How should a contractor start of Property fix/flip company ?

Question

Licensed contractor in 3 states wanting to stop dealing with public clients and buy and flip my own properties. I have a full crew and connections with license holders in all other trades . I want to know specifically any insight anyone might have that would give me some clarity of perspective on what I can do to start acquiring property and becoming better at deal evaluating

Clayton Howard · Answer

@Bevla Reeves-Thanks for the wisdom. I’m currently attempting to bid auctions on Auction and use wholesalers but I’ve found in general the prices are just too high. I’m in NJ and investing in Newark, Irvington and other areas seems to be profitable as long as the buy in is low as you have stated. Yet wholesalers are selling these properties for close to what the ARV would be post rehab. Any suggestions as to how I could surmount this obstacle??

Bevla Reeves · Answer

Yes!  Cut out the middleman and do what the wholesalers do!

Knock on doors, send yellow letters, look for FSBOs (For-sale-by-owners) on Craig's List and spread the word to your friends and family that you are looking to buy houses from owners who don't want to list on the open market.

It's a lot of work, but just imagine getting paid for it by the savings you make from NOT buying from greedy wholesalers.

If the wholesaler is charging $10k-$20k too much, then imagine "getting paid" $10k-$20k in sweat equity when you find your own deals!

You can do it!  Even if you just start off a few hours a week knocking on doors or send a few letters a week to out-of-state owners you'll eventually get a deal!

And don't rule out the MLS.  I find ALL of my clients' fixer-uppers on the MLS!  When the motivated seller is asking too much I negotiate the price down to a fair price and everyone's happy.

Find yourself a great investor/agent or investor-friendly agent with negotiation skills.

Plus, you have more protection as a buyer when you buy from the heavily regulated Multiple Listing Service than you do from the "wild wild west" of wholesaling!! ;))

Good luck warrior, I'm rooting for you!

Bevla Reeves · Answer

@Clayton Howard

First, find an investor/agent or at least investor-friendly agent and start learning how to evaluate the market and properties in the area you want to flip.

Always remember you make your money on the BUY, so pay close attention to how much you pay for fixer-uppers and how much the MARKET says you can sell them for.

Don't get too fancy with the rehab design starting out until you know what you're doing.  If you don't have design sense, hire a designer!!!!!  I can't stress that one enough!

Follow local house flippers on Instagram so you can see what they're doing in your area, you can learn a lot from them!!

Buy where people want to live! LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION!

Good luck warrior! ;)