All Forum Posts by: Matt Vaughn

"Thank you for your interest.  Unfortunately, your property didn't meet the criteria of the buyer.  While this property doesn't seem to be a match, we ARE actively looking for properties.  Do you (or anyone you know) have any other properties that need to be sold?"

Alternatively, if you can negotiate the right price, this could be a good wholesale deal that you can sell to a more experienced buyer who works in those areas.

I'm doing a live-in flip as my first deal.  While I'm treating as a business, I have not entity or other history with real estate investing.  Because I look more like a home owner spending money on his house than an investor, I've assumed that I can't use rehab costs to offset my tax liability.  Is that the case?

When buying a condo, you fall under the jurisdiction of the condo association.  First, you will have to pay their dues each month, so know what those are.  But realize that those dues can change from time to time at the discretion of the condo association.   The condo association can decide to have high fees, which theoretically would be spent on improvements or amenities.  They could also choose to keep low fees, which would make them less able to spend money on improvements that could be needed.  

Long story short, there's a group of people that have the ability to affect your cash flow and your property value and you don't have direct control over them.  For this reason, some people do not invest in condos.

I would find a partner with someone who has done this before.  If you find the property, they may have the capital to fund the project.  They will also understand details you don't, like expenses, likely vacancy rates, etc.  

You can find these investors by calling self storage places and asking to speak to the owner.  If you show up with a potential property in hand, you may impress them.

Germantown is a good area.  I don't have specific experience renting in Germantown, but as always, it's all about the deal.

Also, make sure you understand the risks of condo associations.

Good feedback, all.  As for cabinets, I'm moving forward with theRTAstore.com.  They seemed to be the most reputable of the RTA cabinet shops I found and they seem to have frequently recurring sales.  In fact, they had a cherry finish cabinet line that was 35% off last week.  If I were doing this for a rental (and didn't care so much about the finish), I could have used that cabinet type and gotten cabinets for our kitchen for $2,500.   

I appreciate everyone's recommendations on granite, so I'll probably move in that direction - I like quartz, but I don't think it makes sense here.

Zillow and Redfin can help you identify trends in the last few years to see if sales and home prices are going up or down.  Compare your neighborhood to other neighborhood or the overall Metro area.  Bestplaces.net can give you macro level trends on a metro area.  

A lot of this comes down to your general understanding of the health and trends of an area that you'd just understand by being in the neighborhood, reading articles about the neighborhood, etc. 

A realtor could also probably give you their opinion about the general market.

Those are my two cents.

Good feedback @Russell Brazil and @Andrew Michael. The ARV is $300,000. I believe what you're saying, but I'm noticing that $425,000 newer homes in this area have laminate countertops and it made me wonder if I shouldn't do granite.

Where do you get your granite?

What are you paying for Aristocraft cabinets these days for a small kitchen?

The wood-like tile was intended for the kitchen.  I've seen this work well, it's durable, and has a good aesthetic.  What are you putting in kitchens these days?  Current flooring is laminate, so there's no existing hardwood to re-finish.

Brain Trust:

We're rehabbing a kitchen at 9300 N Laurel Rd, Laurel, Maryland (Howard County).  The house is a 1980 4 bed 2 bath house.  My comps in the area seem to show laminate countertops and nothing particularly fancy.  That said, I wanted your perspective on a couple questions:

1. What counter top type do you recommend for a flip in this area?  If granite/quartz, where are you getting your stone? We're considering part of 

2. We plan on white Ikea cabinets.  Let me know if you know something I don't. 

3. We're between wood-like tile and engineered hardwood (floating system).  Any strong opinions here?

@Brandon L., yes, I think that could be a good fit.