All Forum Posts by: Michael Haynes

@Jeanette Klaus, Hello from Tampa. You could do a Craigslist search for Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County, Housing, Apartments/housing for rent or Rooms & shares. The idea is not to sign on to a one year rental until you get familiar with the area and find a brokerage to work with when you get your license. There are some really nice houses to share with pools etc. near the Center of Tampa where all the offices are. The main street is Kennedy Blvd. and all the action is South of Kennedy for all the builders and flippers running down to the AFBase. Look on Google Map. This is a big peninsula inside of Tampa Bay. You can find really nice homes to stay in other areas, but, commuting into town kills the day. If you wanted to just get something on your own, with no credit check, first months rent, move in tomorrow, no questions asked, and have a ten mile commute into town, look up Trailers for Rent and out in Riverview area are a hundred of them. That's Hwy 60 and South on 78th Street. You can get one bedroom and two bedroom trailers and bigger double wides from $500 to $1000. Some are in Family Parks or on single lots. Most of them seem to be run by one company, so, calling them will get a whole list to choose from. Following this blog, maybe somebody on BP has a nice place for you.  I just read up on Airbnb.com in Tampa and they have sofas for rent overnight in peoples houses. They said the cheapest one day rent is $39. You can do a Search on Airbnb.com for Tampa and talk with each person before you get here. That may be a good way to start as they are also supposed to act as your Host. Good luck.

@Devon Garbus, Hello from Tampa. I saw a post your were in just now looking for tear down houses in S. Tampa for buildable lots. I have a CG half acre just off of Dale Mabry Hwy. and Interbay Blvd. It was four lots and a 3/1 block house that I rent. Used to be a nursery when I bought it. 6305 S. Roberts. Corner of Roberts and Mango. Listed on Zillow.com where you can contact me. 

@Huiping Sheng, Hello from Tampa. First thing is to have a Home Inspector that you can talk to, who shows up and can do the Four Point Inspections online while you stand there asking them all the questions that you have. The Aluminum wire is not so much the problem as knowing if all the outlets are Grounded, three wire, outlets. You don't sound like someone who actually wants to learn something about electrical house wiring. You can do a Google a Search online and include youtube in your Search to see all the things you would need to know in a video online about grounded electrical outlets or wiring. Then, do a Search for the electrical panel or Service Box. The second one you need on your Team is an Electrician. My AC guy is really helpful and volunteers to come out on Holiday's and Sundays and at night if I have a problem and he knows all about the electrical problems with my Rentals. When you look to Buy a House you need to look inside the electrical Service Box outside the house and see what type of wire you have. You are looking to see if it has Aluminum wire or if it has grounded Romex copper wire. You can get your Electrician to give you lessons on what to look for and the estimate to rewire a house in Tampa. You can check the inside of the Panel on a wall inside the house. I have had problems, especially with the Aluminum wires coming loose at the breakers. The breakers start tripping or heating up because where the wire connects is a screw and once a year or so, I will go through the Panel and Service Box and tighten up all the screwed connections. This happens with all the outlets, even the big one for the stove. Where the wire connects is a screw and it will come loose and needs to be tightened or the wire heats up and burns the outlet. This stuff you may not want to get into, as you are an Agent, but, the more you know, the less you can be taken for with Houses. Houses built on concrete slabs have wires running in the attic. If the pitch on the roof is really low, it is very hard to find a skinny helper who will crawl in the rafters and pull the new wires with the electrician. If the attic is full of insulation, it is even harder. Doing the work during the day is life threatening in our Heat that we have in Tampa. Some old houses are built up off of the ground and sometimes all the wires are accessed under the house for an easier rewire job. Your Electrician has to count all the outlets and see if your Service Box needs replacement and give you an estimate of the rewire job. Knowing more or less what it will cost will help you making an intelligent offer on your next House. I have not had a problem getting Home Owners Insurance for 30 years in Tampa with all the houses that I had that were wired with Aluminum wires. The thing that your Inspector will test for is that all the outlets to be three wire, Romex, grounded outlets. You can buy a small tester that you plug into each outlet to test them before you Buy the next house. Important things to know when appraising a house are things like the age of the roof. If you are buying a house with a roof that is older than ten years, you may have to replace it in the future to get Home Owner's Insurance with all the myriad of new Rules and Regulations that the Code wants us to follow. If you watch any of the Flipper shows on TV you can see right away that the majority of those Pros look for destroyed houses and they don't think twice about gutting everything, including some of the sheet rock. Rewire if necessary. New roof. Always new cabinets, flooring, carpets, windows, some plumbing and tiles and doors. They have a Team of licensed Pros available for any quick estimates they need to appraise their prospective property. You should do the same if you want to play this game. 

