All Forum Posts by: Keith Gephart

Thanks, @Andy Sabisch! There are definitely a lot of tools out there. I was hoping to narrow things down and focus on a solid product or spreadsheet that’s popular with pro flippers.

I wanted to share a couple that were recommended to me for others in the same boat:

• DealDeck – a great online tool with a subscription model.

• LotSide – a free tool that helps analyze and save properties.

I also came across a great spreadsheet that makes it a breeze to quickly decide whether to move forward with or pass on a deal.  Feel free to PM me and I can email it to you.

This happens a lot and is one reason lenders are hesitant to do flip deals for newer investors. That being said, it's happened to me...many times. You get into a deal and, for some reason, the property doesn't move. When this happens, we set a date if by which it doesn't sell, we put a tenant in there for a year. You can finance it with a DSCR loan using the value as opposed to your purchase price/cost after you've owned it for 6 months, so you're well past that. You can collect your rent and wait for another, better market. Every time we've done that, we've actually made more money. It's not the end of the world.

@Keith Gephart you just joined June 16, 2025.

Congrats on being here!

Now, you're hoping that just because you showed up here, everyone is automatically going to give you their best contacts - so your first investment is smooth sailing.

That's unlikely to happen.

All the experienced players here, have put in a lot of resources building their teams. They're unlikely to just give you their contacts and have you "hog them" and mess up what they're doing.

Also, think about it this way, as @Bruce Woodruff posted, there are bad owner customers out there. Why would an established investor recommend you to their contractor and take a chance it goes bad - which may negatively affect their business with that contractor?

Anyways, this is going to leave you with getting referrals from other newbies and smaller investors. They probably don't have any good referrals - other than the contractors that overcharged them, did poor work and never came back to finish the work.

Recommend you invest some time contributing and networking here and in the market where you bought. There's probably a local group of investors that meet in person or online. Do some digging on Google & here on BP to find them:)

 Under a contract of course. Ain't no free lunch bro.

Great breakdown, Keith — this is exactly the kind of detail new investors need to hear. You hit the nail on the head: not all lenders are created equal, and those initial offers that sound too good to be true usually come with hidden fees or rigid terms that can cost you down the road.

I always tell newer investors to shop lenders like you’d shop contractors — ask questions, compare line-by-line, and don’t be afraid to walk away if it doesn’t feel right. It’s easy to get excited and move fast, especially when someone says “you’re pre-approved,” but the fine print can make or break a deal’s cash flow.

Also agree 100% on 3rd Federal — their HELOC terms are super investor-friendly if you're in one of the states they serve. That prime MINUS 0.5% is rare these days, and having no origination fee or minimum draw is gold for strategic BRRRRs.

Sounds like you're setting yourself up for long-term success. The transition from HELOC to DSCR is a smart path — leverage the equity you've got, stabilize the deal, then lock in a product that scales.

Hey Keith!

Totally hear you on the analysis side. I used to spend way too much time on numbers especially on monthly cashflow, rent estimates, and expenses. Eventually I created a system that pulls in all the key data and helps me spot cash-flowing properties faster. It’s saved me a ton of time.
Happy to share if you're curious.