He is one of the top realtors in the state and get you value.

Good luck!

I'll message you through BP and we can connect.

Hi Jeremy. I have very similar goals to what you have laid out. I bought a HomeVestor franchise earlier this year.

In theory, the HomeVestor franchise may actually help with some of your goals and efforts by freeing up time for you. Part of the reason I invested in a HomeVesters franchise was to be able to “outsource” some of the activities related to investing in real estate. For me this meant marketing. Instead of having to build my own mailing lists and create my own advertising collateral, the HomeVestor system does this for me. I am still able to meet with leads and get houses under contract. Once under contract, you can still wholesale or assign contracts as you would without the HomeVestors system. I have fixed-and-flipped a few of the houses I have gotten through HomeVesotrs leads, I have assigned a few of them, and I have kept a few for long-term rentals

The upfront fees can be a little expensive in the beginning. This really is my only frustration, but there is a pathway to get them really low with a little time and effort. And if you intend to primarily assign contracts, the fees are actually more favorable.

I operate out of hot, but extremely competitive real estate market (Salt Lake City). There also is not a strong HomeVestors presence in SLC. Which means I don’t enjoy the same brand name strength that exists in other cities/states where HomeVestors franchises operate. The HomeVestors name doesn’t mean as much here, since most have never heard of us. Yet, despite those headwinds, I have been extremely pleased with HomeVestors. I have several home run deals that have been incredible. 

Congrats on your real restate ambitions and accomplishments. It is such an exciting and thrilling industry. I also commend you for your desire to research what is best for you. Too many people get emotional when getting started and make hasty decisions that do not help them in their journey. Regardless of what direction you go, continue to talk to lots of people. 

Hi Asar.  I purchased a HomeVestors earlier this year and have been running it since June. I have generally been please with the results. Prior to buying a franchise, I was flipping a couple houses each year. 

While there are many, many people who are able to build substantial real estate businesses without using the franchise system, such as HomeVestors, I found it it was the right direction for me. If you were to do it on your own, without a HomeVestors franchise, it may be less expensive upfront. However, my decision to buy a franchise was primarily geared around the idea of recognizing my own strengths and/or passions.

I like the idea of being able to outsource parts of my business to the HomeVestor system. For example, marketing. I am able to tap into their expertise and not worry about this. They are running marketing campaigns for hundreds and hundreds of different franchises all across the country, with millions of dollars being spent each month. I have peace knowing that my marketing dollars are being implemented by experts who know far more than I do about how to achieve success. This was important for me. If I am able to outsource most of my advertising efforts (at about the same cost as doing it myself), and know that my money will be spent in an effective manner and generate leads, without me needing to lift a finger, I am now able to focus my attention on other areas of my business.

I am just beginning my sixth month within the system, and the results have been better than I anticipated. I have been extremely pleased thus far.   I have had a couple incredible, home-run deals so far, along with a number of singles and doubles.

If I recall correctly, some crazy number of franchises renew when needed (like 98% or something - but don’t quote me on the exact figure because I don’t recall, I just remember it was mindblowingly high).  If people in the system were displeased, the turnover would be substantially higher  

On the downside, this path will cost money. Early on, the fees are a little expensive, and I have had some frustrations with that. But with a little hard work, you are able to get the fees down to a very fair level. And even with the fees, I have been able to win more deals from competition than I have lost. The beauty is that because of the sophistication of who the advertising gets directed to, I generally do not have any competition. More often than not, the people I am meeting with are only calling me and nobody else  

One thing I would recommend you do, regardless of if you use HomeVesotrs or not, is to plan for the worst, even if hoping for the best. This business can be really “lumpy” when getting started. Make sure you enough reserves to last through any dry spells.  
 
Feel free to connect with me through Bigger Pockets messages if you want to discuss my experience in greater detail. Just connect with me and we chat. I don’t believe personal contact info can be shared in the forums. 

I wish you much success with your real estate journey. It is an exciting industry, with so many opportunities to make money and find fulfillment. 

Hi Faifua Latu. It is great to hear about your interest in real estate. That is exciting.

I have been doing fix-and-flips for about three years and more recently got into wholesaling deals.

There are many real estate courses that can be very educational and informative. There are also some that are nothing more then a way to scam new investors out of thousands of dollars. If you can find a good one, it seems like they are worth their weight in gold. The problem is finding the right course  

Before paying thousands and thousands of dollars towards a course, I would suggest you instead start attending all of the local real estate investment association meetings in the area. I am from Utah and there are several excellent REIA groups in the area. For most of them, you can attend your first meeting or two at no cost. And if you want to join, they generally run less than a couple hundred dollars for the entire year. At those meetings, you'll find tons of other investors, both new and experienced, who will be more than willing to sit with you and teach you and help you in this journey.

These  groups will typically have meetings on a variety of different topics that will appeal to lots of different investor types. Most of them will also have special classes to drill deeply into several topics. Some of the special classes will run extra, but for the most part your annual membership will cover the majority of the meetings

If you want to invest in a real estate course, these meetings would also provide you an opportunity to talk with other investors who are further along in their journey and see which courses they felt were beneficial or scams. That way you don’t have to only rely on the high-pressure sales techniques of somebody who is trying to sell you a course.

And if you ever want to meet up, feel free to connect through Bigger Pockets. I always love to chat and learn from others and see how we can help each other.   

Utah Reia- https://www.utahreia.org/

Salt Lake Reia- https://slreia.com/

Utah Valley Reia- https://uvreia.com/

Northern Utah Reia- https://www.nureia.org/