@William C. Hello from Tampa where I am sick of two years of Keller Williams, Century 21, Southerby's and lots of other "Pros"...Agents, calling me at 8AM each morning wanting to List my property that I have on Craigslist and Zillow.com etc. Is that all you guys want? Don't you have a list of prospective Buyers available for 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom Houses in Tampa? I will give you a Commission, but, don't call me without a prospective Buyer in mind. I have been selling properties for years and almost all my properties have sold because of the sign in front. I put the Price on my For Sale by Owner sign and its on the Flyer and in the MLS if I paid to List it on my own with For Sale by Owner. When I see a car on the street with a For Sale sign, the one thing I want to know is the Price! To me it is stupid to not include that with the phone number. Save me some time and just spit it out? Do you know anything about Selling? My Real Estate Agent is a nice, Lawyer, from Brazil who can't practice here, so, he becomes an Agent and continues to remind me of how Professional he is and how he has the Plan for Selling my properties that, I don't have, because I am not a Professional...Stop stepping on my feet and spitting in my face and call me back when you have a Buyer. On BP, the Newbie, Flippers are told that the MLS is never the place to look for a Deal. Which sends them to the Wholesalers. When I look up the property that the Wholesaler is advertising on BP, I find that they bought it a few days ago where it was Listed on Zillow.com for 10 to $20,000 less. If the Newbie wasn't so lazy, they could have made the Deal on their own. There was a 2/1 around the corner on W. Osborne in Seminole Heights where we have a 4/1 house For Sale, that was For Sale for months on Zillow.com for $85K. Couple of weeks ago the sign came down and it was offered on BP for $125K as a Deal property for a Flipper. I did most of my Buying 30 years ago in S. Tampa with Financed by the Owner negotiations that I developed from Listings on the MLS. Different times. Different circumstances, but, I have not seen anything but Retail Priced offerings on BP. Lots of good advice if you are looking for a Hard Money Lender, to go to the Wholeseller and Buy their property at more than Retail for a Flip at the Top of the Market when the Bubble is ready to burst again. Price means Everything to me when I am Daytrading Futures each morning or analyzing a distressed property that I see on the street.

@Matthew Schroeder, Here in Tampa, the Builders build until the Market crashes and then the smaller ones go Bankrupt, just like D. Trump with his Casinos. Our Economy is built on different Bubbles. The DOT.com, Home Mortgage, Gold, Currencies, Oil, you name it. You can look at the charts, long term and see where each one runs up to Maturity and then crashes like Hadar Orkibi points out with trying to catch a falling knife. The RealtyTrac video says that the East Coast Flips are the most profitable because the houses are in such bad shape and need so much work that the average time to Flip is six months. I have only seen one episode of FlippingBoston, but, that will show you why those houses with 100 year old basements and on the sides of hills and foundations made of granite stones etc. take so long to rehab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCUHuxfrQLs

