FIRST BRRRR PROPERTY! COME JOIN THE RIDE!

FIRST BRRRR PROPERTY! COME JOIN THE RIDE!

Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes

Hello BP members! I wanted to share with you my latest RE project. This is our 3rd RE transaction since jumping into RE in December of last year. First deal was a buy and hold 4 plex, then a flip which we are listing this week, and last month we purchased this SFH. It is a 1/1 home with 480 sq. ft.

I found this house through my daily Redfin emails. Home was listed for 50k with only a picture of the front of the home.I have learned when there is no interior pics it usually means its in bad shape. Since this was such a low price I knew it would not last. Its located in a C area but my initial thought was to turn this into a short term rental. 

We put an all cash offer of 56 with no contingencies and 500 earnest money. The worst that could happen is backing out and losing the 500 since I had no contingencies to negotiate with the seller. I asked my agent what he thought this place may go for fixed up and he mentioned 80-100K so it was too good to pass up. Just coming to the end of our first flip on a 1400 sq ft home I figured a complete rehab on a place this small would be 15K max with me doing a lot of the work. Ended up having two of us getting countered but we came out on top due to response rate to seller agent and we opened escrow. I drove to the property several days later and crawled under and over it. Everything looked good, and good bones! A lot of mice/rat activity in the home as well. Needed complete remodel on the inside though. Closed on it April 12.

The house sits on a 6750 sq ft lot! It is huge. Could fit another house on the property. Previous tenants turned it into a farming/greenhouse/animal raising operation. Went down last week for 3 days and raised hell with the place. In 12 hours I had the inside completely demoed and ready to start the rehab process. I started washing walls with TSP to get ready for primer and paint on day 2. Day 3 I hired 4 guys from Home Depot parking lot to help clean up the back yard. I hauled off 5 large dump trailers of garbage to the dump. There is most like still 1 trailer left of trash buried in the back yard. Pretty crazy.

Goal for this house is to use the BRRRR method, I may not get all my money back out and that's ok for me. Even if 10K stays in the deal I got a house for 10K out of pocket that's all fixed up. Rent should be between 700-800 when complete. I had 3 people stop and ask if it was for rent while I was working on it so I know people are looking. Since this is a rougher area in town I don't want to hold forever, plan is to hold for 2 years and 1031 into something bigger. Also, the lot is huge, its zoned R1 but I plan on reaching out to the city to see if they would allow it to be rezoned for multi. Contractor mentioned I should think about putting a small modular home in the back and double the rent if I can. Not a bad idea.

Anyways, check out the pictures and join me on my first BRRRR!

Listing Picture

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Member since 2019 · 13 posts · 17 votes
7y

@Kevin Moules it’s funny your mention it I live in Texas! 

I'm working on making an offer today actually. I was just on FaceTime with my realtor because the place is an hour away and I didn't want to take time away from work to see every single house. I have read a few books on investing. Currently devouring the BRRRR book and I'm going to start on the book on property management next. The place I'm looking to buy is close to an Army base and it's a 4plex. For my first deal I'm looking to house hack because my lease is up in 2 months and I feel ready to get involved after spending a few months analyzing different markets close to me.

The place I’m looking at is great, fully rented, little to no repairs, wish me luck on my offer!

I know a few wholesalers sent me off market deals today for Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth areas. I’m pretty comfortable running the numbers in those areas as well as Killeen, FT. Hood and Waco. If you want to, shoot me a PM with what kind of numbers you’re looking for. For me, I’ve seen some good deals but didn’t have the confidence or knowledge to move forward until now. Property taxes aren’t cheap but the rents I’m coming across are pretty strong.

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  • Rental Property Investor · Conshohocken, PA · Member since 2011 · 34 posts · 6 votes
    7y

    @Kevin Moules - this is a great story and project. I look forward to watching the rehab come to fruition. You mentioned you found this deal on Redfin. Was that through your own searches, emails from your agent, combination, or something else? 

    I have been looking for a BRRRR property in the SE PA (Philly suburbs) and I haven't found one that pans out numbers wise yet. Still looking though!

