Go East Young Man!

Was a retired RE Broker who came out of retirement after 18 years... While playing poker in Las Vegas, met a lady at the table and she told me she lived in Springfield, Vt and buys houses for $5-25k, rehabs them and makes around $40k per flip. I said... I used to be in real estate and I've built a house and remodeled a few condos and I could flip houses... I didn't get her last name or contact info. When I returned home, I spent the next 3 months researching Springfield as well as pretty much the entire country analyzing the many RE markets.

While I wasn't finding those super deals she talked about, there were deals to be had. What sealed the deal on Springfield was while talking to the Exec. Director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, she pointed me to a 9,000 s.f. commercial building in the heart of the downtown historic district. I ended up making a deal on it at $3.70 per s.f. or $20k plus closing costs of $13k. Of course it needs a ton of work... A $3k roof repair, $13k Sprinkler update, Asbestos abatement, plumbing/electrical work, ADA code compliance and so on... but it is a beautiful grand old building with fabulous light and views.

To renovate this building I needed to buy a home in Springfield as a base of operations. I was selling all my properties in California getting stupid high prices... My borrowed motto is buy low and sell high. While some of the properties I sold went for below market and below what I think will be the peak, I'll just say my Hollywood Hills home I sold for $850k is not as nice as my Springfield home I paid $62.5k.

My 2015 SFR (Single Family Residence) acquisitions aren't as interesting stories to tell excepting all of them (10-12) I bought sight unseen, (still haven't seen 3 of them) and my usual prices are at about 20% of the median average price of a home in that area. Some are architecturally significant... Some are not.

Above and below are the Rutland Vt house. 7br/2ba that I will be adding 2 baths and full kitchen remodel making it a 5br/4ba house. Nobody needs 7 bedrooms these days but an en suite bath, hell yes and the rear 2nd floor wing of 3 bedrooms has no bath so I'll convert one bedroom into a bath. Paid $29k Estimate will sell for around $150-$200k. I will hate selling it.

I think my larger commercial deals and my East School deal will be more interesting stories and the numbers on those transactions you probably won't believe.  My current residence I got into a huge bidding war... 10 bidders! I paid 30% above asking price and 6 months later it is already worth more than twice I paid for it. 

A little background on me... Owned a RE and a mortgage co with 50+ agents and two offices. Past president of the local board of Realtors, Realtor of the Year, CCIM Candidate that completed all the course work but too busy managing companies to get to the final step of obtaining my CCIM designation. Past Prez of local Lions Club and VP of local Chamber of Commerce. So I am comfortable in Residential, Commercial, Multifamily and Financing of real estate. I'm both a numbers and a peoples guy...

Stay tuned for my next blog.