All Forum Posts by: Jim Keller

Thanks for the good word but, you know what happen...... $40,000 in estimated repairs looked more like $65,000 and then who know what else is hiding in the corners, and there were plenty of dead end nooks and areas that lead to nowhere.

The record still stands no wholesale deal done yet by me. Good luck to all

Jim

1 Vote

Been killing myself for the last 2 years..... put over $450,000 of service work back into the economy. Employed many escrow officers, assistance, closers, inspectors, appraises, lenders, contractors, auto manics, gas stations, office and computer supplies, printing, dump fees, and OMG TAXES IRS and CALIFORNIA STATE. This type of movie is a funny laugh.... Kinda like when I'm at a cocktail party and some person says "oh your flip homes, I would be great at that. I watch a lot of HGTV" That's typically when I just smile and ask what they do for a day job. I love it when they say they are a nurse and I say "I watch a lot of New York ER I would be a great Doctor" Funny how they never get the joke.

This type of show is a slap in the face to all of us that operate with integrity and are kind to others. This is not the industry I'm a part of, I have never seen anyone work like this before. We all know bad people like some cops, politicians, news casters, attorneys, judges, film actor's, kinda makes me sick to be honest. It's our profession that has this wrap.

If you know anyone that operates outside the law in our industry it's your responsibility to report them. Have a great week,

Jim

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Jimmy Humphrey:

As a short sale underwriter working at a big national bank, the reason short sales often take so long is because the seller often has to submit a lot of personal financial information that accompanies the actual deal.

And since a lot of people looking to do a short sale are often delinquent and in foreclosure, most of these folks are often in bad financial situations apart from their hosing issues. And folks whose financial lives are not in order often have a very difficult time submitting a lot of the basic documents that the VA/USDA/FHA/FHMLC/FNMA require, as they often have things on their tax returns or in their bank statements that raise a red flag, or require additional docs, letters of explanation, etc in order to analyze their personal finances. Some investors want to know the seller has an actual legitimate hardship, and/or are looking to see if they can't get some extra cash from the seller at closing, or to issue a 5-10 promissory note to the seller to reduce the delinquency.

There is also the issue of the investors requiring a lot of exceptions to offers that hold up the actual deals. Most investors require net proceeds of at least 84-88% of the fair market value. Anything outside of this requires direct approval from the lender themselves, which often adds a couple weeks to your turn around time. Then there are issues with seller concessions that often hold deals up. Junior lien issues can be a big thing too.

Apart from these things, a very solid listing agent who really knows what they are doing regarding short sales is absolutely essential. There are a lot of agents out there that really don't know what they are doing. From my end, I've seen listing agents who are ultimately to blame for the speed of the processing and getting everything through within an expedient manner. A good short sale listing agent is worth every penny.

Jimmy

Great to hear from a man in the trenches, My team and I have been very successful processing short sales for over the last 7 years. We can always tell when we are speaking to a professional like yourself and very much appreciate it. Keep up the great work.

Jim from Riverside, Ca

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Hi! My husband and I are Real Estate Investors. We are new to Bigger Pockets and would like to network with other investors in our community.

Hi Corey,

Welcome, I love this site and have meet many new people, and learned a ton of new things here. We have a flip going a little north of you in Menifee, Ca off Newport Rd and the 215 Freeway. Some time if your interested I would be happy to meet you at the site and discus how you find your deals. I have met with over 10 Bigger Pocket people in the last 4 months and have even done 2 deals with people I met here. Hope we talk soon.

Jim

1 Vote

Hi BP people,

Was offered a nice home in an upscale subherb north of down town Los Angeles Ca. Being my first wholesale buy I find it rough, the terms being dictated by the wholesaler are a $25,000 nonrefundable earnest money deposit. I do understand this put up or shut up way of doing business is not a bad thing just hard to feel comfortable.

I'm a big believer in this discomfort is just fear and grouth. The numbers look fantastic on the flip and when all goes as planned we will see a high 5 figure profit. Just feeling a little vulnerable and kicked around, I have been less than impressed with any wholesaler to date. This will be a bellwether moment for our little company.

We get our first and only look tommarrow at 10 am and my whole team will be there. If we like I sign and hand over my check with a 10 day escrow. Only in America...... I love saying that, $49,000 invested, $610,000 barrowed, $95,000 potential profit.

I will upload a few pictures as well as the look on my face as I arrange the EMD wire if we buy. Good luck to all of you in this short work week.

Jim

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Peter Christiansen:

@J Scott and @Julia Blythe thanks for your replies. The potential end-buyer fell through, so we'll be completing this project as a regular flip now and listing it when it's done. Based on you guys' experience and advice, it seems like that's a better way to go anyway.

Julia, thanks for the addendum...should we presell a flip in the future, we'll definitely add that to our contract.

Peter

Interesting how these special request just seem to fall apart. Most of my 600+ closing I have been invalved in were in the new home sales industry throughout Southern California.

