All Forum Posts by: Aaron Gordy

@Sophie Zeiler Hmu. I can help. I have a ton of experience with flips having done many myself. How experienced is your boyfriend with tools? Is he wanting to do the work himself or hire folks? If he is going to do the work himself, then how experienced is he? Can do a roof? Flooring? What is his construction skillset? If he is going to hire folks, then is he experienced with hiring contractors? Or is he wanting to hire a gc to handle it all for him? There are different loans and strategies for each type. Is he wanting to do a fix and flip? Is wanting to fix it up and move into it? Is he wanting to fix and keep as a rental and eventually do 1031 out of it? There are just a few of the questions that I would ask so as to find him a suitable property.  

For example, last month I helped a friend/contractor buy a house that was a complete remodel. He had extensive construction experience. Given his construction experience we were able to quickly determine the costs for the project. The house didn't have a roof on part of it and as you can imagine the sheetrock was in disrepair, mushrooms were growing up from the floor (no kidding), etc. It had been vacant for several years. It was priced on the mls at a significant discount. We were able to quickly determine the costs and seek financing. It was madness for a minute. We were able to win the bid over many other bidders given my extensive experience with rehabs and relationships with contractors. I was able to get an engineer to inspect an foundation within a day. My client is just about finished with it. Its a home run for him. He is moving into it with his family and refinance out of a hard money loan. Its a good looking brick house within a nice neighborhood.  

I tend to do a flip a year if not more, btw. 

@Joshua Merritt Duplex or condo? I would think that two condos would be more valuable than one duplex. Looking at the numbers for that area, it seems reasonable to come to that conclusion. Have you thought about getting it rezoned to SF-5 or SF-6? Or maybe something else? https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/fi...

If I were you I would consider getting with some professionals and see about the highest and best use for that property. There a ton of ways to make deals work, imo.

There are other ride share companies out there. 6 months of rent in advance, eh? I have some friends that have property management companies that would work with it. Please refer him to me and I can help him.  

Agreed

@Yousif Abudra

Thanks for the info! In the tier one markets, among luxury properties I have read that many are offering 2-3 months free rent for 1-2 year leases. In Austin, Texas there isn't anything like that yet.  We will see because there is alot of new inventory coming on the market. There was a similar article in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, I believe.  Its interesting and insightful!! Thanks again!

Rich Dad is a good book and it has sold millions for a reason. It makes sense to the mass. 

There are many other good books for investing as well. One can never go wrong with the groundbreaking Benjamin Graham who was a teacher to the greatest investor that this world has seen: Warren Buffett, imo. For real estate there are many though. My favorite at the moment is Buy and Hold Forever by Robert Schumacher and he became very wealthy. Its largely about LA but has many applications that one can use in parts of the country. 

@Levi T.

I hear you. The broker side of me comes out which means paperwork, third party professionals, crossing t's and dotting i's, etc. because the last thing that I need in any deal, not only this one, is a seller/buyer/partner/leasor/leasee to ever do is to question anything now or in the future which could be a major time sucker.  I do like simplicity though. Thanks!

@Levi T.

Yeah the cheapest is to send comps. But I think clean above board deals are the best. I am buying him out. Thank you!

@John Wielgolinski

Thanks John! Its now a rental. I passed the last of the city permits a month ago. I hear you on the appraisals. I am just trying to make it as fair as possible and I thought that turning it over to a professional would be clean. The title is in his name. The debt is in both names. Yes, there is a written agreement. Right around a year is the length of ownership. The project was to remodel the house and turn the detached garage into an accessory dwelling unit and then sell it. I now see it as a potentially very very big deal in the future like 10 years. So its rented out.  The tax ramifications are definitely a concern and I love my CPA, lol!

Hi All

I have a question. I am involved in a project that initially started out as a flip so there is a construction loan involved and a good friend/partner. Throughout the course of the project as I was gc'ing it I noticed that the make up of the area was changing. We bought the project because I knew it was a home run deal. My partner is out of state. 

Real Estate investment requires a long term horizon sometimes. My partner is wanting out. I am wanting to stay in as I see how lucrative it could be in the future. My thinking is to get it appraised by a third party to figure out the value and then think about the ownership share so that my partner can divest equitably. I am a broker and can figure out the approximate value but I think in such a situation its best to turn over to a third party professional firm so that there aren't any hard feelings going forward. 

Just curious as to how other folks would handle such an arrangement. 

Thanks