All Forum Posts by: Tanya Bass

Hi Cecilia,

Everything about this took longer than I expected, probably predictable.  It all went very well though and I'm really happy with how everything turned out.  It looks great, the contractor was great and we only went over by about 5k, which for my first rehab, I'm happy about.  It's now rented and I'm in the process of refinancing to get my money back out of it.  I should have 40k equity in the house once it's refinanced and I've already got my eye on 1 or 2 potential leads for my next one.  I've scaled back my expectations and as long as I do 1 a year, I'll be happy since I also have a "real" job.  :)  

I have a 4-5 acre plot of land for sale at 89 Deer Ridge Dr.  It is one of the last undeveloped lots in that development.  It is a short commute to Providence and only a couple of miles from the ocean.  Asking $150k, but willing to negotiate the price.

I'm looking for a Real Estate Agent familiar with the North Kingston market in RI.  If you can help me out, send me a message.

Thanks

Thanks everyone!  I'm excited!

@Kalhan Bhan  I'd be happy to get together with you to talk about my experiences.  There are probably people who could give you more information since this is my first deal, but send me an email if you want to get coffee or lunch and talk.  tanya.bass at gmail

Well, I started out looking for a flip, but found a 2/1 that makes a good rental, so I'm going to hold onto it. It's an REO that I have under contract for $32k. It needs around $40k worth of work and has an ARV of $120k. I should be able to rent it for $1000 a month once it is updated. Not a huge cashflow per month, but after I refinance, I'll make $250 a month after I take out mortgage, taxes, property management, vacancy, and maintenance and insurance.

I'm very excited, but also terrified in moments.  Now I just need to keep the rehab on budget.

Here's the zillow listing for anyone interested in looking at the before pictures.  http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/235-Park-Ave-Bel...

Tanya

@Julius King, in my somewhat limited experience, not really.  I do look at the numbers for a rough idea, but when I compare them against the comps my realtor runs or my experience from open houses and tracking what is selling, it is usually off.  Sometimes by a small amount, but sometimes by a lot.  Nothing really beats getting very familiar with the market yourself.  I am learning to trust my own instincts over zillow.

Congratulations @Daniel Moctezuma!  That is a very respectable profit for your first flip.   I am curious what additional upgrades you would have done if you could do it over again?   Just the doors or were there other things you would have changed?

Just to be clear, I don't use the free sites to decide on ARV. I know what the ARV should be based on my going to lots of open houses, touring houses that are under contract and seeing what the houses actually sell for on the county website.

But, I do use the free sites to do a lot of research.  I haven't found that I need any more than that, but then I knew what market I was looking at because of what I know from living near there.  I'm not sure how you get that kind of knowledge without actually living near where you are investing.  But, if you find a site that gives you that info, let me know.  :)

Hi Darien,

I am also a newbie investor (I made my first offer on a property yesterday and am waiting to see what the response is), so take what I say with a grain of salt.  I agree with much of what you said, and am thinking of getting my RE license at some point also.  There is a lot of data that is publically available, though.  Zillow has been very helpful to me.  It gives you an idea of how long things are staying on the market, it flags things for you when statuses change.  In my county, there is also access to tax information, so you can see if the owners haven't paid their property taxes and how long they have owned the home.

I have gone to LOTS of open houses in the areas that I've targeted to get a sense for what is out there now and I use Zillow to track when the houses that I've seen have gone under contract to get an idea of what finishes are appropriate for each area.

So, try to use what you have now to do some analyses and see what you find, you may find that you already have access to everything you need now in terms of data.

I'm thinking of getting my license to get me into houses quicker, write offers quicker and not have to pay the percentage to sell the house, but I have found all of the data I needed is available online.

Good Luck!

Thanks, Mark!  That's helpful.