All Forum Posts by: Bill Coleman

Looks like some really good info on the site. Would be gold for someone getting into fix and flip or buy and hold. Definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing. 

Keep in mind that depending on how you got the estimate of $30k for renovations, this could easily balloon to $50k. This happened to me on a recent rehab. It started at a $30k budget and quickly escalated due to a new furnace, new electrical service, and a bunch of other big unknown expenses. It's good that I had a pretty deep cash reserve to cover the additional costs. Had I not had reserves, I would not have been able to finish the job. Especially on your very first deal, you are going to screw some things up and that usually equates to lost money. 

The cool thing is that you can make them really basic or extravagant depending on your needs. My bet is that vacationers would really enjoy a stay in such a dwelling. 

I'll ask and get back to you. I have a bunch of friends there. Good RE market!

Sounds like a complicated deal for a new investor. You might want to try to pass it along to someone more experienced and take a finder fee instead. Also, it's hard to trust Craigs List because of all the scammers that are operating online. I would pass. Too much risk even if it's potentially a good deal. 

Experimented with this recently and I will not do it again. When the house is ready to show, I will advertise in online ONLY! Depending on the market in your area, you could be inundated with calls night an day from mostly people who are not qualified. Even when I put tons of information on the online listing, unqualified people still call. They all want to meet you out there even if they can't afford the house. Prescreen on the phone and make sure it's worth your time. Showing houses is the single biggest pain the the *** I have ever experienced. People dont show up, when they do they can't afford it and want to negotiate. There's a podcast with a lady who has a list of prescreening questions and she is clearly the master of this approach. She has all of her questions in the supporting podcast docs. See if you can find it. Probably in the 70's as far as podcast #. 

Also, putting out a sign indicates that nobody is living there and you are opening yourself to break-ins. 

The other thing is that people all want to know when it will be ready and some rehabs just can't be predicted. Bad contractor, unforeseen damages, weather, theft, vandalism, etc. all can delay your reno. Put out the sign when it's 95% complete.

Why don't they just show what reality is? It's exciting. It's drama. Sometimes, it's a bad deal and that's okay to show. Not every deal is going to go well and end with a tidy bow around it. Show us the crap. Show us that tenants don't pay their rent because they went to jail for a month. Show us that even though you spend $50,000 on a rehab, the sewer line still clogs and back up into your newly renovated home. Show us that there are people lose money on RE deals. I just don't get what's wrong with showing reality on a reality show!

My advice is to listen to every single BP podcast so you can get a good feeling for REI without having to make so many mistakes. Also know that things are going to happen that you just could not have planned for.

For instance, I had no idea that tenants in my SFR could not put the water bill in their name. Now I have to chase them every week for the bill. This annoyance was not in the plan. Neither was the contractor who delayed me by a month with his nonsense. Or the surprise replacement of two furnaces and electrical panels.

Just watch out for how much you think you can plan for because your properties don't care about your plan.

My last contractor used to be the host of a reality show on HGTV and he told me stories. @Aaron McGinnis I think you are dead on with your analysis! 

My contractor said that when they did one of those crazy 3 day remodel projects when they were done, none of the outlets were wired, the plumbing did not exist and everything was a shortcut to get to the end result - a shot of the room looking fantastic and move in ready! It's all bull crap. Nothing in those places works because they lacked the time to actually build the infrastructure.

Check out the movie Tiny. It will really change your thinking about having a big house. Imagine a life that costs very little per month to maintain. That means you don't have to work nearly as hard and you open up tons of free time. It just takes courage and the willingness to downsize your life to just the things you absolutely love.