All Forum Posts by: Jim Kalish

It would be tough to run numbers without seeing the property or having a GC or someone who can get a really solid estimate on the rehab costs. Did you use the Biggerpockets flipping calculator? It really helps but you need to know the rehab costs and have a really good idea on ARV. If you aren't PRO you can still do a few runs.

@Jeremy Salo Its tough for someone else to tell you what the "best" strategy. As others have said it all depends on your skill sets, time and money. As for your question about SFH being easier to get, no they are not easier to get. Competition right now is ridiculous. Before jumping in I suggest some self education. Read as much on the subject as you can. Join Bigger Pockets webinars. If you join a webinar at the end they usually give you a code to get a discount on becoming PRO. It will be one of the best investments you ever make. Then you have access to all of the past webinars as well.

Everyone has their own idea on what is the best.  Flips give you quick cash.  But you have to either have a really good grasp of construction or have a team member such as a GC who does. But with flips when you stop flipping yo ustop making money.  And on the topic of a team member, make sure you have a great tam pulled together.  There are several books on this topic in the BP library.

Buy and holds don't make you rich over night. But they can make you very rich. It just takes time. Read the book on BRRRR. Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refi, Reeat. You get a steady cash flow and eventually build up a lot of equity. As for SH vs MF, my personal preference is 2-4 units. When one of my SF homes goes vacant I'm stuck for the mortgage payments. When one of by duplexes or tri-plexes go vacant my cash flow decreases but the other unit(s) still cover the note.

And there are other investment strategies as well.  Red up on wholesaling.  Might not work for you since you don't have a lot of free time but at least be aware of it.

But whatever you decide make sure you do your due diligence. The old saying you make your money when you buy is absolutely true. In other words, before you buy know exactly what your exit strategy is going to be, what its going to cost you to get to that point, and what the ARV is. Once you buy you're locked in. Don't try to wing assuming you can find ways to save money once you own the property. Again, BP can help you with that. There are calculators for different strategies. You can try them out before you become PRO. I think there you do 5. When you are PRO th sk is the limit.

Best of luck.  Let us know how you succeed.

Try Kelly at Fifth Third Bank.  866-499-4784

HELOC 65% LTV
10/30 3.875% - 5.50%

And I think TD Bank might be able to help as well.  800-815-6849

Also try PenFed.  800-970-7766

Both TD and PenFed limit the number of HELOCs and loans but will also do investment properties.

Hi Dorian. Unless I missed it you didn't say what you still owe. Or if the house is in your name or an LLC. Let's assume your name and it's your primary. To get 100k you would have to owe 145 or less assuming 70%LTV. As for debt to income it looks like 16% to a normal person. But Freddie and Fannie are anything but normal. But even with all the things they add on your DTI based on 140 looks fine. If all they offered was 33 would seem to be saying you still owe about 212. If you owe 145 or less I'd press them for an explanation. A cash out Refi is definitely another way to go but I doubt the numbers will be much different. Maybe 65. If you are looking for another lender try Mr Cooper or Loan Depot. They do both primary and investment property.

OMG I thought it was just me.  My son does most of it but I help out when he gets stuck.  He does most of it on-line.  But it still takes time.  And lets face it, if you order 20 2x4s, they take the 20 on top.  So be ready to have a few that need to go back.  Even if you are very organized its going to take up a lot of time just before the job kicks off and then I plan on several hours for me as the job goes on.  and as @Bruce Woodruff said if its simple stuff like a bag of concrete send the youngest kid on the job.  But if some judgement is needed or its a something that the prospective buyer will see then you're better off to just get up early and get it yourself.  You can take the opportunity to pass out cards to other contractor and get theirs at the same time.

@Anna Marie Holland Its really great hearing from someone who is putting in the effort to educated and being prepared. Kudos! As for my first deal, I wasn't any of those things. My son and his friend were dabbling in real estate by being bird dogs for a couple of other investors. But the ran across this duplex in a neighborhood that the other guys didn't want. It was all boarded up and needed a lot of cosmetic work. But it was solid. So I just got a cash advance on a credit card and bought it. That was in 08. I paid something like 25 for it. Its now worth about 200k and brings in $1,800/month. And we paid it off already so its once of our cash cows. Then the place next door to that, also boarded up, was the next deal. We tracked down the owner and made a low ball offer. This one we used hard money. 16% and 3 points. Hey, what did I know. We fixed it up, rented it and refied it. We were doing BRRRR without knowing it. so we basically stumbled into 5 houses just before the crash in 08. But we had bought them in neighborhoods that other investors weren't going into. We figured everyone needs a decent place to live and if we could buy an eyesore and fix it up, it would help the entire neighborhood. In those days we judged how tough a neighborhood it was by the caliber of the ammo we found in the floor boards. But even in these areas where other investors wouldn't go, we found great neighbors and great tenants. Those 5 homes, with 9 doors, now have about 1 mil in equity.

So with all that said look into buying and holding. BP has some great books on the entire process. There are books on how to find deals, on how to calculate rehab costs, on the BRRRR method. But regardless of your exit strategy just be sure to run the numbers and don't chase any deals. Use the BP calculators and stick to them. So if you have to use hard money or private money just role that into the holding costs. If the numbers work it really doesn't matter where the money comes from. The old saying, you make your money when you buy, is the golden rule. Know what you make on a deal before making an offer.

Best of luck.  Let us know about your first deal.  I'm sure it will be a huge success. 

@Joseph Milano First good call on using a haandyman for this type thing, as long as you have some good references.  You will save a lot of money. As a GC and an investor I do this on a regular basis. I do recommend you oversee the cabinet installation of maybe even help.  That's not something you want to redo.  As for material, assuming you are doing the flip for yourself and not a client, I would order it from whomever you use be it Lowes, HD or even the local supply house.  Pay for it with your card and have the handyman pick it up.  If you feel the lights or fans need special attention then go to the store.  But I wouldn't leave the selection to the handyman.  But he can certainly pick it all up.  Or pay a couple of extra bucks and have it delivered to the job site.  Just be sure the handyman is there to receive it and confirm its all there.  Make it clear to him if its damaged or anything is missing he has to make it right.  That way he will pay more attention to what is coming off the truck.

Wow my friend. That's an entirely different discussion. Yes you can try to get a loan from a bank just like any other home purchase. But quite often off market deals you find from Driving for Dollars or mailings are homes in distress. Investors quite often make cash offers on these properties. If the home is on good enough condition to get by the banks appraiser then there is a good chance you won't be buying at a substantially reduced price. But if you do find that needle in a haystack you can certainly get a conventional loan. 

So there is closing from the standpoint of making an offer and getting it accepted. Ie closing the deal. Then there is the actual closing process. The first type of closing is the harder of the two. Michael Plants is right about the second part, the legal closing. In Fla you don't need an attorney or an agent. A title company can handle all of that. But make sure you have all the right contracts in place when you make your offer. That's where you can get into a lot of trouble if the seller changes their mind and they feel that you mislead them. Especially if it's an older seller. And I can say that since I fall into the older category. Education is key. 

For starters you should Google books on how to close on off market deals. There are a ton of them. And look at the books available on BP. Also, take a look at CleverInvestor.com. They have a whole series of training on the subject. I would not recommend using a realtor. Closing on off market deals is all about establishing a rapport with the seller and coming up with a deal that both parties are happy with. Only you can do that by sitting down with the potential seller and see what works for them.