All Forum Posts by: Brandon Espino

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Colorado Springs.

Purchase price: $285,000
Cash invested: $5,000
Sale price: $445,000

UPDATE: old it $450000... The GC that our investor partner brought in turned out to be unskilled, unreliable and really messed up the entire project. We ended up having unresolved mold issues, sewer line holes, possible structural issues that ended up costing us at the end. We were lucky to not take a bigger loss than we did ($4,000 in total). I am grateful for this experience however, because I learned what NOT to do when flipping a home.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Cold calling foreclosures. Showed up as a listing appointment and presented a cash buy opportunity. Seller took it and we were off to the races.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money. Outside investors brought in the downpayment.

How did you add value to the deal?

Brokered the deal, managed the contractors, picked out the materials.

What was the outcome?

4k net loss for all parties. Made some of that back on the commission. Definitely could have turned a profit if we were smarter on the initial inspection and chose a better GC.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

1. The cheapest GC isn't always the best one... You really have to vet them and see what they've done in the past and how the numbers on their end panned out vs what they promised. 2. Before getting into any kind of arrangement with other investors please make sure that you have a Joint Venture agreement that outlines who is putting in what kind of work and money BEFORE going under contract. 3. Don't be afraid to walk away during the inspection period. You make money on the buy, not the sell.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I'd recommend us as agents to buy/sell your next flip considering there aren't too many agents out there who have been through the experience... We did find some good 3rd party contractors along the way that came through big time when it came to mold remediation and electrical work.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Colorado Springs.

Purchase price: $285,000
Cash invested: $5,000
Sale price: $445,000

My team and I started to look for distressed properties in Colorado Springs. We found this one after our ISA called in about it. Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon...

UPDATE: We sold it $450000... Didn't make any money on the actual profits outside of the commission though... What went wrong was that we ran into a ton of unexpected repairs that we had to make after we already already completed the house. The GC that our investor partner brought in turned out to be unskilled, unreliable and really messed up the entire project. We ended up having unresolved mold issues, sewer line holes, possible structural issues that ended up costing us at the end. I can honestly say that we were lucky to not take a bigger loss than we did ($4,000 in total). I am grateful for this experience however, because I learned what NOT to do when flipping a home.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Cold calling foreclosures. Showed up as a listing appointment and presented a cash buy opportunity. Seller took it and we were off to the races.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money. Outside investors brought in the downpayment.

How did you add value to the deal?

Brokered the deal, managed the contractors, picked out the materials.

What was the outcome?

4k net loss for all parties. Made some of that back on the commission. Definitely could have turned a profit if we were smarter on the initial inspection and chose a better GC.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

1. The cheapest GC isn't always the best one... You really have to vet them and see what they've done in the past and how the numbers on their end panned out vs what they promised. 2. Before getting into any kind of arrangement with other investors please make sure that you have a Joint Venture agreement that outlines who is putting in what kind of work and money BEFORE going under contract. 3. Don't be afraid to walk away during the inspection period. You make money on the buy, not the sell.

Good stuff! Looking to build my portfolio as well. How did you get around Airbnb regulations around distance from other Airbnbs'? Do they not count it if you own the other one? 

You can use your VA loan again. Just make the second one your primary residence when you buy it. You'll run into something called second tier entitlements with your VA loan but that's fine. Google search what that limit is for your county. What I did when I was in your situation was buy a second property and house hacked it (Bought a 6 bed room and had each room rented out). Then I rented out the previous unit. I was an e-4 making 90k a year doing this... Also considering refinancing into a conventional loan and then using your VA loan for a multifamily purchase. When you don't have any usage on your first VA loan then you can buy as big as you want as long as it's a quadplex or less units and the debt to loan ratio checks out. Just depends on what you want to do man.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $285,000
Cash invested: $5,000

Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The stars aligned on a listing appointment.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

A member of my real estate team found this deal. It was a pre-foreclosure. We walked in and looked at the home without a GC (which was probably not the wisest move), and made an offer on the spot based on what we guessed it would take. We ended up being in the ball park which was great, but at the same time I wouldn't do that again.

How did you finance this deal?

We ended up having to partner with an experienced local investor who ended up giving us 90k to fund the deal for a 50% equity stake for the proceeds. Hard money loan.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Make sure you know what your funding is going to look like down to a T and with a reputable lender that someone you know has used with success in the past. We could have avoided so much stress and money pitfalls if we had just lined up the deal better on the front end. Also, don't be afraid to partner up with someone who has been through the rodeo before. You'll take home less, but it'll be worth it if they agree to help and mentor you.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Shairie Rivera ((719) 233-4624) on my real estate team definitely helped solidify the deal. Without her expertise and negotiating we would have fallen apart early on. She was even able to secure that investor to work with us under such unexpected circumstances. 99/100 agents would not have been able to do that.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $285,000
Cash invested: $5,000

My team and I started to look for distressed properties in Colorado Springs. We found this one after our ISA called in about it. Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon...

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The stars aligned...

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

A member of my real estate team found this deal. It was a pre-foreclosure. We walked in and looked at the home without a GC (which was probably not the wisest move), and made an offer on the spot based on what we guessed it would take. We ended up being in the ball park which was great, but at the same time I wouldn't do that again.

How did you finance this deal?

We ended up having to partner with an experienced local investor who ended up giving us 90k to fund the deal for a 50% equity stake for the proceeds.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Make sure you know what your funding is going to look like down to a T and with a reputable lender that someone you know has used with success in the past. We could have avoided so much stress and money pitfalls if we had just lined up the deal better on the front end. Also, don't be afraid to partner up with someone who has been through the rodeo before. You'll take home less, but it'll be worth it if they agree to help and mentor you.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Shairie Rivera ((719) 233-4624) on my real estate team definitely helped solidify the deal. Without her expertise and negotiating we would have fallen apart early on. She was even able to secure that investor to work with us under such unexpected circumstances. 99/100 agents would not have been able to do that.

@Damon Bodine

Awesome Damon! I'll be there to partake.

Hey Colin! I'm interested in tagging up and learning from you and Brent. I'm currently a budding investor ( I have two residential properties that I'm renting out) and would like to expand my knowledge and my network. I look forward to meeting the both of you.

Boxing!

Hello Ryan,

I'm 25. Own 2 SFHs. Living in one and doing a house hack and I'm renting out the other. I got my start at 23 by using the VA loan and house hacking the first property, then getting another and house hacking this newest one. I'm trying to accumulate enough properties to have 3.5k in cash flow every month before I'm 30.