All Forum Posts by: Dutch Langley

If you join the Charlotte Realtors Live (for Realtors Only) facebook page, you will see lots of recomendations for local BICs in Charlotte that are very open to that for investors like yourself.  I am also with a small brokerage and even though I may act as a buyers or listing agent occasionally for others by my own choice, my main focus is buying and listing my own flip properties.

Do you have extensive rehab/project management experience?  If so and you can show examples, you could partner with other investors where they help with the gap funding.

If not...get busy saving up money...your skin in the game so to speak.  Pick a flip that is not that complicated to get your feet wet.  Working full time and trying to do flips or manage a flip is more complicated then people think.  And the longer it takes, the more it costs you.,.interest payments, utilities, insurance, etc.  HGTV has not done us any favors...definitely romanticizes the whole process.  Most of the time a house that you can get way under market value has a ton of issues...you really need to either know what you are doing or partner with someone you trust (this is a tough one) that can help you.

We love flipping!  We focus on a bit higher end flips...ARVs of 380-480.  We can do an entire interior gut and renovation in about 3 months and they all have sold pretty quickly.  First...we love doing it....I love walking into a shambles of a home and "seeing" it complete...project manage the hell out of it...manage the accounting...create the dream for the next buyer and move on!  I understand all the benefits of rental property...just don't love that.  I can make money doing a lot of stuff.  Prefer to do what I love while I am doing it.  

We have an LLC that buys the properties and an S Corp that handles the GC activities.

For that price point I would go for the ready made plans.  There are lots of options.  Have your GC builder look with you at the zoning requirements, setbacks, grading etc. and before applying for a permit have a few choices.  Especially with large lots like you seem to have.  Everything internally (like countertops, etc.) is more a matter of working with the right subs with your plan.  Those items can be adjusted easily and usually does not impact the structural plan itself.

We lived in Matthews!  Loved it!  Great area...takes only 20 minutes or so to get downtown.  Downtown Matthews has a great stretch of pubs and outdoor areas that we used to take our dogs to.  We now live in Cabarrus County -- a bit further out -- more rural where we are now and not as close to much as far as entertainment and such is concerned.  I have lived in Charlotte since 1978, so very familiar with the area.  If you want more in detail info, reach out to me!

@Ben Randall I am so excited for you!  I totally get where you are coming from since just started flipping a year ago (took a few months off in between to move to a lake house we renovated).  Now we are on our 8th and 9th flip.  Our process in the beginning....have our money in hand to put down on the first property/properties. (sounds like you have that!).  Get recommendations for local hard money lenders (talk to other flippers there on who they use and why).  Figure out their terms and qualifications they require of you.  For the most part, it is about the deal.  Get a list of qualified contractors/subs you want to work with.  Then find the deal...network with wholesalers in the area, network at local real estate investment groups, network online like with facebook investment groups locally.  Here on bigger pockets they have great resources including calculators to be able to look at your purchase price, rehab costs, holding costs, etc. to determine what your profit would be at the end of the project once you sell.  Put on your list getting a good realtor to sell the house if you are not a realtor yourself.  

Basically, get ready to be ready!  We absolutely love it!  An important part for it is having a passion for it.  And yes, we like the money as well.  We are always learning how to do it better and that is exciting too!  And now that is all we do!

Good luck!

What does your lease say?  Most say that no "improvements" can be made to the property without consent of the property manager/owner.

I have floors "refinished" all the time.  Sand, coat and 3 coats of stain or poly with buffing in between.  I pay about $2 a square foot for that.

I have owned or managed a number of businesses over the decades.  I have learned that you either have to stay small or go really big.  The in between is very tough.  To expand requires a lot of fixed or continual costs that don't get covered until you reach a certain volume.  There is also the daily hassle of dealing with the maintenance and growth of a business.  There is also the impact of economic turns that can impact a larger business (we went through the 2008 deal..prior to that doing 300 inspections per month...then the crash...that was a lot of fun.)  

The bigger thing to consider in my opinion and what I have learned with 4 decades of working now under my belt....is follow whatever your passion is.  What do you love to do that you are really good at?  Spent years in the corporate banking world...did not love that.   I spent years as a professional speaker and trainer....loved it!  Have spent years renovating....didn't love the whole managing and stressing about employees, vehicles, buildings, traveling, massive number of clients/schedules.  Now my hubby and I just flip...so we get to do what we love without all that other stuff...and at the end of the day make more money and have a great quality of life.  No customers, no huge overhead, no one calling me at 10 at night or 6 in the morning, no alarm clocks, vacation when we want....that was our direction...finally.  And we get to follow our passion. Yay!