All Forum Posts by: James J Canull

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $203,500
Cash invested: $25,000

This was an estate sale where everything was a good size and just needed updated. We tore up carpet, refinished the floors and only had to redo one of two baths. I tried to see how little I could do for a sale and ended up just painting the vanity and refinishing the tub and replacing the hardware. We even kept the laundry area in the garage and put epoxy on the floor and built a cabinet for the laundry to fit in for a clean look.

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

Looked like a popular area and it appeared it would need minimal love before listing.

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

I threw in a quick cash, as-is deal the hour it came up on the market. I could see it was undervalued and they were looking for a quick easy offer

How did you finance this deal?

private money lender

How did you add value to the deal?

removed carpets, refinished the floors, replaced kitchen and bath hardware. Painted all cabinets and removed the cabinets blocking the view from the kitchen and dining area

What was the outcome?

I ended up getting this done within a 2 month period and had to replace the roof for the Buyer.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I should have just replaced the roof before listing and there might have been more interest

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

just myself:)

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $300,000
Cash invested: $90,000
Sale price: $485,000

This was a fun one I got to do a few houses down from where I live. It was also fun to tackle an eyesore to our neighborhood. There were bushes and poison ivy so mature, you could barely see the home before. The interior had gorgeous hardwood floors under the carpet, and large rooms all around on a large lot. This was the ideal value add situation, where I didn't have to change much on the layout.. mostly just design.

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

It had a lot of square footage and already had some cool historic touches. It just needed cleaned up and redesigned.

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

It was a few doors down from my home so I kept my eye on it. I got this one like many.. I put in an offer where it would work for my budget and waited it out over a few weeks of being in touch with the realtor and letting him know my interest at my price.

How did you finance this deal?

Private money lender

How did you add value to the deal?

remodeled everything inside and out. Also finished the basement which had a good amount of space, adding two bedrooms and moving the laundry to a closet upstairs where it made more sense.

What was the outcome?

After the first offer fell through I got another strong back up offer and made a good payday along with a young couple happy.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

The first offer fell through due to some outlandish requests from the Buyer. We tried to appease the buyer with one request after another. It got to a point I felt the buyer would never be happy so we pulled out of the deal. The end result was getting some excited buyers that didn't care about all of the issues the first buyer was making up. The lesson learned is vetting the potential buyers before pulling the trigger on the one that might look the best on the surface.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I used myself as the buying and selling agent

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $55,000
Cash invested: $85,000
Sale price: $280,000

I feel like luck and timing played a roll in scooping up this Garfield Park home. There were three properties that the owner had and I made a pitch to buy all three. For whatever reason, they accepted my first low offer to scoop them all up. It was a bit of a drive to Garfield Park from Broad Ripple, but it was worth it in the end. This was one of my favorite before and after project pics where we opened up the ceiling to add a good looking stairwell to the upper square footage.

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

The no-brainer price I negotiated

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

This was one of the few times I noticed there was an upper level, but they didn't include the area in the MLS system. So I knew there would be almost double the square footage to work with. My guys were also able to remedy the basement wall that looked like it was going to cave in when I bought it for a discount

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money lender

How did you add value to the deal?

Finished the upper level and completely remodeled the home in and out.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

One challenge was quickly adding a full bath to the upper level when a buyer suggested it would help. The lesson was simply adding it before someone asks next time

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I worked with myself on this deal from purchase to sale

Can you give me your property managers info, I need totoi fling it to my cousin who has not had luck with his PM on his Airbnb downtown

I could definitely use a good hard money lender to lock in a couple deals at the moment

I haven't seen any that are "too old"  just some that are in too bad of shape to not tear down and start from scratch.  It would really depend on the price point.  If the land value is X higher then my purchase price I wouldn't worry.  But in general I'm just looking at the numbers it's going to take to sell minus what I have to put in.  The age doesn't matter...... Now a historical area on the other hand, with restrictions... this makes me look at what I will have to do and the extra steps I would have to take to do it.  In general I would not prefer to rehab a house in a historical area.

Sounds good.  I've been in the area doing real estate for the last 24 years, and investing for the last 10.  Let me know how I can help out.

I think it’s important to find a very localized realtor who can run this info for you. Getting a solid referral for one is ideal