All Forum Posts by: Sylvia Hanna

Hi @Sylvia Hanna welcome to BP! There is a TON of information throughout the site. If you are interested in turnkey investing, I would recommend you contact @Brie Schmidt as well for more information and set up a keyword alert for turnkey. You will find a lot of valuable info on here. 

You can be a minority partner, you don't have to control the whole deal. That's how I got started. Better to get a small piece of a ripened fruit than a large piece of a rotten one. 

@Sylvia Hanna You make money on real estate the day you buy it. In other words, do not overpay. If you can buy a property below fair market value and don't have to put money into it you have already made a profit. That is a very simple version but accurate. You are looking for properties for as little as possible that are worth as much as possible. 

When you find a 100K property that you can buy for 30/40K that is a home run. More likely you will find properties that are from a few percent to 30% below FMV. I always have my feelers out, read every for sale site, and do a quick search of the MLS nearly daily.

Sylvia, listen to your agent - he/she is doing you a favor. Don't buy something just for the sake of getting in the game. You don't know the market, don't seem to have a grasp on rehabs and don't seem to have a team in the area. 

There are cheaper ways to "pay" for an education, assuming you are looking to make your first acquisition. Why not partner with an experienced investor in your market? 

Good luck whatever you decide,

Bennet 

Hi Sylvia, we should keep in touch. There are areas in Orlando where the prices are a result of crime and such. But if I find any respectable wholesale deals, I can definitely have you take a look at them. BTW my father in law does amazing rehab work, and FAST, for a fraction of a GC. I can share some of his work with you via email if you like. 

@Sylvia Hanna@Sylvia Hanna

While I'm sure there are people who have done this type of investing, not being able to see the property prior to purchase or drop in occasionally during the rehab could have very disastrous consequences to your flip. The only way I see this successfully working without exposing yourself to high risk is having a team that you implicitly trust in the area, preferably family with a background in real estate investing. 

To answer your specific questions, there is no 'standard' cost on property rehabs. There is also no limit to the number of things that can be wrong with a house - you need an excellent contractor to properly assess the rehab costs. Cost all depends on what needs to be replaced and what you replace it with. The bigger issue is that you won't learn from the experience either, as you won't have first hand knowledge, see the defects, and be able to identify them in the future. This makes you 100% reliant upon the contractors you choose. 

And no, working 4 hours a day for a contractor is highly unusual, but this is just a taste of the potential issues you may run into with contractors. Even the good ones occasionally go bad. In the end, nobody values your money as much as you do.

-Christopher

The problem with this price point of properties in Orlando, FL is that they are going to typically be in high crime neighborhoods. If that is acceptable to you then move forward. I would definitely come spend some time driving the neighborhoods you are considering prior to purchase. I would also lean heavily on a local realtor that understands the investor and his/her needs. 

I would hate to see you buy something in the wrong spot here in Central Florida. It could take years to recover from a bad purchase. Just because the numbers seem like they are good a high crime or drug infested neighborhood could ruin you. Remember, an investor makes their money the day they buy something. 

As far as the General Contractor you spoke to, lose his number. No real GC works four hours a day. Maybe a pickup truck type guy but you don't want to go there. There are plenty of qualified and respectable GC's to choose from in nearly any city.

Good luck to you!