All Forum Posts by: Jim S

It takes an hour to degrease and pressure wash a garage floor. Just gives a better 1st impression. As for the drywall, if it doesnt cost a lot....why not clean it up and quickly paint it. Just hit it with primer as your final paint finish. It is simple and cheap but yields big visual returns.

One important part of the purchase of carpeting for you flip/rental is the cost of the carpet. But the hidden back end costs lurk in the installation fees for padding, stairs and overall install costs. Stairs can be $8 each plus replacing the existing padding will drive the end costs up. Lowes and Home Depot always are running promotions for $75 for whole house labor.

My buddy bids first and looks 2nd if the bank response is positive. I look and then bid.
Neither of us use RE inspectors. We do it ourselves. 90% of what the inspectors look at are thing we don't care about ie. working appliances, leaking toilets, rubbing doors, etc.

Roof is fairly obvious, we check for mold in basements and signs of settling and foundation issues. We both end up gutting kitchens, water heaters, baths, all flooring, etc so the minor things don't really matter. I usually budget between $40,000 to $55,000 for a rehab.

With the Viper's 202 mph top speed I assume we could meet in the middle rather quickly :)

I go in with zero contingencies. I make the offer after I walk thru the properties and feel comfortable in buying them. Worst case I can bail when the bank sends the addendum and just not return it. They will give up and move on. I have never done that though.
A buddy submits 10 offers at a time and then does his initial inspection after he hears something positive back from the bank. That's a little bit too living on the edge for me but he has been very successful.

We buy satin nickel curtain rods at Walmart for the main floor and master bedroom windows. They also sell 210" swag curtains which we drape over the rods. It's very inexpensive and looks great. It always amazes me how many buyers ask for it to convey as they think it's custom.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Marjorie-Voile-Scarf-White/3861742

Jeep wrangler for my daily driver but getting tired of it.
Dodge Viper and 1969 427 Corvette for fun.

Maybe we have been lucky, but we have been either matching or setting the high ARV for the neighborhoods we have flipped in. Receiving an offer for your property and having it backed up by a favorable appraisal is a function of your flipping business model. If you go in and basically hose them out, paint them and wander the big box improvement stores' scratch and dent isles for materials......then you need to price the house at a realistic price to sell fast. But if you rehab the house to make it the benchmark in the neighborhood with some "sizzle" features, then you stand a good chance of being the top dog when it comes to ARV.

In working with our local BB&T branch for business loans I have found that they are not too aggressive in giving you the best rate. Since I had most of our business loans and deposit accounts with them it made sense to try to use them for all my commercial needs. They would swear they were giving me the best rate and terms they could but I always would find better deals at other banks who were looking for my business. After presenting the other offers to BB&T, they would end up matching the rates and terms. BTW, you can get 25 year amortizations if you look around.

$$ in LLC and in my personal accounts have both worked for me. I have never been questioned either way. It's just a formality. Just because someone provides a faxed copy of a 3 week old bank statement doesn't guaranty that the funds will be there at closing. The whole process is just a formality.