Flipper/ Wholesaler · Roswell, GA · Member since 2013 · 89 posts · 61 votes
This will likely turn into more of a Diary of a Flip but wanted to change up the subject.
The Adventure starts with the picture of outside and inside of the house I purchased last week. I'll write more about how I found the house, but needless to say, I found it from a very motivated seller! Not even the builder of the property would love this house I found in an Atlanta suburb.
I started getting the real estate bug about 6 months ago and started to read and learn as much as I could. I think Bigger Pockets was one of the first sites I found along with the Rich Dad, Poor Dad book.
After spending most of December working with an agent to investigate what investment opportunities were on the MLS in the suburbs of Atlanta, I started to think about starting my own marketing campaign since because the inventory was so low. In February of this year, I started my campaign but decided to target probate as I perceived the barrier to entry to much bigger than just buying a list from list source. So far so good. I haven't sent out a ton of letters, but was able to find my first deal from the initial 150 letters I sent out. The house pictured above was from a trifecta of circumstances. 1) Primary heir of the estate 2) Out of state executor 3) The property requires a ton of rehab.
Not really ideal for my first flip so I reached out to @Stan Butler who I met on BiggerPockets through the handy ability to find other real estate investors who live near you. I was able to talk him into partnering with me on this deal.
We started the trash out on Monday of this week. A ton of progress had been made and we can hopefully, start gutting the sheetrock down to the studs starting next week. I'll post some pictures of the trash out tomorrow.
@Mike M. 92k was the purchase price. Houses in the neighborhood are going for $210k and that is without rehabbing. We are hoping we can get more than that. Another thing that makes this rehab tough, is that we can't see 90% of the floor because of all of the clutter. Hopefully the unknowns don't kill our spread.
@Terri Lewis Six 30 foot dumpsters for the main level (it's a ranch) and we are thinking 2 dumpsters for the basement.
@Vicki Gleitz Yes. I found this from public probate records.
Wow that is a lot, most we've ever had was (2) 40 cu yds. You possibly just helped me out with a bid too. Thanks. I will also be interested in watching you transformation. That is one of the biggest things I love about RE. Not to mention the money.
@Kyle Kufeldt Looks like you dived right in. Very impressive! I have a contracting background so I can't help but ask how much you plan to invest in the rehab. I am also a fellow Georgian and would to come take a peek.
@Monty Alston It's unknown at this point how much the rehab will cost since there is so much that we don't know until the trash out is complete. We do know the foundation is solid. We also have some homework to do to compare the other houses for sale in the neighborhood to determine what kind of rehab we ultimately need to compete. The good news is that I think we have a good spread to work with.
The craziest thing happened! The neighbors didn't realize I was in the process of buying the house and decided to do some landscaping on the property since it's the ugliest house in the neighborhood and the neighbor across the street is trying to sell their house. They did a great job!
The craziest thing happened! The neighbors didn't realize I was in the process of buying the house and decided to do some landscaping on the property since it's the ugliest house in the neighborhood and the neighbor across the street is trying to sell their house. They did a great job!
How do you like that, there is a house in there, lol.
"The neighbors didn't realize I was in the process of buying the house and decided to do some landscaping on the property"
That's the kind of thing people in California would sue over. Add another 20k to their flip profit because the neighbor did them a favor. Very cool to have some neighborly love on the property, invite them over to do some painting to spruce it up.
Really looking forward to seeing this transformation Kyle! Thanks for sharing.
Also - Very impressive you got a deal locked in from your first 150 mailers. From what I understand, not many have success so fast in mail marketing!
As far as the marketing goes, I'm chalking this first deal up to beginners luck as the rest of the calls I have gotten, have not panned out. Granted, the marketing is very targeted. I'm only mailing to those executors where I can confirm a house is owned by the estate and the spouse is already deceased. I'm up to about 250 letters now and have gotten 10 calls. None of the sellers have been as motivated as this deal.
@Kyle Kufeldt Are you not using dumpsters? I don't see one in your pictures and your neighbor didn't know you were rehabbing so ... I'm concluding you're 'saving money' by not getting a dumpster or three.
@Rick Baggenstoss Not possible on this rehab ;-) Eight 30 foot dumpsters were used to clean out the trash and furniture. With labor, the trashout came to $6500! Now I know why the seller wanted to sell it "as is". Over course, there wasn't really an alternative. The seller was out of state.
The main floor has now been completely gutted down to the studs! Oh, and it has a new roof ;-) That was a priority since there were so many leaks in the roof.
They have started some framing and we have agreed on the SOW which includes knocking down the main wall between the formal living room and the family room. We are also going to open up the kitchen and give it a more modern look and feel. If anybody has any experience working with the city of Smyrna for getting permits and inspections, I would be interested in hearing from you.
Are you dealing with Smyrna or Cobb County for permits? Both are much easier than City of Atlanta and other surrounding counties, but not as easy as further out, like Kennesaw and Douglas. I used to live in Smyrna, but haven't rehabbed many houses in the Smryna city limits.
Based on the pictures, I've worked on a couple houses in that area that could be the exact same builder -- is it a truss roof so you could pull out that main wall without adding any support? There were a few years in the 70s that they were doing that a lot around there, and it makes floorplan changes a breeze. (EDIT: Just saw the 2x4 supports in the picture so probably not trussed)
Good decision ripping it down to the studs -- a lot of people would have tried to save some drywall here, some plumbing there, etc. I guarantee your way will be cheaper and faster in the end.
One suggestion -- buy some tools to break down the demo debris a little better. I can (and have) demolished entire houses for fewer than the 8 dumpsters you used. Luckily, dumpsters in Atlanta are cheaper than pretty much anywhere in the country, but it could still save you $1-2K.
@J Scott Thanks for the feedback. I think you missed the very beginning of the thread where I mentioned the previous owner was a hoarder. The 8 dumpsters don't include any demo, just the trash and furniture! We are dealing with the city of Smyrna for permits since the property is within the city limits.
Unfortunately, the roof is not a truss. The GC has suggested that we will need four 6x6 posts to support where the walls used to be. Not ideal but he will be able to hide the header which will help to open it up.