  • Rental Property Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 2 votes
    7y

    Thank you for sharing. If I was you, I will not know whether it is a good deal or not. Since you just did a flip, you know that with you doing most of the work, it will cost max 15k. Since, I have never done any fixup, have no knowledge on construction, I will not know how much it will cost me for the rehab. Do you have any suggestion on that? I'm looking for an opportunity for my first BRRRR.

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    @Brian Leigh, I am always on redfin so it knows the kind of properties I search for and sends me automatic listings like 3-5 times a day. Gets annoying sometimes but it shares properties in my town that are for sale and go pending and when they sell. It keeps me informed of home sale prices all the time. I recommend setting up an account with them.

    @Thanh Nguyen, thanks for the questions. Although I have not read it yet I hear a lot of good things about the Book on Rehabs by J Scott. Its on my reading list. Should give some good ideas. Second, I would highly consider partnering with someone on a flip property. This way you do not have to be in a long business relationship on a rental property. The partnership can end after home is sold. Meanwhile you will learn what things cost along the way. Kind of what I did. 

    You could also try to reach out to a local contractor who may invest or that is here on BP. Let them know you will be looking for BRRRR properties and ask if they would walk some properties with you that you see are for sale and need to be fixed up. They could give you ballpark figures so you kind of learn. Just some thoughts.

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Update:

    I talked to 3rd contractor today on this property and his estimate is double what the first contractor gave me. Kind of shocked but each person runs their business differently. Some folks say my handyman prices are high as well but you typically get what you pay for. The 2nd contractor I had looked at it is now out of the picture as he just lost his right hand man due to emergency surgery that will put him out for 10 weeks. He was a month out already, he mentioned this would put him out 2 months. So that's out. Called a 4th guy this morning that will go out to the property next week to give estimate. Once that comes back Ill make the call and get things rolling. Plan is to have this place done by end of August at the latest. 

    Scope of work for this place is as follows. 

    Bathroom

    Frame in back wall for shower

    Frame off window

    New subfloor

    2 piece shower

    New mixer valve

    Install exhaust fan

    Kitchen

    Repair drywall on window sills

    New cabinets unfinished

    Paint cabinets

    Laminate counter top

    Case and trim opening to laundry room

    Replace drywall from previous counter top to floor where cabinets were located

    Retexture entire kitchen area to match new drywall

    Outside

    Repair siding at back door

    Replace back door

    Flooring

    Install laminate flooring in all rooms except bath and laundry

    Install plywood subfloor

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    I will say i was spoiled with my contractor on my flip property. He actually returned calls or texts. No so much with the folks on this place. I reached out to yet another contractor over a week ago who said he would drop by the property early last week for an estimate. Have called to find out what the deal is and no answer, no call back. At this point probably just going to go with the only estimate i have so i can get this show on the road. Time is ticking and its driving my crazy!

    On another note, had a pest inspection last week and found out I have dry wood termites, which i assumed when I was doing demo work. So the place will be getting tented next week for $1000, darn :(.

    I will be headed down again this week for 3 days to work on the place. Plan is to finish washing walls, primer, and paint all rooms but kitchen and bath. Replace drywall  in the kitchen if i have time just so I can allow contractor to move faster when they come in and i need a subfloor in the whole house so i may start on that if time allow. I have been sleeping in my trucks back seat because I don't want to pay the 100 a night for a hotel room. I dont have a W-2 anymore so I am trying to save anywhere i can until we sell our flip and refi our money back out of this property. I feel like @Brandon Turner sleeping in his Prius. Sleeping in my back seat beats being outside in a tent in fresno :) . 

    The thought of owning it for a month and no contracting work being done is driving me crazy! At this rate I wont get a contractor in there till July. Grrrr. The things a new investor deals with when they have not yet built relationships with folks to work on their rehabs! Hoping to hear back from both contractors on tuesday after the holiday tomorrow, or i will just call them until they answer. 

    stand by...

  • Real Estate Agent · Sacramento Region · Member since 2016 · 52 posts · 32 votes
    7y

    Hi Kevin,  I have a couple cash investors that flip there in Fresno who are also contractors and good guys.  Aside from the deals I have helped them obtain, I dont know their schedule but I am happy to pass along your information.

    I also know a stand-up guy that is a roofer in town if you need someone of quality.

    Sucks about the dry wood termites but it is what it is and you'll have a cert ready to go once you're ready to sell so you know thatll be ready.