These home were for the most part highly upgraded custom spec track homes. It was fairly common place for buyers to add upwards of $75,000 to $125,000 in options. The builder had cut off dates that were strictly followed with 25% penalty if you went over and all options required a 50% nonrefundable deposit. This weeded out all the dreamers, just like it simularly has done for you. Good work protecting your investment. Now find your real buyer and close the escrow, and find another.

Jim

1 Vote

I have lived in the Inland Empire "Corona/Riverside" for most of my adult life 27 yrs. In the last 2 years I have been fixing and selling homes in the IE. We have a long way to go to get to 20 this year but keep pushing and hopping for success.

I'm looking for like minded investor's that need to get to the next level..... It may be muti family, new home development, model home parks whatever it becomes I know I need good people around me. I'm at the Inland empire real estate investment club "find them on meet up" on the 3rd Wed. of the month and would love to meet you there or coffee almost any other day. Just need to keep going forward.

Jim Keller

1 Vote

Riverside, California

Welcome to bigger pockets, I have to start by saying I have never wholesaled a property before but I have had them offered to me many times. You could have a agreement signed with the buyers that says if they buy or refer the home to anyone you must be the seller. You could also put the home under contract, so your the seller. There are many different answers to your questions. Go find a couple of buyers of homes and make an agreement with them. I see a person that would work with me as a valuable asset and would never go back on my word to pay them. This is a great business that you can choose for the most part who to work with. If you have a bad feeling about them or feel they don't operate with your sense of fairness don't work with them. Life is to short.

Good luck Jim

0 Votes

Originally posted by @Carrie Giordano:

@Jim Keller can't wait to see some pics! What area of CA is this with such a large lot?

Carrie

I posted some pics and will have some new ones late this week take a look

Jim

0 Votes

Originally posted by @JD Martin:

I'm interested to see what some other, more experienced REI say about this concept.

I have always been a DIY guy. I built my own house - literally, built my own house, contracting out just a few parts of the job - and have always done all repairs/upgrades on others I have lived in. I do my own rental rehabs too, naturally. Aside from the fact that I enjoy working with my hands and taking something that looks ratty and making it look nice (I used to restore old Mustangs, too), I have always felt as though I was translating real skills that I have into real dollars by turning a $10,000 rehab done by contractors into a $2500 rehab done by me, and pocketing the difference.

Recently I have been listening to the follow-up to Thomas Stanley's "Millionaire Next Door", which is called "the Millionaire's Mind". Without going into specifics, the millionaire class he studies, by and large ground-up rather than inherited, almost to a person eschews the idea of DIY anything, on the basis that their time doing X, whatever X is (lawyering, doctoring, etc) pays far more than what it would cost to pay someone else to do X job (repair, rehab, whatever), and thus it is a financial waste of time to DIY.

Now, not saying I want to be a millionaire (OK, I want to :D ), but I grew up dirt poor and made my way from that point. If I hadn't done it myself, I don't see how I would have likely accumulated capital to get to the point I am now - and, yes, I make a good living at my day job now, but that was really only the past decade or so, and I'm not far from retiring. FWIW, I hold a doctorate and work in my field utilizing my education. I still do all my own work, from changing the clutch in my car to tearing out bathrooms. Last weekend I canned 15 quarts of tomatoes I grew in my garden. I figure it saved me about 40 bucks in canned tomatoes, all told, though the canning took maybe 2 hours in time. The millionaire mind would say that 2 hours would have been better spent buying the tomatoes and being more economically productive.

So what do you all think?

Resently we had a party at our house. My wife and daughter had a 51st b-day for me and it was very fun. My wife works as an agent she sells all my flips and joint ventures I get invalved with. She is on track to make over 150,000 this year, and makes well over $500 per hour. Yes that's the sound of me being proud of my wife......

Back to the party, she catered the meal, had a bartender, had the gardener completely clean and trim the whole yard. Hired the kids to clean the patio furnature and wash the windows. She paid others to do as much as she could, this is a relitivly a new thing for us. Just do the math, 20 hours of preparation and I bet there was 40 man hours at $500 per equils $20,000.

I would never do construction on my own flips, rehabs, toilet installs, swimming pool leaks, you name it. It's more a function of my own sanity, I can't do it all. By the way last week we both worked on buying a condo in our city and earned our $500 per hour and had a very fun party.

I love to garden and love the vegetables, I have even canned a few things. You have to enjoy life not be a slave to it.

Good luck

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Jim Keller

Jim Keller has started 18 posts and replied 338 times.

Post: Buying my first wholesale deal in California

Post: New Real Estate Major Feature Film "99 Homes" with Andrew Garfield - What Effect Does this Movie Have on Investors?

Post: Why Short Sales Take So Long?

Post: Real Estate Investors in the SoCal area

Post: Buying my first wholesale deal in California

Post: Preselling a Flip

Post: The push for deal 20....

Post: Trusting your Buyers?

Post: First mobile home flip in California

Post: The psychology of "Do it yourself"