Creativity Help?

Question

Hey BP gurus...I have private investor money up to $1M for fix and flips.  I'm in the Denver market, but it's way tight here and can't find deals to make the numbers work.  I'm fairly broke after a couple of over-priced and under managed flip deals, so now I want to put this money to work and lick my wounds while I make some money.  I've learned some important lessons that should pay dividends on the next go-round.  So...

Any suggestions on how/where to invest this money for a quick turn to build up cash reserves?  I am open to out of state, but have to have very solid numbers and people on the ground.  I'm thinking very light cosmetic rehab, so that management is only a handyman, flooring guy, and maybe electrician.  A quick $15k investment into a rehab house to turn $20k profit in 60 days, no permits.  Thoughts?  Other suggestions?

Bob E. · Answer

@Don Nelson I would recommend holding off on using investor money until you get this mastered.  You need to be able to consistently make money on your own deals before you start investing someone else money.

Don Nelson · Answer

@Bob E. thanks for the advice.  However, I don't have any money of my own to invest (long story), so won't be doing any deals if I don't use OPM.  However, I've done over 20 deals with this investor's money successfully, so I don't know what you consider "mastery."  I'm just asking for advice on how to work out of market.

Don Nelson · Answer

@Walker Hinshaw, Thanks again so much for the tips.  I'll get to work.

Walker Hinshaw · Answer

@Don Nelson also, check out the links below if you haven't already. Hope they help!

If you haven't read this already, start here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet

Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Check out the BP podcast: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/podcast/

Walker Hinshaw · Answer

@Don Nelson, not a silly question at all. Posting asking for recommendations is a great way to gain knowledge and find potential partners, however, people on Bigger Pockets are more likely to want to partner with you and give you advice if they see you are active on the forums. The community tends to take care of its own and be wary of outsiders with only a couple posts to their name asking for help/partners.

If you put the time in and build your vote and post count to a decent level, people will definitely want to help. The more posts and votes the better, but even getting to 20 or so posts will make a difference. Since it sounds like you have some experience already, I suggest you look through the forum categories and find a place where you can contribute knowledge to real estate newbies. If you provide good advice/value, hopefully they will click the vote button on your post, essentially scoring two Bigger Pockets credibility points with one post.

Another great way to add to the community and build your number of posts is to welcome people to BP when they post in the new member introduction area and congratulate people when they post their success stories.

Don Nelson · Answer

@Walker Hinshaw, Thanks so much for the recommendations.  In response to your suggestion about networking on BP forums, sorry for the silly question, but how, specifically?  Just make posts asking for recommendations?  I'm a newbie on this site, so any suggestions would be great.

Walker Hinshaw · Answer

@Don Nelson I suggest you pick a few cities/areas where you have someone you can trust with boots on the ground and analyze s few deals in each area to determine which markets are worth exploring deeper. Having trusted boots on the ground is important so you have someone that doesn't have a conflict of interest who can visit properties for you and give you a better idea of their overall feel and surroundings.

for buy and hold I have heard good things about Kansas City and Milwaukee but I am not sure about flipping. I also saw @Micki McNie (a Denver resident, investor, and real estate agent) recently post about her flip in Indy http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/186...

Either way, once you find a market that you would like to invest in, and then start networking on the Bigger Pockets forums like crazy. Get local recommendations and then do your due diligence. Find at least one person on the ground that you can trust and go from there.

I am currently looking into doing a demo/rebuild in Denver with around a $1M total budget. If you don't mind me asking, do you have any lessons learned that you would be willing to share from trying to flip in the current Denver market?

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