All Forum Posts by: Kendall Short

I saved thousands by doing a lot of cosmetic work, which includes: installing my kitchen cabinets, countertops, tile, backsplash, installing tile in the bathroom, the toilet, and a lot of other cosmetic stuff, especially the floorboards, crown, and casing. 

Run ARV's before you buy and make sure you check them out during the process. I've learned that knowing your market is the most important thing when it ones to BRRRR's. I now know almost by street what certain bed/bath combos will sell for. But they're constantly changing here and there, so make sure you stay up to date. Luckily, my aunt sold her house which was next door, and the same floor plan, for exactly what mine ended up appraising for.

I lost a couple hundred bucks on a shotty carpenter, and had to fix small little plumbing jobs here and there, but nothing that cost me so much that it immensely impacted the deal. I told myself that this deal would be the one that taught me the most, especially when it comes to who I can trust and count on vs. who I should avoid when it comes to contractors and tradesmen, as well as learning what I can do and enjoy doing. 

 The determining factor in taking $38,000 was not up to me. That was the maximum I could take out in cash after lender fees. So I received 80% of the equity, leaving 20% in the home, and losing a few thousand from all of the closing costs, appraisal fees, etc. Not really up to me, more like that's all I could pull out. 

Hey my guy, I read through lots of posts and honestly guessed on a few of the expenses. I completely blew through my “budget” but had about 10k in reserves just in case. Now THAT is a huge lesson. That might be the biggest lesson. I would’ve honestly been screwed if I didn’t have those reserves. 

Mistakes: 

- I had a job 45 minutes away for the first 3.5, so I didn’t dedicate my time and efforts into the house like I should have. 

- Having family help me thinking it would save me money, when I could’ve spent the 4800 in closing costs on just having professionals complete the jobs. 

- vetting my first carpenter instead of going with the cheapest option. 

I could name many more, just pm me if so. I’m all about full disclosure if I can help someone else.  

@Dan Torluemke off market deal. This house is on the same street at my moms home, and I had heard the owner wanted to sell as it was old, beat up, and his brother was living in it and didn’t take care of it. Contacted him and got it under contract within the next week or so. So being the right person, in the right place, at the right time allowed this deal to happen. 

Definitely thinner than I would like. One of my lessons learned is to start high and lowering rent if there are no bites. rents will go up in this area as the surrounding parts of town are growing tremendously.   

And yes, 4.8 on 30.   

@Christopher Oyenuga 

Sure. My PITI went from 541/mo to now 714/mo. The final documents for the refi came in last night and my interest rate is going to end up going from 6.125 to 4.8.

Sure. So, it’s around the same area where my family lives, and we’re all pretty handy. With that being said, it’s tough to get on the same schedule. Probably lost about 2-3 months of rent trying to “save” on labor, when really the opportunity cost was probably more expensive when you add monthly holding costs + losing out on rent. 

Throw in a few shotty carpenters that ran off halfway through a job, and a stop work order from the city because I didn’t pull permits (lesson learned), and that’s really just the beginning. Obviously no deals are perfect, and I could nitpick all day though. 

 Union Home Mortgage. 

@CJ M. I’m my biggest critic. There are things that occurred during the process that I could’ve done to lower costs and be more efficient, which would’ve helped me get renters in there earlier. 

It’s definitely a good first deal, and I’m going to take all of the lessons learned into the next one to really create a killer deal.