All Forum Posts by: Andy Sabisch

As others have said, the settlement that was reached in 2024 requires this contract for an agent to show you a house.  With that said, unless you know the agent's abailities, do not go out more than 45 days.  If they do not have a property for you by then, start interviewing other agents. Investor savvy agents are few and far between so take the time to find the right one - you are not looking for your forever home and simply giving the agent a list of homes you want to look at which is what most agents do anymore.  Finding an agent that knows the market and can find you properties that provide a profit (for both of you) is worth the effort.

One more thing about the contract . . . be sure to read the ENTIRE document and ask for clarification is needed.  We recently looked at a property outside our agents area (2 states away) and found a fee that was added which we questioned and were told it was a mistake and was removed . . . not sure if it was a mistake but be sure to read these new contracts BEFORE signing as things have changed since August.

Having read several books on the art of estimating over the years, I have found that most are good for a few tips that can help but for a newcomer to the rehab business can leave them on shaky ground.  The difference between the cost for a specific repair / renovation if you have a crew or need to find someone on a first time basis can be significant.  We have trades we use on jobs and know what they will charge which is often considerably less than what Joe Homeowner would pay for the same job . . . the trades know we will be using them again and again.  The renovation shows on TV reinforce that.  Some of the costs quoted shock even seasoned flippers as they are lower than even material are in many markets.  But again, dedicated crews drive reno costs down.

If you can connect with a flipper in your area (quick out your local REIG) and ask to come along when they scope out a job, you will get more from one or two trips than from a dozen books.  We have put together forms that allow us to scope out properties on a walk thru and be pretty close to the final cost.  My wife and I do it separately and see what each of us may have overlooked.  Need to be sure you include the "unknown budget" and never take the optimistic approach as it is better to have money left at the end than writing more and more checks that were unplanned for.

Again, if you can walk through an actual property and compare notes with someone that does it in your area (key factor), you will be way ahead of what a generic book can give you.

We had our 3-year township CO inspection today and were told that we need to have smoke / CO detectors that alerted both sixes of a duplex property.  This is a new requirement from the town (which we were not aware of) and while we have detectors in there now, they are not connected between the two sides.  Has anyone dealt with this requirement and if so, what systems do you recommend.  What is there now is a hardwired system on each side but we need one that talks across the property.  Thanks

Here's a general question.  We have a pretty solid lease that has served us well on our properties but on the most recent move-out by a long-term tenant that always paid early, we had to clean from floor to ceiling and everything in between.  Does anyone have a cleanliness clause in their leases that that invoke when they do periodic walk through?  When we do ours we check smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, sump pump operation and overall condition but have not focused on cleanliness.  Be interested in what your thoughts are to include this in a lease (needs to be maintained to some defined degree of cleanliness rather than waiting until move-out and deduct cleaning charges from their deposit).

You should be able to insure it as a MFH from Day #1.  Shop around to see where you can get the coverage you want at the price you want . . . we have done well with Steadily as they shop carriers and can get what you want for the specific situation you are in.  You will probably get other recommendations from other BP members.  If you want details on STeadily and our agent who is first rate, feel free to message us . . . we have used them for move-in ready properties through complete rehab properties (from rehab thru renting to tenants).

What is  it that they are offering you to help in the process.  We have found that finding an investor-savvy agent to buy property on market and a solid wholesaler to buy off market properties is the perfect marriage to find deals.  As far as selling, we have used a flat fee broker for the past 5  years and what we have saved really adds up.  If you know the market and where to price your property, a listing agent is really not going to add a lot to the process and will cost you 3%,  Now before I get blasted by agents posting how mush they add to the sale on the listing side, I will say that if you are not familiar with the sales process, maybe you need to pay the 3%.  We use a listing broker that charges a nominal fee (under $300) and then we get photos taken ($250) and use the listing showing service to set showings.  When an offer from a buyer comes in from their agent, if we accept it, we contact the title company we use and send them the contract . . and they take the deal to the closing table.  Might not be the option for everyone but it saves us about 2.75% per sale which is rolled into the next deal.

See what you are getting on the buy and list end and interview a few agents to find one that meshes with your expectations.

Take a look at the Ring Jobsite Security package... you do need power but unless the property is trashed, getting power is cheap insurance.

SimpliSafe also has a self contained system but needs power.

Obviously price will be the biggest factor to move a SFH but there is more that than just a number. Have you over or under improved the property based on the comps and immediate area? You may have put in granite counters when the other homes have laminate which makes yours more expensive but not desirable for the area. The reverse is also true if you have under improved the property. So before you start dropping the list price, see what the comps LOOK LIKE and ask yourself if yours is in the same ballpark. The last few properties we have put on the market went under contract in under a week with multiple offers but they were priced right, were inline with the area but were done with quality and were in desirable areas.

Unless you are dealing in a low-end market, a home warranty should be a standard inclusion especially for first time home buyers.  I also feel we have done a 5 star job but if something fails, I would rather have a warranty in place for the owners . .  believe in karma.  If the profit margin is tight and $500 makes a difference, see if you can save $$$ elsewhere.

Interest rate buydown or seller assist is common place thanks to the jump in interest rates.  We have only had two offers recently that were not looking at seller assist and in a few cases, they wanted / needed 6%.  The only way we can support that is to adjust the selling price to compensate to some degree - spreadsheets are great in seeing what is needed to make us and them happy.

Hope this helps .  . 

We just listed a property and the photographer we use now offers 2-D and 3-D renderings which we opted for.  I was not there when he took the photos but the renderings were done with his phone.  I can reach out and see what he uses.  This is what they looked like.  Impressed the heck out of me and we asked if he will do it as a stand alone option to help us in the layout phase which he will . . . $75 is not bad in my mind.

There is a difference in the hit someone's credit takes if they are behind in payments or they are in foreclosure so offering to buy the property before it goes into foreclosure does help the owner to some degree and it is not claiming to help them stay in the house.  I have seen some people tell the owners that they can rent it after they sell it but if they did not make payments to own it why would they pay rent and you will simply be heading to court to evict them.  Use the right words so you are not tricking them into discussing a deal that you can't make happen (stay in their home).