All Forum Posts by: Annie Johnson

@Annie Johnson because of Florida's homestead laws, the easiest way I've found was the county property appraiser. Best of all, it's free! Their database will be searchable (sometimes downloadable) and usually includes a category for "owner occupied". You can also search for properties where the owner's address of record is listed as out of state. I'm further north in Brevard county, but @Frank Mongiello specializes in that areat and would be a good resource if you're specifically looking in Palm Beach County.

@Annie Johnson, depending on your MLS provider, the service may offer a real estate platform called Remine. Remine has a bunch of filter categories including length of ownership, home equity, and absentee owners for both on and off-market properties. If the service is available, there are YouTube tutorials that you can view to learn. Otherwise, there is also another platform called PropStream that essentially allows you to do the same thing as Remine. I believe the service is $100/month though. Hope this helps!

Good morning, Personally I love Palm Beach County for all my investments and most of the work I do for investors are there. I’ve had a few in Port St. Lucie also but I feel like there’s a lot of meet in the bones in the Tri-Counties. No matter where you go in South Florida you’ll do fine.

Quote from @Annie Johnson:

Quote from @Marty Boardman:

I'm in Arizona so I can't comment on what the best areas are to fix and flip in Florida. But all that matters is MARGIN. If you can make the numbers work then it doesn't matter where the property is located. 

Earlier this year I fixed and flipped a house in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin (about 1.5 hours north of Green Bay). I had to hire crews from there and put them up in a nearby hotel to do the rehab. I also paid for all their meals/cocktails. After the extra travel costs and material delivery I still net a 75K profit. You can bake all these numbers into your offer price (this includes depreciation and extra holding costs, 3-2-1 buy downs, etc). 

There is NEVER a wrong time to fix and flip houses, only a WRONG way. Regardless of what is going on in the economy, if you overestimate the value of the property when the rehab is complete AND blow your budget you will lose money.

ALL that matters is margin. If there is enough spread going into the deal, you will make a profit.

Thanks Marty your post was helpful. 

A few more questions if you don't mind.. I have previously only have done buy and holds so I a trying to learn and absorb as much information as possible before entering my first fix and flip. 

1. How do you go about finding most of your flips. If it was in the middle of Wisconsin and you don't live there how did you identify it?  Did someone give you a lead on it? And if not then what is the best way to identify flips that are not in your immediate area? 
2. Do you do most of the flips from off markets deals or on market? I feel like most opportunities I see on MLS in my area would not provide the opportunity to pay for the repairs, hire people to do the job, pay for their lodging, food, and drinks and still have that big of a profit margin.

Thanks!

You're welcome Annie. And great questions!

#1: About 90% of my flips are either pre-foreclosures or properties I purchase at auction (sheriff's sales). The house I was referring to was a sheriff's sale. I can track these from my office in Arizona and I have boots on the ground in Wisconsin to walk the properties, shoot videos, talk to the owners and complete the rehabs. If you want to build a long distance house flipping business it takes time, but it's worth it IF you're not finding solid margins in your home market.

#2: All of my flips are off-market when I find them. It's been at least 4 years since I found a house on the MLS that had any margin. I used to buy from wholesalers here in Arizona, but I haven't seen a deal in over 3 years that pencils out. So here I target pre-foreclosures. I'm starting a rehab next week on a house in Chandler, AZ that I bought from a woman in foreclosure the day before her auction. Needless to say, she was highly motivated to sell and it's a high margin deal.

Full disclosure...I don't enjoy attending auctions, or contacting sellers in foreclosure, so I train people how to do this for me.

Hope that helps!

Hey @Annie Johnson, like a few others have said on here already, flipping in this market can be tricky, however it is not impossible. Finding the right deals and doing the right renos will ensure you mitigate your risk. There are some good pockets from PSL to Lauderdale for sure! What I do for my investors usually is guide them where the big companies are going. Is there a whole foods being built, a new school, or a hospital. These are some of the indicators of a market that will be growing. Every investor has their input and it is not that all are wrong, they just have a slightly different strategy and desired outcome. What I can say for sure is that timing the market is extremely risky in this market. I have seen some neighborhoods with a 15% turn over still selling over ask on every home, and I have seen others where the turn over rate tanked and sellers have to offer incentives in order to bring buyers in. So Like I said, there are good pockets up and down this coast, just a matter of setting priorities and expectations, picking the right pocket and doing the right renos which right now I have seen the bigger renovations being a bit safer with larger profit margins. 

Why is your price range 65k?

Like marty said its about the margins. The price shouldn't be the driving force..in fact id say most people that go for the lowest priced houses thinking it lessens the risk end up taking on way MORE risk.

I'm in Arizona so I can't comment on what the best areas are to fix and flip in Florida. But all that matters is MARGIN. If you can make the numbers work then it doesn't matter where the property is located. 

Earlier this year I fixed and flipped a house in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin (about 1.5 hours north of Green Bay). I had to hire crews from there and put them up in a nearby hotel to do the rehab. I also paid for all their meals/cocktails. After the extra travel costs and material delivery I still net a 75K profit. You can bake all these numbers into your offer price (this includes depreciation and extra holding costs, 3-2-1 buy downs, etc). 

There is NEVER a wrong time to fix and flip houses, only a WRONG way. Regardless of what is going on in the economy, if you overestimate the value of the property when the rehab is complete AND blow your budget you will lose money.

ALL that matters is margin. If there is enough spread going into the deal, you will make a profit.

Quote from @Account Closed:

I wouldn't be flipping in this environment. The FED reiterated yesterday that rates will remain elevated through 2023. 

I also wouldn't want to be flipping while the market is coming down from its recent peak.

Just my take. 

So you are waiting on the sidelines and trying to time the market?  The ONLY people that make money on the sidelines are coaches :)  Just in the last few weeks I have picked up several, SF and MF, all are all in less than 65% of the ARV, All will have a net cap of not less than 15% based on cash purchases. Its all about pricing,. Who cares if props go up or down 5- 10/% when you buy at 60- 65% of the ARV, 
All the best 

Ex 3/2 nice area, all in 65k, value about 125k, rent 1350, 10 unit, all in 360k value about 460k, net rent about 60k on 90k gross. 4/2 all in 55k, value about 80k, rent 1200,,,,, Its ALL about your network and pricing,