All Forum Posts by: Carl Mullin

There are nine things we look at when buying lots. I’ll list them here do you can see what makes your lot desirable or not so desirable.

1. Zoning. Is your lot zoned residential or commercial? There is a greater demand for residential lots than commercial.
2. Neighborhood. It’s the old story of location, location, location.
3. Lot size. Builders like lots that are .25 acre or larger. Once the lot gets bigger than one acre, it is better suited for very large houses or farmettes.
4. Roads. Is the road paved or is it dirt?
5. Level. Is the lot level or is it on the side of a hill? This also includes level above the water table if there is no municipal sewer system available, the lot must be high enough above the water table so the septic system can flow downhill from the house to the tank to the drain field.
6. Spring Protective Zone. In Florida there are geographic areas that are designated as Spring Protective Zones (SPZ). These were designed to protect the springs from an increase in nitrogen getting into the aquafer that feeds the springs. If the lot is in a SPZ and requires a septic system, the acceptable septic systems run about $20,000 vs the usual $7,000.
7. Proximity to Utilities. How close is the power, water, and cable TV to the lot? If there is municipal water more than 400’ away, then you must pay to have it connected. Power companies charge $1,200 for every new pole they must set. The span between poles is 300’ so you can calculate the cost from there.
8. Trees and vegetation. It costs about $7,000 to clear a .25 acre lot if it is heavily overgrown and needs a lot of trees removed.
9. Clear Title. If there are title issues you the seller or Rapid Home Deals will need to pay to get the title clear. We had some deals where we paid for a Quiet Title action to get the property sellable. A Quiet Title action runs $3,000-$5,000 depending on complexity.

As you can see there is a quite a few things to consider when determining what a lot is worth.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $85,000
Cash invested: $50,000
Sale price: $173,000

Bought this one subject to. Did light rehab on the interior and did a lease/option. Couldn't exercise his option. Put another $24,000 and sold.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Potential profit and reducing the capital gains taxes for holding more than a year.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Direct mail.

How did you finance this deal?

Some cash out of pocket and took over the mortgage payments

How did you add value to the deal?

Rehabbed the interior prior to renting and then did the exterior prior to sale

What was the outcome?

Very nice profit.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

House was built on fill and had some settling issues. We had a company come in to assess the foundation. While it was within specs it had some ceramic tile cracking so we paid to have the foundation pinned to stop the settling. Wanted to insure our L/O tenant they were buying a good house. NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. Seller could not get insurance until we paid a geotech company to bore the ground on both sides of the house to prove there was no sinkhole. $3,000 hit to the bottom line.

I have a tired landlord lead selling a 12 space MHP. There are 8 park owned MHs ages from 1974-1995. 1 MH used for storage. I lot rented with a non-owned MH and two vacant lots. Annual rents are $48,000. Seller says expenses are $7,200/yr but he does all the maintenance. The park provides water and sewer with one well and one septic system. I've never done anything with MHs before. What kind of things should I be looking for and what kind of CAP rate should I expect to get?

Carl Mullin 352-Four46-8559

Has anyone tried using social media such as LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube to market for sellers?  I use FB to market on the sell side with some success. But had no success on the buy side. Has anyone had any experience doing this?

I am looking for a CRM system that will import leads from a web site squeeze page,  send email to that lead and a text to their phone if I choose. The system should allow me to categorize these leads ie. investor, retail buyer, renter, lease option, etc. I also want the ability to send out email blasts to my buyers list and/or text blasts as well. And of course I would like it to be inexpensive since I am a small firm. 

Anybody out there using a CRM system or that can make a suggestion? Thanks

Carl Mullin

Hi everybody:

I was wondering if anyone has ever signed up with Private Money Goldmine? I am always getting email from them giving me names and amount to loan and interest rates (that are very attractive) but they want $97 down and $29/mo. On the surface it looks good but it doesn't spell out what these folks would invest in, it may not be real estate. Has anyone ever used them?

Carl Mullin