There are just two months left in 2014, what will you accomplish?

[Jon Klaus]

The next few weeks look a little crazy, with 7 closings, mostly on the sell side.  I need to plan and start another buying campaign. Also need a shovel ready deal in Austin, ASAP,  to keep the crew busy.  Looking hard. 

What do plan to do by year end?

[Chris Simmons]

I simply want to finish my plan to escape corporate america and transition to real estate full time.  

I close on rental 4 next week and after a short rehab, should have it cash flowing like the others.  I am in contract for a duplex in short sale, but who knows when that will come through.

My platform for going into real estate full time will be getting my realtor license and school starts Dec 1.  I won't quite finish the class or have my license in 2014....but it will be in 1st quarter 2015 for sure.  Between my own rentals and managing some for other investors, I should have enough transactions to replace most of my corporate income relatively soon.

Here's to real estate!!!

[Bryan N.]

Finish my latest rental purchase which basically turned into a flip...

[Andy Webb]

I am managing through my first dual rehab - two properties at once.  My goal is to get them renovated and leased for the new year.

[Sean H.]

@Juan Maldonado 

Saw this on my linkedin today...Congratulations!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/jason-cohen-pittsburgh-acquires-47-173000571.html

[Ramon Fyffe]

Closed on my 1st SFR today!! Going to continue to save to purchase another one in the first quarter of 2015...

[Juan Maldonado]

@Sean H. 

Hey Sean, thanks for taking the time to read the article. We are very excited about the project. I think the visual exterior change will be pretty drastic simply by taking care of the landscaping. The interiors will also receive an enormous lift.

By any chance did we speak on the phone a few months ago? I spoke to a Sean his last name was Horn, not sure if its the same H.

[Sean H.]

@Juan Maldonado It was me, we spoke earlier this year.  My email/phone number is still the same if you want to catch up.  Looks like you're still doing big things!

[Sylvia B.]

Originally posted by @Sylvia B.:

Finish a gut rehab job and get it rented. They are hanging drywall today, and we do a lot of the finish work ourselves, so it may be a bit ambitious. Oh, and if the natural gas people don't get the gas run to that house very soon I may commit a violent crime! ;-)

 Ah, the difference a month makes! The gas is in and the heat is running, no violence required. That rehab job will NOT be ready to rent before the end of the year.

BUT

We bought another house (closed a week ago today) and it just needs a few little things, so it will be ready to rent before the end of the year. In fact, we already have 2 interested parties.

[Roy N.]

Originally posted by @Roy N.:

Jon:

Our goals are a little more modest in scale:

1) A complete gut rehab of a 1200 ft^2 unit; 

2) Negotiate a deal involving a lot containing a circa 1900 4-plex and an adjacent, land-locked lot of twice the size belonging to the local government; merge the two and have the resulting lot rezoned.

An update on the above.  Sadly, we are 2-weeks behind on our renovation (#1 above) due primarily to scope creep ... we had to replace 28' of external wall: 12' due to rot from a leaky penetration for a though wall air conditioner; another 16' due to improper framing when the unit was first converted from a garage/workshop into an apartment {long before we bought the building}.  We also had to remove all of the subfloor and on-slab insulation and had a delay in being able to repair the slab after moving the plumbing fixtures.

Item #2 was steaming right along, until someone in the City water and sewer department remembered that they might want to place a water lift/pump house on the land-locked lot. Now we are working with the City to determine on which 400 m^2 (4305 ft^2) section of the 3200 m^2 (~34,400ft^2) lot they wish to place the pump house and see if it can be subdivided in such a way as to work for both of us.

[Karen Margrave]

Aside from the real estate deals, I'm really busy trying to pick up the slack left by @Bill G. (someone please mention him mine doesn't work) has left, someone has to save humanity and the future!  These politicians have mucked up everything so bad, it's going to be a real pain, and take some time! 

[Jerry W.]

Hey @Bill Gulley you have girls looking for you.  

As an update, my house I took the kitchen down to dirt is about done renter moving into the finished part.  Need carpet in 2 more rooms and waiting for the custom countertop I had to order.  If I get it before Christmas it will be done before year end.

Had one offer turned down, have new offer made.  Margin is thin, offer for $69K rent on it is $700 month.  Offer was for only 1K down, buyer take 2nd mortgage for $19K w/ 5 year balloon, and get bank loan for $50K.

Looks like will not get flip done by end of year which is OK.  Have rental agreement in place that gains me $100 per month until it closes.