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Update:

    Other contractor finally made it out! His estimate is on par wit the first guy and he is only about a week out for work. I think we found our guy! Has great yelp reviews so i feel comfortable with choosing him. Being a handyman, about half my business comes from yelp so people really trust what is said there. He has also been helpful in other areas in making decisions.

    By law I cannot frame in the window in the bathroom according to him, so a 2 piece shower is out. He has recommended tiling and price is on part with price of framing off window and all work involved with that. Also the entire house does not need underlayment plywood so we can drop laminate on as is, that will save money. 

    I spent the last two days, washing walls, patching drywall, primer and paint. Place looks and smells so much better! I cant believe how yellow and dirty the walls and ceiling were :(. Took me 8 hrs to prime all rooms except bathroom, and then 5 hrs to paint. Used Zinsser 1-2-3 primer from HD. That stuff is awesome! highly recommend it. Though i may need 2 coats of paint and I think i can get away with one!

    Cut the black drywall behind the sink and had a lot of cockroaches come out and scare me!! Hard to believe people were living here not long before I bought it. Yikes! At least when they tent the place next week everything will be gone! 

    Sorry pictures are not the best, sun was starting to set and i was trying to get on the road. Unfortunately truck broke down about an hour south of home and had to get towed. Didn't get home till midnight. Oh the joys of pursuing FI and my dreams. 

  • Member since 2019 · 9 posts · 4 votes
    7y

    Thanks for sharing this Kevin! it's great to see the step-by-step, but also to hear about your thought process throughout, especially when new challenges arise.

  • Member since 2018 · 72 posts · 46 votes
    7y

    @Kevin Moules  Wow!  What a stark difference between your first pictures and the recent ones!  It's beginning to look good.  Well done!

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Well good news, tent is off and we have a ton of dead critters! Contractor went in and took measurements. My wife choose flooring for the house and tile for the shower. 

    After doing some research here on BP for rental flooring we ended up going with a vinyl plank that is waterproof and lasts many years. We will be doing the same floor throughout the house instead of changing it in the bathroom and laundry room. Contractor will lay it down quickly. 

    Also learned that house is actually 650 sq ft. instead of the listed 480 sq.ft. So i have some investigating to do. Will be reaching out to city planning to pull any past permits. I have a feeling that the laundry room may have been added at some point and never recorded. However when I crawled under the house I don't recall seeing anything added. If its all legit or if I can make it legit the value just went up! It looks promising to have the place done by end of July. 

    On another note we should be closing escrow on our first flip next week! Fingers crossed!

  • Rental Property Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2013 · 162 posts · 127 votes
    7y

    @Kevin Moules I really honestly appreciate you sharing your BRRRR journey with us. I'm currently looking for my first BRRRR property to start after just finishing reading David Greene's book on BRRRR. You have been an inspiration to all of us.

    Alex

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    @Alex Jones, thanks for the kind words! i am just a newbie trying to help others who my be 2 or 3 steps behind me. I really enjoy helping/teaching people. Its the reason why I am a handyman, I also was a teaching assistant in grad school, and was an adjunct at a local junior college for 3 years. Like Kiyosaki i learned I don't like regular teaching, however I can talk to folks about RE all day. 

    I am currently reading the book as well, chapter 4. There is just so much stuff David has learned over the years its hard to take it all in. However, there are things that I read in his long distance book that I am trying to implement even on this project. Even things from this book will help with this house. I hope you find your BRRRR deal soon. I see you are in NY, can you make the BRRRR strategy work where you are at? I cannot do it in my hometown that's why this place is an hour and half away.

  • Rental Property Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2013 · 162 posts · 127 votes
    7y

    @Kevin Moules,

    Yes, the BRRRR Strategy will actually work well here in Rochester, NY and surrouding area like Buffalo and Syracuse. For the distressed properties which on average sell for $15-$50K in decent and C locations for the most part. We also have had many out of state investors invested heavily here as well. Tough competitions for available and decent rehab properties. But BRRRR strategy will work here and I can't wait to start my first BRRRR.

