Fort Wayne IN, USA · Member since 2018 · 52 posts · 27 votes
Ok, so I'm on the fence about getting the Pro membership. I'm wondering how many pro members actually use the tools or if they've found better ways/apps to analyze a deal. It is the only reason that I was considering it. It's a lot of money to me that I could put towards a rental property instead. Please, no hate. I'm just looking for how much you guys find yourselves actually using it and if I would perhaps be better off putting the money towards a rental property and crunching the numbers the old-fashion way. Thank you
I would say YES, the tools are absolutely worth it! I let my Pro membership lapse and have been regretting it the whole time. The main reason that I'm about to renew my Pro membership is for the calculators, the landlord forms and being able to post in the marketplace. But, in my opinion, Pro Membership is worth every penny!
I have been been contemplating the same thing. I have been using free calculators online through a couple different resources, that appear to be similar to the ones available via the pro membership. I'm new to the investing world, but the free calculators seem to work appropriately.
@Alicia S. Thanks for the info! I just saw that the Pro annual membership has a 30-day money back guarantee so I just decided to jump in and give it a try and see what I think for a while. Wasn't sure if you already knew about the money back guarantee so I wanted to make you aware of it in case it would make the decision of trying it out easier for you.
@Alicia S. you do get 5 free uses of each calculator as a free member right now in case you didn't know that either. So you don't even have to purchase if all you want to do is see how you like using them. You can't download or save any of the freebies though.
@Brandon Handel the BP calculators gave me the confidence to jump into my first BRRRR. I dont know that I would have done it without the confidence that the calculators gave me. I use them almost every day
@Alicia S. I just found the rental calculator at calculator.net and it seems to have rosier numbers than what the BP calculator produces. I checked a couple of times to make sure the data put in was the same. Have you noticed this? Or compared the projected results with actual results yet?
I think I understand the basic concepts of the varies return qualifying methods, but when I start looking at things like the IRR algorithm, my eyes glaze over.
@Brandon Handel I too was skeptical and In the process of presenting offers on (2) properties at the time that looked great. I used the calculators and discovered my math was off and neither property would cashflow as needed; a penny saved is a penny earned.
As a Realtor working with investors both from BP and elsewhere, the calculators are gold. Seriously. I have a wealth of tools at my disposal as a Realtor, but I take data mined from those sources, personal experience, and contractor knowledge when available to run the BP calcs.
I currently have an offer in process on a small 3/2 locally for a flip client that I at first didn't see to be a good flip, just waiting on signatures from the client's self directed IRA before submitting. I first walked it with a client looking to BRRRR and at first glance it looked to be a good one. Rehab is always the biggest unknown before walking it so we went and saw it. Rehab was actually less than I guessed and thought it'd be great as a hard money and cash purchase and rehab to refi traditionally in a year.
I ran the BRRRR calc and I was wrong, it would be a horrible BRRRR with hard money interest. Since the rehab was minimal, discount was less. Rent to purchase looks good, over 1%, no HOA, taxes low, newer roof. However, rent to ARV ratio was less than 1% which I should have realized altered the BRRRR significantly. To try and BRRRR it would be negative cash flow with decent reserves for the first year. Refi pulling 75% of ARV out would get all but $4k back out, but take cash flow down to about $85/mo.
Then I ran it as a rental calc. No refi, just buy, rehab, rent. At 25% down on an aggressive offer with rehab it cash flowed about $200/mo. I submitted an offer with that scenario in mind. Highest and best for this client didn't make it and was rejected, but it would have been a good rental at that price.
Knowing there's still a deal there (I love the area this one is in and think it is priced well, maybe 10%+/- overpriced with several buyer turn offs), I turned to a flip client after running a flip calculator and could back up the fact that although the total profit margin wasn't as high a percentage as he aims for, the rehab was light and straightforward and he could make $15-20k in a 90 day flip. Homes in the ARV range go under contract in days here. It's not a 30% flip, but it also isn't a $30k rehab. Without the calcs I would have had a lot more trouble figuring out who this property works for!
@Brandon Handel Considering PRO as well. I'm thinking combined with the legal documents that may make it worth it for me. However just starting out spending money on lots of extras eats into your ROI. Researching and pondering.
@Brandon Handel - it's a good call to put this question out there before biting the bullet on the pro account. here's my experience with the calculators...
SFR deals = BP calculators are great
small multifamily deals (2-4 units) = BP calculators are great
large multifamily deals (5+ units) = BP calculators can get the job done until you get north of 10+ units, but not beyond
If you're looking to analyze larger deals, strongly rec'd Michael Blank's Syndicated Deal analyzer (the "SDA). It's worth the price tag. That said, i've run dozens of analyses with the BP calculators and recommend paying for the Pro membership. You're getting value out of the membership and supporting the growth of this awesome platform and community
I'm obviously biased because I'm the creator of the spreadsheets, but you can also check my signature for an advanced (and free) rental property analysis calculator / spreadsheet. It totally covers what you're looking for (and more) and I'm always here if you have any questions! Hope that helps.