[Paul Sorgi]

Originally posted by @Paul Sorgi:

1 Sell my completed rehab  Under Agreement

2. Have the exterior work completed on my next project Complete

3. Identify my next purchase In Progress

4. Acquire another 200k in private money oops neglected

[David Holland]

Here are a few things I'm closing out the year with:

1. Hoping a bank accepts a short sale offer

2. Have a signed contract on a Baltimore rental if it passes inspection

3. Get taxes in order

[Marcia Maynard]

Two weeks to go!  Haven't yet accomplished all I set out to do, as we had another tenant move-out at the end of November and a new tenant move-in yesterday. We are now "all full" again and I have a moment to breathe and get back on track. Great to read the goals of others too, gives me more ideas for 2015!

[Kyle M.]

Originally posted by @Kyle M.:

closing on my first rental property early december!

 I'm quoting myself from Oct. 31st in this thread.  Closing was supposed to be Dec. 3rd.

Update:

I'm so close to closing! I've been put through the ringer by the mortgage company. Need to get a signature from the seller for the extension addendum and I should be able to close. The mortgage people I'm working with said that we were closing three times but the underwriter keeps coming up with more conditions.  I'm learning that buying a house is exhausting.

So close I can taste it!

[Richelle T.]

- put offer in on a property I will do a live in flip (hopefully will come to an agreement by year end)

- interview local banks to do HELOC refi's on rentals to free up some cash to buy more rentals in 2015

- set up appointments at local banks to learn how to present commercial deals for funding (strategic learning for 2015)

- draft a summary packet of 2014 projects

- choose a better accounting software

[Billy Rogers]

Just to follow up, I did end up paying off one of my rentals.  I hope it's the first of many.

[Brian Burke]

Originally posted by @Brian Burke:

By the end of the year?  You are making me think of how little time is left.

1. Close on the refinance of 35 houses in a 42 house rental portfolio, which will net back about $1.3 million in cash out.  That way I can sell the remaining 7 next year and then own 35 Bay Area CA homes with only $500K left in the deal, all without increasing my debt service cost.

2.  Start a similar refi on a second 43 house portfolio so I can try to replicate the results of the first one early next year.

3.  Complete a dozen or so rehabs that are in progress. 

4.  Sell at least a couple of flips that are done and on the market.

5. Buy a few more flips and a few more SFR rentals.

6.  Raise $1.2 million in working capital for a new venture I've been planning for 6 months and find a partner to bring in $20 to $25 million in short term capital.

7.  Find a value-add Multifamily property to acquire (I'm not too hopeful on this one, the value-add MF market seems overbought).

8.  Speak at a networking event in San Francisco in a couple of weeks.

Whatever you do, please don't point out that I have 60 days to do all of this, and get Christmas shopping done, I might just freak out.  Whoops...too late!

The year is over y'all, how'd y'all do?  Here is my report card, for what it's worth:

1.  Done!

2.  Kinda done...I've gathered all of the needed due diligence materials, but I haven't engaged the lender yet.  Fulfilling their requests for materials is time consuming so I have a big head start when I get this going in January.

3.  Mostly done...I didn't complete all of the rehabs that were in progress when I posted this, but did complete about half of them.

4.  Done, and then some. I closed 4 or 5.

5.  Done, I got a couple of flips and a couple of rentals. Not as many as I was shooting for but I didn't come up empty either.

6.  Fail!  I think I've got a third of the start-up capital but haven't seen the check yet...as to the other 2/3 I have an alternate plan that might make that capital unnecessary.  Not sure if that'll work or not yet. Still looking for a partner for the short term capital, I've got a couple of sources I'm talking to in January and I also have two consultants helping me make connections.

7.  Fail!  Not even close. Multifamily is super competitive and not cooperating with my conservative ways...I am, however, in preliminary negotiations on an off-market deal which might work out but also might lead nowhere.

8.  Done!  It was a great event, I hope I didn't bore the audience to death.  I got to meet a ton of BPers and have lunch with @Brandon Turner and @Heather Turner (eat your heart out, @Ben Leybovich !!) and dinner with a few other BP podcast guests.

Ok, time to set goals for 2015...I can start with 6 & 7 -- those might keep me busy for the whole year!

[Ben Leybovich]

That's just mean, @Brian Fredrickson !

My resolution for 2015 - further develop my two-track career of syndicator/guru.  Hopefully at least one works a little better than in 2014 :)

Unfortunately for me, the market is not particularly conducive to either...lol

Happy New Year to all!