    Alex 

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Latest news: 

    The contractor I have yet to meet has been going at it for a couple weeks now. Bathroom is almost complete except for flooring. I have been spending the last week dealing with lowes and getting cabinets figured out. Its been a pain because these are in stock unfinished cabinets that are popular and don't last long. Then trying to order stuff off the phone has been kind of difficult. However, purchasing all materials myself there is no markup on materials from the contractor. I also get either 5% or 6 month interest free financing for purchases over $200. There is several benefits to purchasing materials myself. Is it scaleable? Not really, but starting out its a good way to keep more money in the bank. Cabinets to be picked up tomorrow for install. 

    Had a learning experience on friday though. I was out of phone reach. Contractor tried calling me 3 times regarding the grout color we chose.  Because i did not answer he went ahead with grouting the shower. Now we did choose the grout and tile color so he did not need to call to start with. We had originally thought white tile but changed to a greyish. We picked out white grout for the white tile but forgot to change for the new tile color. He called to double check if that's what we truly wanted. No answer on my part, he asked his wife her opinion, and had a guy standing around and have the go ahead and then sent me the pics. I was a little upset he did not wait, but at days end it was my fault. 

    Lesson learned, gave contractor wifes number, so process is call me, then her, and if no response leave project as is until there is a response. I also finally asked if contractor invests and he said he has a separate business that does flips and rental properties. He has has good questions and input on the project and now i know why. Plan is to have place done mid July, thats a month out. I will be going down end of month for 3 days with my dad to tear up more of the yard and cut down trees as well as start on the finish work in the house. Pics here are that the contractor sent me as a progress report. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    The white grout at least did not turn out too bad! Thank goodness. 

    New back door has also been installed and learned that 42" top cabinets are not off the shelf anymore so I have to go with 30" uppers. Its not what I wanted but to move things along ill go with it. They looked good in our flip property which we sold friday!!!

  • Member since 2019 · 9 posts · 6 votes
    7y

    It's coming along! I'm looking forward to more updates. :)

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Hello Folks,

    Sorry for lack of updates, there just has not been much going on. However just got back about 2 hrs ago from spending 3 days at the property. A little closer to being done. We are on track to have this thing ready to rent Aug 1st! Unfortunately car problems reared their head again on my way home once again. Maybe its a sign? haha. This time car overheated and had to pull off and shut down for a while. Limped my way to autozone for coolant and made it home finally. At least this time it was 8:30 instead of midnight like last go around. Anywho check out the progress!

    Note to all, open boxes of stuff at the store before you take it home! Bought 4 light fixtures and 2 had glasses broken. grrrr. So until next time... This go around was focused on all the details to get the inside finished up. Light fixtures, vanity install, swap all plugs/switches, finish bathroom, install doors and start baseboard. Unfortunately was not able to start baseboard or doors as other things took longer. Also, i officially met my contractor for the first time. He was a pleasure to work with over the last two days. Great personality. Truly blessed to find him. I hope to use him again for future properties. Having convos with him probably slowed me down as well. He finished counter top and bathroom and had a few loose ends and his job is complete! Then its all me. 

    Since the place had a floor this go around i slept in the house instead of my truck, much more comfortable. :). Working till 11 or so at night i went outside several times and noticed roaches everywhere again, the whole yard is loaded and lots of places for them to live. Had a pest guy come out today on moments notice and sprayed the property and house. Those buggers were dying everywhere. Seems like I may have to repeat application for the next 6 months just to stay on these guys. Previous tenants had the most amazing living conditions for them so its going to take a while. Was grateful he came out so soon, was a referral from the contractor. 

    I spoke with the contractor and his wife, who does the paperwork side and learned that they do not buy materials for any of their jobs. They don't want to pay for it out of their pocket and the added confusion or sourcing everything. They want customers to purchase everything and they will pick it up. I thought it was interesting, they are not interesting in making some money on material mark up. Interesting model and it does simplify their business. Going one round with them they were grateful for the communication and the trust we had placed in each other. I'm just a guy on the other side of the line. They did a lot of work and were trusting that I would pay them for their labor. I was trusting they were doing the work. I did have my agent drop by and take video for me as an update. This was helpful! They asked for a yelp review since they get a lot of business from there. I assumed as much and that's why I chose them initially as Yelp is about 50% of my leads as well.

    Sorry for all the info but this thread is called investor diaries. I want to be as transparent as possible for all the new folks like me out there just trying to figure it out! Enjoy the pictures!

