All Forum Posts by: Chris Kane

Welcome guys! The Treasure Valley is a great market to invest in! 

So I just finished the book, How to Acquire $1-million in Real Estate Income in One Year by Tyler Hicks. It's not a book that I have ever heard recommended and I just happened to pick up at the library when I was browsing books. What I really liked about the book is the unconventional strategies outlined in the book that are rarely discussed. This book will get your wheels turning for sure!

One strategy discussed in the book  that is a pure SPECULATIVE and not INVESTING is securing the right to purchase a condo or townhome in a small development prior to construction and then selling your unit once construction is complete with the thinking that once the structure is standing, a lot more people will be interested and you will be able to sell for more than the purchase price. 

I've looked into this and read over the contracts on a few and have found that with as little as a $1,000 to $5,000 deposit you can reserve the right to buy at a predetermined price once the building is complete. You can get a full refund of the deposit back up until the point that finishes have been selected so hopefully at that point, the project would be far enough along to gauge if the hype and interest for the new project is there to where you could purchase the property and exit for a higher price.  

If you have ever done something like this in the past I would love to hear how this turned out for you. I know this is pure speculation but I thought it was an interesting strategy that I have never heard or thought of. 

First deal was off the MLS but my best deals since then have been For Sale By Owner, Craigslist and direct mail but I still check the MLS everyday. I can still find deals on the MLS but the problem is so can everyone else. I found myself in way too many multiple offer scenarios last year where the seller's agent or bank come back asking for best and highest. My goal for 2017 is to consistently send out mail each week instead of every few months like I have in the past.

Why sit on the sideline waiting and hoping for a crash when there are deals to find right now? It's not as easy to find good deals by scrolling through Zillow as it used to be so you have to work a little harder which most people wont do. 

I check craigslist everyday for my target market and have found deals there. One in particular was an owner who was willing to trade a large amount of equity to a buyer who could close quick and off the MLS because he was embarrassed about the condition of his home and did not want to list with an agent. The craigslist ad only showed a picture of the the view from the back patio, no pictures of the house. The posting sort of looked like a scam until I checked it out. But it was a great deal!

I have also had a good response to hand written, direct mail letters. The best letter response from a direct mailer I had was from a real estate investor in his late 70's that was looking to cash out on multiple properties that he owned throughout the city. 

These were all properties 10 to 30% below market value that I found in a hot market in 2016. 

The book, "Big Shifts Ahead" is a great read on where the upcoming housing demand is going to come from. Based on the author's research and forecasting, housing demand is here to stay. check it out.  

Talk to Ryan Winterswyk at Path Real Estate Management. They only charge a set fee every month and do not charge extra for listing, maintenance calls etc. One of the owners of the company is also an attorney which is reassuring. PM me if you would like his contact info. 

I know this is an old thread but I just tried out the epoxy tube and shower paint kit from Home Depot for a beat-up/chipped shower surround this past weekend. The shower surround took 5 coats of epoxy and two kits to cover all the marks. The worst part was the epoxy over-spray made a mess in the room. Make sure you hang plastic to build a containment around your work area because the aerosol epoxy dust travels far and gets on everything!  The kits are still a cheaper option than installing a new shower surround. 

For the spec builders out there, unless your company has an "in-house" listing agent. Is a 6% commission split (buyer agent/seller agent) what I need to figure for selling the house on the MLS?

I have been following the fourplex market pretty close over the past few years in Ada County, Idaho. Up until recently, there would only be three or less fourplexes listed on the market at any given time and they would sit around very long (a couple weeks max). I counted today and there are 26 fourplexes for sale. Prices are still at a premium asking price compared to rents but I am hoping this will change. Vacancies are still very low in Ada County but there is a huge amount of large multifamily complexes planned or under construction in the area right now which could change things. I am curious what everyone else is seeing in their markets?

I'm in the market for a fourplex in Boise, Idaho or Meridian. 

@Lee G. and @Ian Checketts the property is located in Garden City less than a block from the river (but not in the flood plain) next to the waterfront district. @Lee G. your project in downtown Boise looks really nice. How many units is that? Next time I'm in Boise I would love to take you to lunch or stop by your jobsite to pick your brain if you're open to that since it looks like you are doing exactly what I want to do.