How to estimate a purchase price on a foreclosure fix and flip?

How to estimate a purchase price on a foreclosure fix and flip?

Contractor · Temecula, CA · Member since 2015 · 190 posts · 36 votes

I'm looking to get started with fix and flips, I'm not 100% on how to estimate what to offer on a foreclosure. Is there a rule that I can use? I've heard about 65% of ARV, is that minus repairs? So if an ARV is $200k x 65%= $130k minus say $30k for repairs, so I can use $100k for my ideal purchase price? Thank you in advance. Nick

0Reply
26 views

Most Popular Reply

Real Estate Agent · Woodbridge, VA · Member since 2014 · 8 posts · 3 votes
11y

@Stephen Seaberry an easy way to see what they purchased the house for is in the tax record. As an agent, i look at the most recent deed transfers, or MLS listings if they are available.

See this reply in the discussion

12 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Investor · Normal, IL · Member since 2013 · 87 posts · 23 votes
    11y
    Yes, you are figuring correctly. The amount of profit is up to you and the amount of competition you have. We use 30% for foreclosures. Good luck!
  • Involved In Real Estate · Rancho Cucamonga, CA · Member since 2012 · 22 posts · 5 votes
    11y

    @Nick Stango

    I would think to determine how much are you trying to net on the flip? Then, what are the comps in that particular area? That should give you a good estimate of what you need to offer. Are you using the Flip calculator (by BP)?

  • New Bern, NC · Member since 2015 · 36 posts · 12 votes
    11y

    I've put together a couple excel worksheets for fix and hold and fix and flip for buying foreclosures in North Carolina.  I can email those to you directly if you're interested.  We have bought many pre-foreclosures over the years and these have served me well.  

  • Investor · Hoffman Estates, IL · Member since 2014 · 434 posts · 185 votes
    11y

    Be careful using formulas, they're not universal.  The reason people use 70% is 2-fold. 

    1) A lot of hard money lenders won't lend past this LTV

    2) This figures in 20% profit and 10% in fees/realtor commissions etc on the back end.

    I'd suggest looking to see what other flippers are paying for similar houses in your area and working your numbers that way.  Look for flips in your target and see how much they paid, and then see how much they listed AND sold for.  That should give you a good idea of what your "70%" should be.

  • Investor · Waynesville, NC · Member since 2014 · 408 posts · 121 votes
    11y

    Like @Scot Howat said, be careful relying on formulas too much. They are a great way to run a quick analysis on a property, but you need to verify all of the numbers yourself. The formulas try to build in all of the costs/fees, but they can vary wildly in different parts of the country. I always like to get a solid estimate of the rehab, closing costs and holding costs and then add my desired profit margin on top of that. Learning to accurately estimate these costs, and the ARV is the key to success.

  • Realtor · Springfield, VA · Member since 2013 · 30 posts · 8 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:

    I've put together a couple excel worksheets for fix and hold and fix and flip for buying foreclosures in North Carolina.  I can email those to you directly if you're interested.  We have bought many pre-foreclosures over the years and these have served me well.  

     Id love to check out the spreadsheets as well Sarah

    I can be reached at [email protected]

  • South Hadley, MA · Member since 2015 · 5 posts · 3 votes
    11y
    Sarah Afflerbach , me too please if you dont mind!! : ) My email is - [email protected].
  • New Bern, NC · Member since 2015 · 36 posts · 12 votes
    11y

    I just sent them to you...let me know if you have any questions!

    Sarah

  • Contractor · Temecula, CA · Member since 2015 · 190 posts · 36 votes
    11y

    @Account Closed That would be great Sarah, Thank you, my e-mail: [email protected] 

    Thanks to everyone for your replies, they are very much appreciated.

  • Woodbridge, VA · Member since 2015 · 44 posts · 7 votes
    11y

    @Account Closed What resources do you recommend for seeing what other flippers have purchased for?

  • Real Estate Agent · Woodbridge, VA · Member since 2014 · 8 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    @Stephen Seaberry an easy way to see what they purchased the house for is in the tax record. As an agent, i look at the most recent deed transfers, or MLS listings if they are available.

  • Investor · Hoffman Estates, IL · Member since 2014 · 434 posts · 185 votes
    11y

    I use Redfin,com but's it's not available in all areas.  Its just like Realtor.com.

    What I do is I pull up sold comps in the last 3-6 months and I find flips.  They should be pretty easy to identify, especially if that's your niche.  The 4 things I look at are....

    1) How much did they  buy it for

    2) The margin (bought price vs sales price %)

    3) The level of rehab that they did (paint/carpet, new kitchen, full gut rehab etc)

    4) How long it took from purchase to new listing (rehab time)

    Here's an example in my area.

    This is the sold listing

    https://www.redfin.com/IL/Streamwood/509-S-Park-Bl...

    If you scroll down to the Property History section, there's a link to view the MLS listing when the investor bought the house, and you can see the price.

    Here's the original MLS listing link

    https://www.redfin.com/IL/Streamwood/509-S-Park-Bl...

    In this case you can see that he bought it for 90k and sold it for 159k (56% of ARV)

    Aside from renovating the whole house, they also added a bath.

    Hope that helps.

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.