All Forum Posts by: Claire D.

Hey BP,

I am very interested in flipping homes but the daunting task of estimating rehab costs with no experience is the biggest hurdle. I read in The Book on Flipping Houses a recommendation to hire a GC (or perhaps experienced rehabber) to walk potential properties to give you insight on the things they look for and help assign a ballpark rehab estimate. If the rehab estimate numbers work, proceed with getting the house under contract. Once under contract, use the inspection and formal contractor/sub bids to create a more accurate rehab cost. Here is my question...

Does anyone have experience with hiring a contractor with rehab estimates prior to getting the contract? What was your experience and how accurate was the initial estimate, if you followed through with the flip? 

Thanks in advance!

Great advice from all! It seems since I'll be working a full-time job and have no rehab experience my time would be best focused on managing the project rather than doing the work myself. Might pick a cosmetic thing or two to try out on my own just to get my hands dirty. Definitely planning on spending time educating myself on the cost of materials and labor in my area, spending time to find great contractors and hopefully find a mentor soon.

Thanks for the great responses!

Calling experienced house flippers!

On your first flip, did you contract out most of the work or do it yourself? Knowing what you know now, how would you recommend a first-time flipper approach the rehab?

Here are my initial pro/cons of each approach:

DIY Rehab

Pro's: Gain rehabbing experience, ability to better understand timeframe and costs of typical rehabs, save $$ on labor costs

Con's: Longer rehab timeframe and increased holding costs, quality of work may not be as high as a professional contractor (or perhaps the opposite because I have a higher vested interest, it could be argued either way)

Contract it Out

Pro's: Ability to try out contractors to form relationships to support future flips, shorter time frame/holding costs

Con's: Higher rehab costs attributed to labor , less personal rehabbing knowledge and experience to support decision making on future flips.

Here's a little more context to my personal situation:

I'm 23 and hope to get into real estate investing full-time in the next 2-3 years. My plan to get there is to hold W2 job in the mean-time, flip houses to build up cash and use all cash made to reinvest into the next flip. Once I am in more comfortable financial position I will start flipping full-time and introduce buy and hold properties into my strategy. I have no rehabbing / construction experience but I have an engineering degree, passion for real estate and willingness to learn and HUSTLE!

How would you approach the first flip rehab if you were me?

@Brian Garlington I am a current renter and had my pipes freeze due to insufficient insulation this winter in Boston and didn't have a working shower for about 5 days (2/1 apartment, only bathroom). My quick google search on tenant rights and how to handle the situation told me I could withhold rent for the period in which I did not have a working shower as the landlord has to make the property habitable and no shower = not habitable. However my landlord was out here everyday trying to fix it because the plumbers could not come for  several days, so I paid the full rent because I saw he was actively trying to help. 

I assume she probably did a quick google search as I did and determined the property was only considered habitable for 3/4 of the months therefore she only owed you 3/4 of the rent. Whether or not this is legally true or just what she assumed for your area I do not know. 

Hi @Christian Podedworny - just curious as a Tampa native, where exactly in Tampa do you plan on putting these units?

@Bilal Badar I feel like one of the things I keep hearing is how MLS access is so great as an investor and if these sites match the MLS what exactly is the *added* benefit of the MLS when browsing for deals?

of course every travel site may have different ratings and I'm sure they will be constantly evolving, but still pretty likely to show up at the top of the list when vacationers are trying to decide where to visit  

https://www.tripadvisor.com/TravelersChoice-Beaches-cTop-g191

@Jami Kloet just to add on to @Peter Miller's post, Clearwater beach is (currently) Trip Advisor's #1 beach in the US! I'm from the Tampa area and I see this advertised in the airport every time I fly. So definitely not a bad place to look for STR as the demand will definitely be there!

@Eric Loya whoops - forgot to @ you in my above response 

Great article! I'm in a similar situation - early 20s, very eager to get started in REI but little cash to my name. I definitely plan to take a similar approach and educate myself more on bridge lending now!