All Forum Posts by: Wayne Thurber

It’s a ridiculous deal for investors. I do all the work and find a piece of land that I want to offer on, call the agent, and then they want me to sign a 3-month exclusive that in essence will also put me on the hook for paying them commission for any private flips or whatever else I do on my own accord…. Not a chance. I will sign a BBA that is specific to the one property that I’ve found and would like to offer on, that’s it.

Hey Guys,

I know theres a large variety of software available for contractors and builders that are designed for invoicing, lead tracking and such; but is there anything that is designed to work better for spec home builders? Some of the flipping software is close, but not quite the same and lacking for takeoffs and such. Just wondering what others have found useful for this specific niche?

TIA for any help.

So after being disappointed by the bank's unwillingness to negotiate realistically on foreclosures lately, I decided to start venturing into some of the more proactive methods that you read about in the books and try to locate vacant/derelict properties myself. I got a lead from someone in my network about a vacant house (extremely rare here) in a more mature subdivision where he sometimes walks his dog. The homes are from the late 60's and this one will obviously need to be updated and have the exterior redone, but would be a great project at the right price. The area is ideal for a low-risk flip because its mostly all tract housing, and this house was the most common design; meaning I can easily figure out what price I would get for the home once completed. I went to Google street view to check it out and noticed a paper stuck to the exterior wall. Score! I drove down to the home to see what the paper said. It was a notice from the county to address the safety hazards lying around the property and had the homeowners name on it. I was able to Google search the name and found an older gentleman of the same name in an online newspaper article who was an avid participant in a sport locally, but no real info aside from that. He was old school, so no facebook, no home phone, no e-mail, etc. I had another contact who was actively involved in the same sport as this homeowner and was able to tell me the general area of town that he thought the homeowner lived. After that conversation, I went back to Google to look up the association of the sport that he was involved in and found that he had been the president of one of the local chapters in the past, but the president's contact information was the e-mail address of a lady. So I did a google search of the lady's name and found her listed phone number. I reverse searched the phone number and found she is the owner of a house in the area where my second contact believed the homeowner resided. So long story short, I believe I now know where he currently lives, his current phone number, a mailing address that he actually would receive mail at and should be able to contact him through any one of those mediums (perhaps more than one) once I figure the best route to break the ice with him. I am sure he's been badgered by realtors and flippers in the past (in fact I know a few people that stated they left cards or letters at the house before). Anyway, I know this is only the first small step, and there is a long way to go to achieve anything out of this, but it made for an exciting day of clue searching for me which I'm usually not accustomed to as part of my search for deals.

@Alex Varner That is a very poorly weighted agreement in his favour. He is getting more money in his account before he even begins the project than he will have once the project is complete, which takes away the incentive to complete the project. I have never required any up front payment for small jobs. For larger projects, a 10% down payment and a draw schedule is not uncommon where I am, just to show commitment and ability to pay on the clients part; but 50% would be a huge red flag that he’s either flat broke or looking to scam you. Either scenario will result in a bad outcome. If his reasoning is that he doesn’t trust you; perhaps you could talk to a lawyer about having the money held ‘in trust’?

Hey Kevin, 

It's great to see you on here and I'm sorry I missed your post bud! I hope all is going well with your income property and you've found great tenants for it. If you ever have any questions about the building, feel free to ask any time :)

You're honestly SOL. You need to develop a good working relationship with the type of inspector that you can trust and rely on to give you this information first hand and not rely on the roofer that the realtor procured to come out and make sure the deal closed.

Hi Roy, Why yes, they would all be my fathers uncles.

Hello Everyone,

I'm a new investor for the second time around. I owned 6 rental units in a previous life, went about it all wrong, absolutely hated it and sold them all off 7 years ago (that's actually how I met my wife). Anyway, I am now a little older, wiser and more financially secure and have got the itch to get back into the game; the right way this time. I am excited that there are more resources and networking opportunities through this site then there was when I was trying to fumble through and am excited to glean what info I can from it, and help others when possible.

It’s good to see there are a few other locals here. Maybe there is hope it’ll pick up a little in the future, even if it is dead in here right now :).

It’s not a health risk, purely a financial risk. They would cost more to dispose of, if necessary; and the fact that you have to disclose it may scare some future buyers. Virtually the only way this could affect someone’s health is if you stripped it from the home, dumped it in a confined space, jumped on top of it and started pulverizing it with a sledge hammer for hours on end.