All Forum Posts by: Yosef Fares

Ok so I know its been a while but I've been extremely busy with my work and starting my Investing portfolio. Im happy to say that My wife and I @Casey Fares Flipped our first home at the end of last year. We had a local investor pass up on a deal and gave it to us off market. We used hard money to do this and paid 11.9% and 2.5 points. I was nervous about using hard money but it was the only way to get in the game for me and at the end of it i was glad i chose to. It was a huge learning experience the whole way through. It is true you can only read and learn so much but the best way to learn is actually do it!! Our first contractor gave us a great deal but didn't do anything for 3 weeks so we let him go and hired a new guy. He did a great job we ended up listing at the high end of the comps and actually set a new comp for the area. here is a link to the listing on 

Zillow  http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1308-W-Normal-Av...

The house sold in 14 days and a lot of things were learned through the whole process that couldn't be learned through reading and listening to others talk about it. It felt really good to get the first one out of the way. I was very proud of what my wife and I did.

We didn't wait long to jump into the next one this time we bought an REO that had been on the Market for 72 days and this house was the complete opposite of the last one. This house has been teaching us lesson after lesson and thats why my wife an I call it the "Problem Child". First the purchase of the house and just dealing with the bank was a new adventure of its own. The inspection process revealed a $3,000 lien on the property and we had to go through all kinds of stuff to get the bank to take care of it and to get the water turned on to do our inspections. For the electrical we had to call PG&E to come out an unlock the breaker box so we could change a main breaker just to run our inspection on the houses electricity. The quiet cost this time with the hard money loan were higher than last time and i think thats because the loan was for 10,000 more than the last house. But with all the quiet cost of the hard money loan that knocked 7,000 off the top (Including Monthly payments). Our contractor on the last house overcharged us big time on his quote so we had to find a new guy who came recommended by a friend. He did things differently from our last contractor and not as detailed as a job either but at the end of the day he got the work done and the finish product looks nice. We finished and received and offer 6 grand over asking in 5 days. It was an FHA loan and during escrow appraisal killed the deal. I ran comps and had it at 140-145 a sqft and the appraisal came back and gave us 133 a sqft which was based on another local flipper who recently sold in that area and brought the comps way down because his property went for 129 a sqft. So we just as of 3 days ago fell out of escrow we are trying to bring the buyer back as a conventional loan with 5% down. Fingers Crossed we will see. I really just want to get out of this one and on to the next one. We learned a lot from our second home. The goal is to Flip one more this year and buy a one more rental. This will be my last post on this thread because im no longer a newbie I'm what ever a step above that word is. For those reading this that are scared of getting started just do it you will learn a lot and if you scared to lose you will never win!!

here is a link to our second flip that just fell out of escrow

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4523-N-Kavanagh-...

Ok so I told myself my next post would be to report good news. It's official i have closed on my first property that i will try to flip. I got the property for $87,000 and there is no book or podcast that can prepare for the actual dealing of everything. I know some of you where interested in how i was going to fund my project, well i went with hard money it was the only way for me to competitive with these cash buyers. I recently got my real estate license and was able to do a lot of the dealing on my own. But the way I came across this property was interesting. A local flipper who has done so good he has opened his own real estate company has an agent that is a friend of mine. On a camping trip i told this agent that I don't care about the seller commission or the listing commission i just want the property and the opportunity to flip a property. I told him he could be my agent if he can find me a property (My dad did not like this strategy and let me know about it) The next week he started sending me listings that his boss thought there wasn't enough profit in it for him or couldn't get the asking price down to where he wanted it. So I began to look at these properties all where a little to high priced and to big for my first project but the profit was there. Finally he sent me a listing that his boss had in escrow and backed out of it this property wasn't even listed on the MLS and went pending prior to publication. It was pending for $90,000. The reason I was told the buyer backed out was because of not enough profit. So i went over there with my dad and our contractor. The house was distressed but was in actually pretty good condition. it was a 3/1 SFR in a target neighborhood of mine (Newbies have two target Neighborhoods and know the market there). My contractor said this was the best one he has looked at with me the only issue was it had a swamp cooler and not HVAC. So i told the agent to put an offer in for 87,000 knowing that area comps go for 144-160. I also said it was an all cash offer with a 15 day escrow. I told the agent to make sure the seller knew it was hard cash. The seller came back with a counter of $87,000 but with no loan, inspection, or appraisal contingency's. I being a newbie accepted without talking with my dad who is an experienced REA. I got an earful for that. Newbies don't give up your contingency's if you can. So talking with my friend who does flips all the time was excited for me. He gave me his pest guys phone number and said he's guy is the best. Little did I know the pest inspection should happen before closing. Luckily I figured that out and got an inspection done before closing. I was nervous and slept horrible the night before because he told me he was going under the house to look at the foundation. I knew if there were termites or foundation issues i was in big trouble because i gave up all my contingencies. Now I'm thinking maybe that's why the other guy backed out. Luckily and i mean Luckily everything was fine. The pest guy said there was very little section 1 work needed and that the foundation was a new concrete. He also told me that new piping was laid under the house to the main supply. The only issue he saw is that there was a leak in the bathroom at some point and i may need to address issues in there. All in all the pest guy said it was one of the better proprieties he has seen. Now escrow was a journey all in its own but i learned a lot for my next time around. Construction starts Saturday and I hope it goes smooth. Thanks everyone for your support and help.