Right now the prices of small houses in S. Tampa have leveled off. My Rental that I have been working on for four months stopped getting calls two months ago as I raised the final price to match what the it will look like when I finish up next week. I am in this situation where my Agent wants me to install all new cabinets etc. so that he can raise the price to some ridiculous level and make like he knows how to list it for more and get a commission on the Sale. I would rather keep it affordable, repaired and ready to live in for ten years without any problems, for the average family to Buy and be happy with my effort. The three simple houses next to mine, were all gutted and upgraded and not one of them or some of the others within a couple of blocks have been sold for three months. One of them, similar to mine, is asking $225K and not one time has the agent held an Open House or put Flyers in the tube on the sign or cleaned the yard. The Agents only want to be your buddy until they get the Listing and then you never seen them again. The neighbor across the street has a similar house that he had rented twice, to drug addicts. He sent someone in there for a week to clean it out and haul away all the used furniture and garbage. Then, he had a painter work for another week and sold it in a couple of days for $135K with a For Sale by Owner sign. He told me he was going to ask $120k and I told him it was worth $130K and he listened to me. He started when I did around 1985 and he had six of these houses, all paid off and decided that this wave of bad Tenants in S. Tampa was enough. He arranged Buyers for all of the other five properties this week. So, there is a Market for the up to $150K Homes, but, not the ones that the Flippers gutted and installed all the new bling stuff, with new windows and doors, who want $220K plus. Know your Market.

@Joshua Smith, Hello from Tampa, I am a new member of BP with the intention to familiarize myself with what all the other investors are doing around the US. I had some Rentals in S. Tampa for 30 years that I personally managed and repaired. Last year I got involved with a neighbor who attended a Real Estate seminar a joined some group that got him to Buy SF Rental houses in different States, while he lived and had a business in Denver. He owned a house across from one of mine and he needed help in repairs and management to rent it again. Turned out that he had four in the Tampa area and they were all in danger of Foreclosure. I don't know about all the other houses in other States, but, this showed me that being an Absentee Owner is not a good idea. I understand that Sales is where the Money is at and that says Rentals to a lot of people because you have the short term Rental income stream and the possibility of Creating Wealth with the use of Time to gain in the Appreciation of Value in the property. But, your Business Plan looks like some kind of Franchising Business without having the Basic Business in place. You don't own Rentals and with that experience, are branching or Franchising out to other Cities or even States. Your Search is for the Best Cities for Buy and Hold, SFR's to invest in. Your going to move there to rehab houses to rent without a License. SFR's here in Tampa produce less profits than Multi-family rentals. You have to depend on finding a Deal property to rehab to show enough monthly rents to make it profitable. If you are not going to move to an area where you intend to live and farm that area, you have to depend on a Team of support for each House and pay Retail for all the help, leaving you with how much Monthly Rents? Houses don't take care of themselves and from what I have read in the BP blogs, I don't see this Business Model as a tasty or profitable, long term way to make Money. I did not go to University and study Business and Finance or get an MBA and I don't know all the different formulas that go into the Study of what makes a good Rental Deal. I can see the reasons why the Flippers would rather not want to hold onto a Tenant nightmare property and just deal with their Contractors and Subs to rehab something and Sell it for a hoped for Profit. But, that removes the ability to Create Wealth by using Time to gain Appreciation in the property Value. You are no longer an "Investor." You are a "Trader," for us who trade in the Markets. In essence, all you did was provide yourself with a JOB. Depending on the JOB you are giving up, it could have been more profitable to just keep your JOB.

