All Forum Posts by: Tarl Yarber

Hey Charvick!  Thanks for the post.  Great question, I find most of my deals off market through a bunch of wholesalers I network with.  I have spent a lot of time networking with people here in my market. We have a reputation of closing quickly and most importantly ZERO drama.  Because of that, we get sent a lot of the deals in our area to get first crack at them.

 Thanks Jacqueline!

Hey Bigger Pockets!

Once again, I'm being horrible at posting on BP and its getting harder and harder to sit down and write anything on the forums.  Just know that I am investing a ton, and I post when I can.

As for this house! Lesson here, buy when everyone else is on vacation or taking time off.  I have always found deals during the holidays.  This gem snuck onto the MLS the Friday before labor day weekend, and by Monday (labor day), I had already submitted my offer, and Tuesday I had it tied up before anyone else bothered to compete (not technically true, one other offer went in that fast).  In my market of Seattle, a house on the MLS that is priced right for a rehab gets LITERALLY 15 plus offers on it in the first week, and almost always goes to the bidder with the least experience, meaning they paid way too much because they cant calculate rehab and are hoping the market will save them later when they sell.

The Deal:

I had to submit an aggressive offer in order to get accepted.  It was a home owner going through a divorce and listed on the MLS.  In this area, there are very few flips.  Its a hot area, with a lot of home owner to home owner sales, leaving little room for house flippers.  I got lucky on this one (Sammamish house for all the Seattle folks out there).  This house was mainly cosmetic for me, but we did have to open up all of the upper level in order to give it that large Grand awe experience.  This required adding the railing that you see in the pic above (was a solid wall), and adding that 10ft island in the kitchen (was a solid wall separating the kitchen and living room).  In addition to those items, we fully updated the baths, all the flooring, rebuild the backyard deck (no pic), sheetrocked over the wood ceilings, tile everything else, etc.  There were no surprises for us on the rehab, all straight forward and best of all, ON BUDGET!

NUMBERS:

Purchase: $405,000 (cash)

Rehab: $68,000 (budget was 70k)

Staging: $2000

Holding costs: $3000 ish

Selling costs (commission, WA excise 1.78% tax, escrow etc): $48,000

Sale Price: $600,000

Total Net Profit: $73,191

This was a very easy flip for us, and it went very well and so smoothly.  We closed on the Re-Sale today, starting the new year off right.  Big lesson on this house for me is that it was on the MLS.  I ended 2015 with over 40 acquisitions, and THIS house was the ONLY house I even bothered with that was on the MLS.  I have it in my head that there is nothing worth looking at on the MLS here in Seattle, and I still believe im mostly right on this, but when no one else was looking, I got lucky on labor day weekend.  I now believe that since the market is so hot, and everyone and their mother is an "investor" right now, I need to start diving into the MLS more again and aggressively pursue every deal if I want to keep my volume up. Happy 2016 everyone, and good luck to all out there!  Email me your deals!

Hey everyone!  My name is Tarl, and I am an active investor in the Seattle market who also invests currently in the Portland Market as well.  I am reaching out to the forums in hopes that a few of my colleagues out there may know of some more contractors in and around Portland OR.

I have a few houses there already, and am buying more currently.  Because of that, I need more help finding GC's and subs.  If you know anyone or are one, feel free to message me personally!  Any help is appreciated.  Thanks!

Well the house is almost done, we had some delays on this one, long story, ill post about this house after I sell it and do a full write up.  But we had to tear out all the stairs inside the house and bump out the exterior rear of the house in order to build new stairs completely.

I really wish I could spend more time on Bigger Pockets. I know that if I did, I would have more success with it. I have met a lot of great people in person because of this site, and since this post I have bought three other houses with JV's from other people I have met on BP. And I have made a few new friends. Thanks for asking! I hope that you have been having success with BP as well.

Oh yeah, and be certain to take a ton of photos once you get your shot to get in the house.  This is so that investors like me can make a decision off the 75 plus pics youll take of the layout.  Insurance adjusters are known to take pics, so its all good.  Then when you send me the deal later, I can make a decision based off the pics and calculate rehab that way better then not seeing the house.  Most solid house flippers can analyze rehabs from pics with tax records and a margin of error thrown in.

@Nick Jenkins

Hey Nick.  Many people have already recommended something similar to what ill say.  I think that you will ultimately be able to get inside though if the seller is serious.  We have dealt with this a bunch of times when marketing.  Most sellers that state this need to trust you first and/or understand that you aren't going to walk in there and start telling the people there your going to buy the place and kick them out.

When you meet the seller, ask her "did you buy this house without seeing it first?"  And also suggest that if its a large concern that the people living there are not made aware that they are selling, then suggest that you "inspect the house as an insurance adjuster."  We have done this a ton of times, Ive played the part of Mr Home owner insurance adjuster, plumber, contractor, appraiser, etc.  All in the process of not letting the tenants know the landlord is selling.

Give it a shot, and let us know!

 Amen Steve!

Hi Darla, I sold the really good stuff and trashed the rest.  We sold a brand new in the box elliptical, brand new freezer, there was a really nice fireplace insert, lots of new camping gear, and a bunch of misc brand new items as well.  Made about an extra 1500 or so.

Hey Adrian!  Hope the business is going well. So when you say that lending money is risky, even with a note, do you not secure it with a lien position as well? When you give the private lender a 1st or 2nd lien position on the house, then it secures their money and the person cant then not pay them back when they go to resell, the escrow company will pay the lender back with the proceeds.  However, I do agree with you if the lender lends with a note only and does not secure it with a deed of trust on the property, then yes, you can possibly not get your money back.