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Also, do you know how I know that I am a real estate investor? When rental property looks 10X better than my personal residence!!! Someday they will help me make my home look this good. Until then we continue with 1970's design. FI here we come!

  • WorldWide · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    Good updates, Kevin! hopefully, the car has a simple coolant leak and not a head gasket failure...

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Man, talk about slaking on my diary for all you folks!! The month of July has just been crazy with my handyman business! Thank God for that. Hoping to replace my W-2 with this business as time goes on so my energy and efforts have been focused there. I wanted to share with you all some thing I learned about this property.

    I spend another 4 days at the place getting it fixed up for tenant who is moving in at months end. During the time I was there I was able to talk to a neighbor who filled me in on the property history. Always good to ask around for info. Seems like there were always shady people living there, and at one point a  marijuana growing operation as I assumed with cleaning out the back yard mess. However I did learn from the neighbor that the house had burnt down sometime in the 90's and that it was rebuilt. I never really payed attention to the siding but my dad pointed out that the front of the house had the original 1948 siding but the rest of the place used T1-11. This led us to believe the owners pulled a rebuilt permit as the fire may have not completely taken everything down.

    This also made sense because when I crawled the property before purchasing it all the plumbing had been updated as well as electrical which I thought was strange for such an old house. The place also has central air which no other places have, they all have window units. The pieces were coming together! This made me really excited because this most likely meant the assessors office never updated the square footage when the place was rebuilt because I purchased it at 480 sq ft. I was hoping the laundry room was actually permitted. 

    Wife and I went to the city records and looked through old microfishe. Sure as heck there were the plans from the contractor from 2000, they added 170 sq ft and rebuilt the house and it was never updated. So the place is officially 650 sq ft, with no shady business and its technically a new house built in 2000 and not 1948. The extra area should add value for the refi as part of the BRRRR method. It wont add as much value as a second bedroom but will add some. I called the assessors office and had them update the info in their system. All they had was the plans from 1948 which showed that the additional closed in area was originally a patio area.

    It was cool to do some detective work into this property. Today I plan on calling three lenders and  see if I can get pre approval process going. Enjoy the pics! 

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    3 hours wih a skidsteer and the backyard doesn't look the same. Roaches everywhere :(

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Not sure i like the new picture inserting format....

    Talked to one lender today, I pretty much have the worst financial set up going into refing this place. She was taken a back a bit by where we stand. Quit my W-2  job in April, have loans on primary and rental property, wife is a stay at home mom with no income, my business is only 3 years old and gross receipts are not steller since I have been doing it part time for 3 years. Looks like the hunt is on to make a ton of phone calls. If i cant make anything work with someone local Ill be turning to BP and seeing if I can find someone who can make things work. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    Update, spent last couple days updating the landscaping and tying up several loose ends on the property. Its hard to believe its the same place! Only 1 thing left, replace the front gate to the property. This will be completed my a local fence company within 2 weeks time and then we are officially done with the "rehab". Learned from one of the lenders that i have to wait the 6 month seasoning period which is oct 12 so not too bad but still sucky. Just got an email from another lender tonight that Fannie mae guidelines will not allow them to loan 75% LTV and that they can only loan purchase price of the property plus any closing costs that accrue due to the refi. I didn't like that at all. Went back to my BRRRR book, it is a great reference. Re-read that some banks use LTV and some LTC. I dont want LTC!

    I will try to post updated pics tomorrow for all to see! 

  • Rental Property Investor · Turlock, CA · Member since 2018 · 226 posts · 147 votes
    7y

    It is finished! Now I have to wait until October 12th to hit my 6 month seasoning period. I may try to call all the lenders within 15 minutes from me to see if I can get around that but its only a month away at this point some maybe Ill go with who I reached out to already.

    Anyway, went down for 2 days and finished up the property. Added 3/4" crushed rock for the driveway and behind the house and bark in the flower bed and along the left side of the house. Nicest looking place on the block. I am excited to see what it will appraise for on the Refi. Pretty cool to see the transformation, gives me a sense of accomplishment.

  • WorldWide · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    Major props, Kevin! See if Gateway Mortgage Group operates in your state. You really need to find a rockstar lender, as some of the people in the (lending) space don't even know all of the products that are available.

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