All Forum Posts by: Kuba F.

@Nick S. When you say "look at Zillow for an idea on property values in the neighborhood" do you mean you're looking at sold properties, active properties, or the Zillow Zestimate?

I highly recommend that you use Redfin in tandem with Zillow to gauge property values as Redfin is a broker with MLS access and they update their property feeds every 15 minutes or so.

@Cody Harris Since this thread is 3 months old I'm curious to know how you've fared since you got everyone's input. 

I'll add my own 114 cents, literally. I wrote a few BiggerPockets blog posts on how to find off-market flip and wholesale properties and motivated sellers that may come in handy in filling out your pipeline:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/72016-55-resources-to-find-real-estate-deals-online

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/71506-27-ways-to-find-off-market-and-wholesale-real-estate-deals-offline

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/72664-35-relationships-to-help-you-find-more-houses-to-flip-or-wholesale

@RJ Browning Sounds like a great plan -- you're not getting stuck on the little "stuff" -- you're systematically doing it. 

Your signs look great and like you put some care into them. I would only worry about the possibility of bleeding when it rains, but that and the city taking them down is just factored into cost lost.

Facebook is quirky. I've run a lot of ads and the major issues have to do with the amount of text on the picture. If there's too much you get a very low ad score and they will restrict the audience size the ad appears to regardless of the size of the audience you've targeted. 

Definitely recommend getting some wallet cards made up -- these are smaller than business cards and can fit in wallet slots. Hand them out to everyone you meet, leave them in credit card slots at gas stations, put them on corkboards, anywhere. 

I wrote a few BiggerPockets blog posts on how to find properties/motivated sellers. Might be more than you need right now but you may read a nugget or two for down the road:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/72016-55-resources-to-find-real-estate-deals-online

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/71506-27-ways-to-find-off-market-and-wholesale-real-estate-deals-offline

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/72664-35-relationships-to-help-you-find-more-houses-to-flip-or-wholesale

Hi BiggerPockets community,

This is Kuba Fietkiewicz, founder of online real estate investment software REIkit.com. In my previous posts, I talk about my house flipping failures and how I overcame them. One way was, of course, by educating myself on what went wrong.

Once I identified how I lost tens of thousands of dollars on my first flips, I went on a hunt for software that could improve my analysis and make sure those same mistakes didn’t happen again. Unfortunately, all of the software I could find were either downloadable spreadsheets that required constant updates and re-saves, or online software that simply wasn’t powerful enough for the “cover all the bases” analysis that is required by pro investors.

That’s when I decided to build out REIkit.com, addressing many of the limitations of the software that is available, and making sure the analysis tools are a thorough as possible.

REI/kit offers four tools that all work together to create a highly detailed analysis for fix and flips AND robust rental analysis:

• Appraisal-Quality ARV: Search for comps and calculate a true After Repair Value (ARV) the way an appraiser would. This includes the ability to adjust your comps by assigning feature values.
• Accurate Rehab Cost Estimates: Create itemized rehab cost estimates without needing a contractor, and know the real cost of your rehab before you make your offer.
• Account for Holding Costs: The most comprehensive list of holding costs for you to itemize so that you can be sure that you account for every penny of the project.
• Multiple Exit Strategy Analysis & Offer Price Guidance: Fool-proof guidance on what to pay for the property to make the most profit based on your investment criteria.

After you’ve done your analysis:

• Get funded more quickly by sending polished reports of your deal fundamentals to your lenders.

REI/kit is the real deal for professional deal analysis, and I take pride in continually improving and adding new features that my customers request. Feedback is always appreciated, and the customer support is fantastic.

I invite you to a full free trial of the software to discover all of the tools for your business here:

https://www.reikit.com

If you have any comments or questions about the software, drop a comment below or catch me on chat at the site.

Cheers!

Kuba

@Shafi Noss Welcome to BP!

What you are talking about is performing comps adjustments the way appraisers would. Adjustments account for differences in features and amenities (such as beds, garages, pools, views, lot size, etc.) between the comps and the subject property.

I wrote a BiggerPockets blog post on how to adjust comps here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/8814/68395-how-to-find-real-estate-comps-and-calculate-after-repair-value

As far as how to figure out how much the features and amenities are worth so that you can adjust them, values vary widely between markets, even between neighborhoods, so you will need to come up with your own data for the neighborhood that you are targeting.