@Justin Denham, Hello from Tampa. I had 8 Rentals in S. Tampa for over 30 years and I am Selling. One of the main reasons is that I used to be able to afford a "Handyman" to do almost all the repairs and upgrades for me at an Hourly rate. Not anymore. As a new member of BP I am surprised at how easy all the big guys talk about doing Flips as a Business Plan with a Crew of 20 or 30 guys and multiple Agents and Lawyers and Accountants and an Office with Partners and do 10 to 30 Flips each Month. This month I met a lady at the window store who is a Century 21 Agent with a Crew of 37 who has done 200 Flips in Tampa this year and has a List of 120 properties for sale who drives an old Range Rover instead of a BMW like most of the fancy Agents I meet up with. I have a friend who started with a big house downtown Tampa and ended up with 90 Double Wide Trailers on single lots, outside of town and a couple of small Trailer Parks etc. He needed a Handyman and I gave him my guy who worked for $10 to $20 an hour for him. My friend would buy any type of big Trailer, even with a big tree growing through the floor! He would redue the septic tank and field and install or clean and upgrade the well etc. Then, he would support the box itself and strip out all the inside walls, room by room. Rewire with Romex wire and change the Plumbing pipes with PVC, just like building a house. Then, he would reframe if necessary with pressure treated lumber, Sheet Rock the walls like a house, instead of the cheap wall board and finish the floors with plywood and tiles or carpet. With a front porch and overhang for shade he could rent the box to pay itself off in a year and just have Cash Flow after that. My guy worked for him for ten years and then died. I have Tenants who need work and they have kept things going at $10 an hour with me doing most of the plumbing, electric, runs to Home Depot, providing tools etc. When I had to do a roof or fix an AC I would have to call a guy on my List that I keep for those JOB's. That could be $50 to $75 an hour stuff. But, all this takes away from my Time that I want to Trade Futures in the mornings for my Daily Cash. So, I am Selling to keep just one Residence and one Rental and do a Flip when I find a Deal. I will make more Easy Money with Futures Trading in my Roth IRA and I have properties in Brazil that need my attention. If you want to find a Real, "Handyman" or a guy who actually knows how to build a house from the ground up and will work for an Hourly Rate, who has a Driver's License and doesn't Drink Beer on the JOB and a Truck and Tools and is Honest and does not charge you for Time he did not Work...Dream On. Those guys died a long time ago. Realize that the State of Florida wants to make it Illegal to do Any Work on a House, without a License. The person doing the Work needs to have a specific License for Each type of Repair! The Code Enforcement guys act like Cops from LA or Fort Lauderdale. They think they have a right to Bully the Owner and you don't even know them. If I were in Plant City I would get guys off the street if you have a Home Depot etc. for cleanups and landscaping. They always want to charge more and they don't do work unless you watch them. But, you could luck out with a guy who actually knows how to repair things or he will know someone who does. You have the Flyer with "Husband for Rent" guys. Angie's List. Your local Real Estate Club. The Want Ads. Do a Google Search for "handyman plant city florida." The manager at the Boston Market was telling me that he can't wait to start Buying Trailers in Riverview, but, he is a Handyman type and he can do all the fixups. Doing Flips is the same thing as running a Farm or Gold Mining. Once you get it going and it is profitable, it turns into a numbers game. Economies of Scale pertain. You need more to make more. I see guys wanting to replace their Wage JOB with Flipping. "Soon as I can make $100,000 a year doing Flips, I will quit my JOB." OK...what happens next year when the Real Estate Market takes a Dump? Get the picture? For a small Investor, if you are handy with tools, you are at a disadvantage and maybe one House to Flip at a time will not produce enough Profit.

