All Forum Posts by: Dallas Trufyn

I literally just sent a Reno list to my agent. I am looking at two Foreclosures, but the list was for the one that I did not make the offer on yet. I did not send it for the banks sake, with the offer. As stated earlier, the bank doesn't care at all. I sent the list for the other one that we have not offered on yet to show my agent WHY I needed to make the insult (er, I mean offer!) that I did. Agents that operate at the retail/home buyer level are like the general public, "Oh, you can fix that house for $10-12 grand, easy!" Investors and agents that operate at the wholesale/investor level know better. 

I understand why you did what you did, and you would THINK that would help, but not in the foreclosure case. If you are 'educating' the owner of the property, or the agent, I think it's a good idea. I shock myself when I run a reno budget sometimes, but the numbers don't lie. 

Remember the 3 rules of Real Estate..."Run your numbers, run your numbers, run your numbers!". ;)

Tony Gunter beat me to it!

Never get attached to a property. It's just a house and you are talking like a retail home buyer, not an investor. You absolutely need to move on and find another property, there are approx. 133 million other ones out there!

Would like to get some feedback. I am considering buying software that will comp deals and would like to know what everyone is using. I have great agents around the country who do pull comps for me (when they can!), but I would like to be able to comp my own deals. Any and all feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thanks

What you are experiencing is not uncommon. Perseverance is the key word here. All investors I know, including myself, go through 'dry spells'. You may have to make 100 offers to get one that works. When you do, have backup lenders/partners ready to go. I think the key to doing that is Networking, meet as many people as you can in every area of REI (lawyers, agents, lenders, contractors, etc, etc.). Remember, their schedule is not going to match yours perfectly either. Sometimes lenders have all their money out at the moment, contractors are busy on other projects, etc.

Real Estate Investing is relatively easy, but at the same time, Real Estate Investing has it's difficulties. Lots of pieces in the puzzle. 

Keep going...you'll get there!

Tough to say. As you stated, you are a cash-flow investor and I don't know of any places in Alberta where you can get 1% rentals, but I'm not sure of all your criteria? 

Whether Calgary or Edmonton are up or down is relative. Some will see Calgary being down right now as bad. The 'glass half full' crowd will see the opportunities, as everything is cyclic, right? 

Read a story where someone asked Warren Buffet;

"When is the best time to invest? Bull market, bear market?" Obviously, he would be the one to ask, right?

He replied, "Two years ago." 

In other words...buy accordingly...

Quit my job at a Civil Engineering firm two years ago, been flipping houses full-time since. It can be a little intimidating, but rewarding at the same time. Robert, (on Shark Tank) once said he doesn't invest in people that don't work their business fulltime. We all focus on our 'jobs' fulltime, how much more rewarding when you focus on your own business fulltime? 

My advice...jump in head first and focus. Life is short, so make the best of every moment. Trust me, you won't miss 'pounding Marshalls'... ;)

Do you have an ARV or comps at all?

I would really like to find some good (to great!) GC's in the Indianapolis area and in most areas of Tennessee (Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis, etc.). I'm buying fix and flip properties and need someone to handle the renovations. Maybe you are an investor in between projects and need more work for your team? Maybe you are a GC yourself looking for extra work? Any and all leads appreciated! Let's talk. 

To get the ideal property, with all the right numbers, secretly before "anyone else gets it" and without competition willing to flip it for less money than you...will take somewhere between 1 in 1 to approx. 1 in 100 houses. 

Keep going, you're getting there!...

I usually get my homes painted for $2-2.50/sq. ft.