• If you have no idea at all, one trick is to find 3 comps that are exactly the same, and one comp that is missing that feature, and then you would be able to check for the difference in value.
• If you don’t have enough comps to determine market value of a particular feature, then another way is to use construction cost as your base cost. For example, a garage in my area would cost 10k to install.
• If you’re still not sure, you should share your adjustment with your realtor, or your investment community, and ask them for a second opinion on the value of the features in that neighborhood.

Thanks for bringing it up.  I was sure you were mistaken, so I had to dig around for it, but according to these guys, at least for builder's risk you're right:

http://affinitylps.com/is-it-covered-contractors-i...

Why is this damage excluded? I thought I had “Builder’s Risk” coverage…

Even if you have the appropriate coverage for a property undergoing renovation, the reason for these exclusions is to avoid an overlap of coverages. Any property damage, injuries to a contractor’s employees or negligence in their workmanship is covered under policies that the contractor procures for himself, such as General Liability and Workman’s Comp. (Subcontractors should get their own liability coverage, too.)

I still can't believe it frankly.

I'm going to have to double check my umbrella now...

If it makes sense, one thing you can try is to pay them the hundred extra bucks or whatever it costs to buy insurance and put you on as additional insured as a precondition to start work.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Kuba and I'm the founder of REIkit.com real estate investment software based in Los Angeles. I'm excited to be a part of BiggerPockets and wanted to let the community know about a free tool that I built out, called the Comps Adjustment Tool, that anyone can use.

If you've ever found yourself in a situation where you were looking for comps as part of your After Repair Value calculations, but everything that was coming back was just not the same as your subject property, you need this tool. More bedrooms? Less Bathrooms? Pool? No pool? This all matters.

On my very first flip I did not account for the fact that all my comps had a garage, and my subject property did not. That was an expensive mistake that shaved $10,000 off the profitability of my flip. 

If I had just taken a few extra minutes to adjust my comps, I could have avoided it entirely, instead of finding out months later when it was time to sell. 

It's exactly why I built out the tool, so that others could avoid the same scenario. Wouldn't you like to know if you're going to lose money, before you make the deal?

I encourage you to try out the free comps adjustment tool:

https://tools.reikit.com/comps

If helpful, here is a video on how to adjust your comps:

https://tools.reikit.com/education/how-to-use-comps-get-an-accurate-arv

Feel free to reach out to me here in the comments or on the site chat if you have any questions or suggestions.

Cheers!

Kuba

Hi Everyone!

This is Kuba Fietkiewicz with REIkit.com real estate investment software based out of Los Angeles. 

I'm very excited to let the BiggerPockets community know about our new contest, where you could win a year's subscription to REI/kit!

This is a $335.88 value where you will get access to all of the premium tools for a full year, completely paid for. All you have to do is click on the link below to enter today:

Click here to enter!

The drawing will be held on Monday, June 4th, 2018, and a winner chosen through random selection. 

Not only do you already have access to the free ARV Calculator and Comps Adjustment Tool, but you'll also get access to these premium upgrades:

Accurate Rehab Cost Estimates: Create itemized rehab cost estimates without needing a contractor, and know the real cost of your rehab before you make your offer.

Holding Costs Accounting: The most comprehensive list of holding costs for you to itemize so that you can be sure that you account for every penny of the project.

Multiple Exit Strategy Analysis & Offer Price Guidance: Fool-proof guidance on what to pay for the property to make the most profit based on your investment criteria.

Professional Marketing Reports: Get funded more quickly by sharing professional reports of your deal fundamentals with your hard money lenders. Market your property to other investors and get it under contract quicker.

Sounds good? 

Here's that link again: 

Click here to enter!

As always, if you have any questions, drop a comment below or I'm on chat at the site.

Cheers!

Kuba

@Marc Reynolds Welcome to BP! 

BiggerPockets has a great list of real estate investment clubs, it's an ideal way to dive in and get the answers to your questions from the local pros if you don't mind the drive: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/real-estate-clubs/

Analyze a ton of properties in your target area over time and you'll get a feel for what is under and overvalued, and be ready to strike when you find one where the numbers work.

@Donovan Lee Hey, what's your MAO formula. I thought you were just wholesaling the property, in which case I'm not sure why you'd have a loan or holding costs.