@Tim Kaminski, Hello from Tampa. You live in Tampa and never heard of a house or Double Wide or Manufactured Home on a single lot with a Well and Septic Tank? We have a Well at 4701 N. Boulevard, where we lived for ten years. That's at the top of the 20 foot hill, across from Rivercrest Park, in Seminole Heights. The oldest neighbor told us it is the best water in Tampa at 85 feet. The house is For Sale and we didn't start up that Well. As far as Free Water, don't tell the Utility Department about any Well. You don't own the water rights as far as they are concerned. The water restrictions for using Well water are still in place. Your Eco-Friendly neighbors will be all over your .... if they see you watering on the wrong day. I had one lady yelling at me two weeks ago and I had just laid down new grass sod which you can water each day for one month. We moved to a home we have on the Hillsborough River which was built in 1955 with a Well. The area North of Seminole Heights is called Sulphur Springs for a reason. Our home is just across from the Lowry Park Zoo. We have springs all over the hill running down from the swimming pool on Nebraska Ave. of the same name. The water is full of rusty iron and sulphur smell. To use that Well I had to install two different types of filters and add chemicals to clean the rust out. It was a pain until I hooked up to City Water for around $1500. You didn't give the address of this house you saw, so I don't know if you are in the City Limits where of course you can pay to install a water meter and hook up to the system. Just call the City of Tampa Utilities on Nebraska Ave to find out if you can hook up etc. Does your neighbor have a water meter? One way to price a house is to find out what the land value is. Add on the cost of new construction per square footage for the house to see what is the maximum value possible. Then, make up your list of repairs and negatives and deduct that from the total value. You know at that point that that house is not worth more than that. One of the negatives is the Well. You really need to be hooked up to City water and that cost should be deducted from the max price to get an idea of what to offer. Same thing with a wooden house. That's not a positive. Cinder block is. Roof is more than ten years old... = negative. Slab foundation with galvanized pipes...= negative. Jaloise windows...= big negative. Get the idea? People want NEW Construction. Less than that is a struggle to convince the Buyer to be delighted with the dirt and cracks and old appliances and counter tops. Dead lawns and no sprinklers. No garage. Small bathrooms? The list is endless for negatives. I have a young couple with three beautiful baby girls, who desperately want to buy my Rental house I have been working on for four months. But, they have no Credit and no Down Payment unless the grandfather gets involved and tries with FHA. You didn't say if the house was a Rental or Flip or if you would live there? Makes a difference with your offer.

@Craig Curelop, Hello from Tampa, I look at your question and any of the possible answers as the same thing. Do you know what your Target property is and can you set up a Google Search parameter for that? Then, test it. This is what we do when we read Charts and Trade Stocks, Commodities or Futures. I grew up in Palo Alto and you live in San Francisco... = the computer Geek Capital of the World. Learn to use your computer to make a Search and go to ALL of the different sites, including MLS and have your computer do the Search to Find the Target property for you. This is what Agents are supposed to do for a commission and all they do is a Search of one sort or another and charge you for the result. Here is an example. I want to find Distressed properties For Sale that have been on Zillow or Craigslist or MLS or For Sale by Owner or wherever for the longest period of time. Why? Because that is the definition of being Distressed and that may give me a list of Motivated Sellers...Duh. I bought some of my Duplexes 30 years ago in S. Tampa, by virtue of my Agent, who was a Business major who owned a Ford Dealership before he retired to be a Broker, because he knew what to look for at that time on the MLS. He recognized that there were properties For Sale for an extended period of time, that were not advertised correctly. The properties I bought all had two buildings, Duplex and a House or two Duplexes and they only advertised with one front view of one of the buildings...Duh. Everyone's quick impression was that there was only one building and it was very expensive. Some of the properties I was able to Buy with $10K Down and Financed by the Owner. Have you studied what BP says about Buying with Low and No Money Down? You seem to want to limit yourself to FHA and Conventional. Do you know what a Lease Option is? The Carleton Sheets course had a challenge for you learn how to Buy a Property with No Money Down and become a Professional Negotiator. I keep getting offers from Agents and individuals for a Rent to Own deal on the house that I have for sale. Very lame attempt at this time. Sellers that have paid off properties are easier to deal with when making a Creative Financing offer. For Sale by Owner signs are ones that you may be able to convince the Seller to do something Creative. Why would you want to Buy in Florida, when you reside in California? Stupid question.

@Aryelle Collins, Hello from Tampa. I have a half acre, CG light commercial corner for sale just before you get to Dale Mabry and Interbay in S. Tampa. 6305 S. Roberts is suited for 8 Town Homes like the project that just finished on Interbay. Just north of my property, on the same, West side of Dale Mabry are two more Commercial lots for sale. My agent from a couple of years ago, had my property listed with 

http://www.costar.com/about/

and www.loop.net

those commercial sites for some leads.