All Forum Posts by: Dale Miller

For something basic - I suggest building your own within Excel.  Then if you want to move to a more complex analyzer, there are some great ones for low cost.

@Nick Peters Hi Nick! That sounds good. I just downloaded it and will give it a try. Thanks a lot for helping a newbie out. I'll get back to you to let you know what I think.

 

@Nick Peters I really like the excel spreadsheet you made. I don't know how you did it but what a great job! I've been practicing on and off throughout the week. Thanks a bunch. Take it easy Nick!

@Dale Miller You can have a look at the mini version of the spreadsheet I've developed. It's available in the FilePlace of BP:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/NickPeters/file/ultimate-rental-property-analysis-spreadsheet-mini-version

The prebuilt spreadsheet is very easy to use and it takes 1 minute to fill out. It will help you review and analyze rental properties and buy & hold investments and includes all the basics: 30-year projections, profitability analysis, etc.

Let me know if you have any questions! Happy to help.

@Dale Miller nice app, easy to use.

Dealcheck is nice and quick phone app. I used it for a year and really liked it. I changed last year to REIPro for deeper analysis, lead generation, as well as the deal analysis and offer calculators.

@Dale, first of all i dont think anyone likes to loose. But i think by calculating the risks you can effectively control that emotion.

I dont know many investors who are getting every deal they are bidding on. Sometimes it takes thousands of calcs, bidding etc to get one deal.

I always hear “ it’s important to get started” but do that with again, the calculated risk. If your numbers work out and you know how much you can bid to still make it work for you than yoi should always be ok with loosing out sometimes. I cant tell you how many times i didnt get a deal because someone offered cash etc and sometimes i cant believe how much it sold for and how someone is making money off of it.

As with always, practice and experience will take away the fear.

Keep putting yourself out there, good will come from it

@Andreas Schneider  Seems like you have to stay patient and accept losing some bids. I agree practice and experience will make things go smoother. 

That's what I'm trying to work on and I'm glad to be able to go on here and vent or ask questions.

Thanks for your reply!

 What he said.  Also, have you decided on your goals, and what you want from your investments in terms of returns in Dollars and/Percentages?  This will let you know if after you analyze a property, should you buy it or not.  

If you don't like to lose, that is the best way to lose on deals over and over. And I don't mean by not winning, I mean by bidding too much. If you get the eBay fever when you are bidding, you are bidding with your heart which should not play a role in your purchasing. You should know your numbers so well that you bid a number and that's your number. You walk away and bid your number on a few more. Most of the time you get outbid and then plenty of those times the deals fall apart because the person who won gets bidder's remorse.

How good are you at evaluation rehab budgets? How good is your agent about getting you rental comps? If you are looking for a two-family home, you should only be looking at rental comps in multi-family homes, not apartments - that is a mistake most agents make when sending you comps. What is your goal? Cash flow? Appreciation? Are you going to manage them yourself? Are you prepared for that? Do you have your own leases made up?

Dale,

My best piece of advice is to find a mentor to walk you through the process.  This will take the anxiety out of the process.  The best learning experience is hands-on.  

I don't like to lose either, but took the plunge 10 years ago.  I started with a single family house and continued to add more to our porfolio in the same area.  Today, we own 12 single family rentals by simply "farming" an area.  What amazes me is how many houses I drive by and know what it sold for, what is currently rents for, or met the neighbors.  

You need to build a wholesaler list.  Simply ask a wholesaler to be added to their distribution list.  This will expand your deal flow.  I have bought houses from wholesalers, a simple sign in the front yard, and direct from the homeowner.  

Greg

@Dale Miller

Make sure they are submitting a pre-approval letter from their lender with their offers. And keep plugging away. Losing 3 offers is not much. I think I was outbid a dozen times last summer. Whatever they do, do not massage the numbers and raise their offer just to buy a property. Stick with your numbers and what you believe a profitable property is worth. Just because you’re outbid doesn’t mean the other people are making any money.