All Forum Posts by: Leland S.

@john D, I figure if I do the basics to get the place pretty it would beess than 40k, then I'd market it at 260k. With some room to come down. 

The place is owned outright and inherited by children. I told the realtor if they don't sell I'm more willing to work with 170k if they're interested. Time. To get to work on foreclosures and bank owned in that area! 

@Rhondalette W. Yes, it is listed on the MLS with a realtor. I'm sure they do want to get ask price. It is an empty house left in a Trust for the last 6mo or so by folks who died and left to their children. I noticed the house has been listed for the same price 3 times since January. I figured as an inheritance and a junker unit they'd be will to just get rid of it. But it appears they are caught up in the hype and assuming the "hot" market will ride them high. Based on what's selling just for a little bit more, I can't imagine them ever seeing an offer over 200k. I figured this would be a good opp for a low bid win. Based on my calculations, I'd be ok with a 170k price. It's just less buffer for issues I might find. So it would be ideal if he would show a little less sarcasm and possibly come down. But either way I think he would scoff at a 170k offer too.

Thanks for your inputs. I think you're right that I should move on. This property posed all kinds of problems as a rehab anyway with a horrible floorplan and odd construction.  

@Gina Ruff Thanks Gina! I agree!

Hi Reggie, I'm also looking into flipping in Nashville area. I made an offer and got scoffed at! What are you looking to make on a flip? 

Small little unit that needs a lot of work to get up to speed with market in TN is listed for 210k. I offered $140k assuming it needs at least 40k in repairs/upgrades and assuming a sale price of 240k. I compared it to three other units I could find that sold or were selling in a similar condition based on price per sqft. The three I found were average of $113/sqft and I offered 103. I know it was low but my realtor forwarded me the person's response that just said:

"you are joking aren't you"

I thought maybe they'd say no and counter offer at least to something lower. I guess I shouldn't feel too bad getting rejected on my first offer ever, so I just have to dust off and move on. 

Should I go up to my highest offer immediately in an attempt to possibly keep them interested? Not sure how this process works. 

@Jared Garfield Thanks for the detailed response!

First, I'm actually buying in Tennessee, but the extra square feet definitely does help based on other units that sold. I'll try to look at units without garages and converted, I'm not sure how to find that kind of data. I really like the idea of the masonry paint to cover because there is brick, so I could just cover that whole side with it. In fact, I might want to cover more brick since it looks pretty dated looking. 

The main reason I think it will easily cover the cost is because the square footage goes way up and it's a 3 bed 2 bath, so people will immediately see relatively a larger house for the cost. On the flip side, people might get turned off by a car port even if the house is nice. I feel like it's a big minus. So I think it will cover the cost, but maybe not add much to the profit without a real garage. Redoing the garage might make me have to add a real garage, which would probably make the whole project not worth it. 

A house I'm looking at flipping  that is 1350 square feet  but the garage would make a great add-on for 625 square feet extra .  I think to refinish the garage would cost  about 15K .  It would bring down the cost per square foot dramatically  so I think I could add about 30k  to the sale price  easily .  Only problem is now there'd be no garage,   so I was thinking about a carport,  but to me a carport sounds really cheesy  if  the house is new and rehabbed .  Also a contractor said the HVAC unit  is not enough to  provide for that extra area  so I'd have to get a wall mount indoor unit  but that sounds really  tacky to me.  What do you guys think? How do I decide? 

Oh also I'm looking for an inspector. Ideally they can check for mold, lead paint,  and asbestos!

 I'm looking for references for a general contractor that is good at doing rehabs for a potential flip I'm looking into getting. Once I make the offer the inspection goes through I'd like to get estimate new kitchen, bathrooms,  flooring,  walls, converting a garage to a room etc. Please provide references to their prior before after pics! Thanks! 

Thank you all for your input.

Aaron, I was always under the impression the 70% rule is both profit and repairs! I did ask to get a quote for flood insurance, the realtor told me $300/mo. The PITI formula though would be <100, assuming the loan is only 150k or less.

Brian - thanks for reminding me the closing costs are on both ends, but I think it should be like 3k each. On the sell side, the realtor said he will only take seller commissions. 

Looking at for sale prices of 8 units on Zillow I get an average price of 221k with avg sqft of 1645, avg cost per sqft of 139. The units are all in better shape to some degree, but certainly no full rehabs. Looks like the average prices in that whole neighborhood are all low 200's, but some are trying to pop up for sale now for more.