OK so I put a cash offer in for asking and after 7 days on the market the listing has gone pending. But not with my offer. A hardship hasn't been accepted yet so is this just the norm with the short sale or did they really accept another offer with out giving me a chance to offer more??

There is a property on the MLS listed well below market value and comps are priced right for a good flip. The listing agent says in his remarks "Investors Only. Long term lease in effect until 3/2018. Owner has installed new roof and new AC in 2005. Also updated insulation in attic and walls in 2005" The rent is $700 and is related to the owner of the property. Are their any strategies to use here? I'm open to any suggestion

Thanks @Nick C.

 Ill for sure do that. This might be a dumb question but how do you find who the BPO agent is for this particular piece of property?

Thanks guys I'll keep my fingers crossed. Hope it works it out.

Hey guys this will be my first short sale offer and the listing price is 70,000 I offered 65,000 all cash. The numbers work out to make a good profit on a flip but the house has only been listed for 3 days. My dad who is a Real Estate agent says short sales are a headache and can take a long time to go through. He has had some that have taken 3 months and some that have taken a year. So what do I do I really want this property?? are there any expert tips on how to get it quicker or ensure I'm being considered for the property. Is $65,000 to low of a bid?? Or should I throw my hat in the mix and move on to the next property and if it comes through it comes through. There are a lot of short sales right now in my area

Thanks guys I'm new to the hard money way of purchasing so all your comments are very helpful. I have a few different opportunities that i would like to pursue but on the listing it says Cash Only Short Sale. I know these two houses are good investments the numbers all work out except that i don't have the cash!! The house I really like they are asking $70,000 it is a 3 bed 1 bath in a very good location. The house next door to it sold in March for 154,000 and it is only a 2 bed 1 bath. I figure I can sell this property for 175,900 easy. Similar 3 bed 1 baths that are rehabbed have gone for 189,000. So i figured Hard Money might get me in the game. Im meeting with a Hard Money lender today who will cover 80%-85% of the purchase price and charge me 10.99% if i got it at asking, my payment i believe he said would be right around $575. Not sure what to do i keep missing great opportunities because of lack of working capital. Now the contingency deal that you guys are telling me about i didn't know hard money worked that way to. So when i offer can i say all cash quick close?? the lender said they can close in 10 days. Please help with suggestions.   

I have been trying to lock up a deal for a month now using a rehab loan with 20% down. I have gotten beat out by cash offers on every offer i have submitted. I am now thinking about using a hard money lender. Is this smart to do with just one property? Or should I look for something else to fund my first flip?

Passed my Real Estate test yesterday. Now I'll be able to go into any house when I want and not have to wait for an agent (my dad) to have free time. Plus I'll be able to put in offers and negotiate deals myself. So now it's time to figure out how to get a hard money loan or open up a HELOC