All Forum Posts by: Charles Whitaker

If you have the addresses then use a reverse address. Whitepages.com or similar. You can find ~90% of the phone numbers there.

I mean no disrespect but this is just another circle of life. Investors buy deals in which they profit, many of which are from noob investors who didn't buy properly. I kinda like em'

If the property is listed a smart investor will know that any realtor can easily find the property address without you. The MLS can be a very powerful tool; by simple elimination you can zero in on the exact subject property. This all depends on your market density but I would suspect that their aren't many houses listed in that price range(145K) as a REO or bank owned which comp at 230K.

Get it under contract before everyone discovers it, great deals go fast.

I don't use contingencies either, I was just ignorant from the start. Hard lessons are remembered lessons.

Nice seeing you're name in here Ryan.

That's just it, Keeping at it and follow ups are key.

Thanks

No, can't say that was me...I have found that there are alot of Charles Whitaker's out there

Yes, I'd have to admit that 2K is minimal comparative to others' losses.

The thing that has always bugged me about REI and still does is that i can not seem to move enough properties. Don't get me wrong, a few extra thousand a year is great but I am trying to go full-time and the transition isn't very easy. I blame it on my lack of marketing, I have bent the law of averages to my favor but not on a consistent basis. Something to work on none the less.

A quite popular and simple calculation for rehab based properties is ARV x 70%(30% reduction) minus the repair estimate minus your fee. The 30% reduction includes closing costs, carrying costs, utilities and miscellaneous items including the end buyers profit.

Nowadays, many investors use 60%-65% instead due to the downturn in local markets. Personally I like 65%, it's still in the ball park and doesn't offend too many potential clients.

these numbers depend upon your local investors(many pay up to 80% of retail) and the property location. A rental property is analyzed differently.

keep in mind that your fee needs to be minimal in respect to your end buyers potential profit, don't eat their profit because you'll never sell the house.

Everyting I have ever seen involves location and market. below are a few good links for costs vs recoup value of the major components that are typically replaced/remodelled.

http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.NSF/files/Cost_vs_Value06.pdf/$FILE/Cost_vs_Value06.pdf

http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/27/real_estate/buying_selling/remodeling_returns/index.htm

i have personally used americanhvacparts.com for a few items and they shipped it out fairly quick. I also have used keithspecialty.com but was not impressed with the selection of my model, could be different for you.

Good luck

Hello all,

I wanted to let everyone know my experiences as a newbie investor growing wiser and richer. First, i would like to thank all those here who have helped mold me and those who offered exceptional advice along the way, i appreciate every bit of it.

I started learning about REI in August of 06' and purchased my first rehab in march of 07'. That rehab taught me many, many things which have helped me grow along the way. i now concentrate more on the bathrooms of each house when doing my inspections. all together we had a net profit of 15K on this one, a very good start.

The second property was the beast, I've heard that every investor has had one of these. The first three weeks of the rehab was spent levelling this old 1927 pier and beam house(not fun). We spent way too much money on materials(definately for the area) and way too much time since we do all the work ourselves. This property taught me more about material costs, labor costs, and the cost of using a shotty realtor. In the end we had the highest priced sold listing in the area :mrgreen: We only lost about 2K(the school of hard knocks is quite expensive)

We also purchased a monster 3/2 two story home at the same time we had the beast. This rehab was relatively easy but we realized that a simple conversion of the downstairs dining room into a master suite would boost the ARV by 15-20K so we followed that route. We are still in the midst of this rehab which will be wrapped up within the next few weeks. Potential profit of roughly 30K.

Also, at the same time of owning both of these properties we purchased another SFH. We gutted the bathroom and kitchen and not too long after we realized that we lacked the manpower to rehab this property within the allotted time of the HML term. We decided to wholesale this one and made 10K from it, sold within a week. To bad all of this money went into the beast which sank.

That is where I stand so far, A few loses but well worth the education that I have gained. The key points that I would like to emphasize is don't over do the beginning learning process. You can only learn so much from a book or forum before you actually jump into the unknown, this jump is key to your success. Everyday I look for opportunities; not just in real estate but everywhere. Once their disguises are known then they are easily identifiable.

Now, I am making a few changes to the business plan to allow for growth. Rental properties will definately be in my future and I plan to branch out to other markets very soon.

Best of luck to everyone