All Forum Posts by: Crystal Smith

@Phillip Faries Everyone has to develop a strategy they feel comfortable w/.  If you love where you live & your strategy is working then stick to it.  But, don't let you're fear prevent you from learning about other profitable parts of the business.

My assumption is the $12K budget is all material costs. If not then your budget is too small. You need to add closing costs on the purchase & sell side plus the costs to hold. There's holding costs even if you pay cash (insurance, taxes....) The deal sounds skinny but I would look @ the average Days on Market for the properties being sold @ retail. If you can really finish the renovation in 3-4 weeks and sell it in less than 30 days @ $170K, then your Annual ROI will be good. But if the data doesn't support selling it fast then you'll have over $120K in the property sitting idle. Before you do this you should evaluate an alternate exit strategy; i.e. If you're unable to sell quickly, will you qualify to refinance the property (cash out some of your investment) & rent the property for a positive cash flow.

@Tony Duran What does you contract w/ the broker's office say.  If it's in the contract your stuck.  If not then fight it.

@Phillip Faries I assume you have W2 income.  If that's the case, w/ $70K available for a downpayment the opportunities for you to find a multifamily w/ a unit that you can live with positive cash flow on the remainder in a safe neighborhoods, are coming on the market all the time.   I have to agree w/ @Lumi Ispas .  While you're looking @ the small condo units, expand you're horizon.  If you're current agent can't help you, hire another agent.

@Alex N. Holy cow...  I'd ask your agent to counter w/ an offer that's $161K less than what you've offered.  Have the agent turn in the GC estimates w/ the offer.

@Zane O. The only problem I have w/ your analysis is time.  A lot can happen in one year.  A $50K renovation, assuming $5K per week, shouldn't take more than 10 weeks.  For safety sake, double it to 20 weeks.  If the renovation is half way decent and the Days on Market average for your area is less than 90 days you should be in & out of the project way before one year.  Why wait one year?

@Shequann Burrwell I won't comment on whether this was a scam or not but I will provide some rules of thumb.  

1.  Most private lenders won't require you to send any money to them.  There are some institutional lenders that may require a fee for an appraisal or an application fee, but the legit ones won't press on that until they know they can do the deal.  Bottom line:  No money up front.

2. Loan insurance:  Normally the borrower pays for "Title Insurance" which some may call "Loan Insurance"  but the money for this comes from the proceeds @ closing.  Rule of thumb: For the legitimate lenders the majority of the lender fees are handled @ closing.  There may be some application fees, or you may have to pay for an insurance binder, but that will be direct w/ the insurance company.  He should be providing you w/ an estimate of his "Junk fee" costs.  Don't use the term Junk w/ the lender.

3.  How you vet- I think you've vetted him.   

@Reese Moore See if the tax assessment site includes the address that taxes are mailed to.  If yes then send a letter indicating your interest in the property.

@Richard Thomson Depending on location we can provide you w/ some referrals.

@Dan Weiman We use all the features of REIBB Pro.  Especially the back office CRM tool Client Genie.  It gets 2 thumbs up from us.