All Forum Posts by: Thomas Franklin

Vikas Raoot I propose the following action plan, to find an Investor Friendly Realtor. I would suggest that you interview several Realtors and ask them the following questions, to ascertain if they are truly Investor Friendly, or if they are throwing you a sales pitch. 1. How many investors do you currently work with and how many investors have you worked with, in the past? 2. How many transactions have you closed, with investors? 3. Do you currently own any Investment Properties? If so, what type do you own? 4. Are you a member of any REIAs?

@Tyler Giannini Many Investors that flip homes use the 70% Rule that says 0.7 x ARV - Repairs = Your Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO). What hurts Investors that use this formula is it does not account for Holding Costs, Backend Selling Costs, etc.

I use the following formula to determine my Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO). This formula is the Profit Margin Formula that accounts, for 99.99%, of everything.

ARV - Desired Profit - Closing Costs to Buy - Repairs - 10% of Repairs - Holdings Costs - Concessions - Realtor Fees - Closing Costs to Sell = Your Offer (MAO or Maximum Allowable Offer).

ARV: After repaired value or what you think it will sell for once repaired.

Desired Profit: This should be taken off the top first. Most people run their numbers to determine what their profit should be. That is backwards, you should use your profit to determine what your offer should be. As a General Rule, my Desired Profit is $20,000 or 20% of ARV whichever is greater. To have an offer accepted, one may need to adjust their Desired Profit; however, it should not be below $20,000, or what one feels is acceptable.

Closing Costs to Buy: What is it going to cost you to buy the property? If you are using hard money you need to budget for the points and fees as well as traditional third party closing fees.

Repairs: The money it is going to take you to rehab the property plus an extra 10% of estimated repair costs to account for unexpected repairs.

Holdings Costs: Here is where a lot of investors get tripped up. Start by determining an amount of time that you will hold the property, probably 4-6 months. Then add ALL costs related to holding the property (utility costs, insurance premiums, property taxes, loan payments, etc.).

Concessions: Concessions are what you give back to the buyer at closing. It could be for closing costs, unfinished repairs or something else. I typically subtract 3%, of the ARV.

Realtor Fees: What is the commission you are willing to pay your listing agent (unless you are the listing agent) and the buyer's agent. Utilize 6% of ARV.

Closing Costs to Sell: Title fees and other closing costs. You can budget around 4% of the sale price to cover these.

This is a conservative formula. If you come out ahead without Buyer Concessions, on budget, etc., this puts more money in your pocket, when you close at selling.

@Tyler Giannini Since you are interested in fix and flips, I propose the following action plan. The first step would find an Investor Friendly Realtor assuming you do not have access, to the MLS. I would suggest that you interview several Realtors and ask them the following questions, to ascertain if they are truly Investor Friendly, or if they are throwing you a sales pitch.

1. How many investors do you currently work with and how many investors have you worked with, in the past?

2. How many transactions have you closed, with investors?

3. Do you currently own any Investment Properties? If so, what type do you own?

4. Are you a member of any REIAs?

The next step would be to work with the Realtor and determine the hot markets, in your County, with the greatest number of sales over the last 90 to 120 days. Personally, I would prefer 90 days because markets are always changing. This list would contain the zip code and corresponding name of the municipality, and a breakdown of the number of SFRs. This will be your Farming Area. From this data, you can utilize a website bestplaces.net that will give you a breakdown of the percentage of homes that sold, in various price ranges, for a given zip code. You can identify the two highest retail price ranges, in greatest demand, per zip code where you can list the rehabbed property.

You can use the Realtor to help you find deals and also use Wholesalers. If you acquire a property, from a Wholesaler, once the property is rehabbed and ready for the Retail Market, allow the Realtor that provided you the zip codes, to list the property for sale. This creates a WIN-WIN Situation and gives the Realtor incentive, to work harder on your behalf. 

@Suzanne P. I am a Buy and Hold Investor as well as an an Investor that flips homes. I utilize the revenue, from my flips, as Capital Generators for acquiring Buy and Hold Properties. I believe in the the value, of creating Joint Ventures to create a WIN-WIN Situation, for all vested parties.

Many Investors that flip homes use the 70% Rule that says 0.7 x ARV - Repairs = Your Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO). What hurts Investors that use this formula is it does not account for Holding Costs, Backend Selling Costs, etc.

I use the following formula to determine my Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO). This formula is the Profit Margin Formula that accounts, for 99.99%, of everything.

ARV - Desired Profit - Closing Costs to Buy - Repairs - 10% of Repairs - Holdings Costs - Concessions - Realtor Fees - Closing Costs to Sell = Your Offer (MAO or Maximum Allowable Offer).

ARV: After repaired value or what you think it will sell for once repaired.

Desired Profit: This should be taken off the top first. Most people run their numbers to determine what their profit should be. That is backwards, you should use your profit to determine what your offer should be. As a General Rule, my Desired Profit is $20,000 or 20% of ARV whichever is greater. To have an offer accepted, one may need to adjust their Desired Profit; however, it should not be below $20,000, or what one feels is acceptable.

Closing Costs to Buy: What is it going to cost you to buy the property? If you are using hard money you need to budget for the points and fees as well as traditional third party closing fees.

Repairs: The money it is going to take you to rehab the property plus an extra 10% of estimated repair costs to account for unexpected repairs.

Holdings Costs: Here is where a lot of investors get tripped up. Start by determining an amount of time that you will hold the property, probably 4-6 months. Then add ALL costs related to holding the property (utility costs, insurance premiums, property taxes, loan payments, etc.).

Concessions: Concessions are what you give back to the buyer at closing. It could be for closing costs, unfinished repairs or something else. I typically subtract 3%, of the ARV.

Realtor Fees: What is the commission you are willing to pay your listing agent (unless you are the listing agent) and the buyer's agent. Utilize 6% of ARV.

Closing Costs to Sell: Title fees and other closing costs. You can budget around 4% of the sale price to cover these.

This is a conservative formula. If you come out ahead without Buyer Concessions, on budget, etc., this puts more money in your pocket, when you close at selling.

I utilize the following methodical strategic method, for determining my Farming Markets and the ARV that should be targeted, in each Farming Market.

I work with a Realtor and determine the hot markets, in a County, with the greatest number of sales over the last 90 to 120 days. Personally, I prefer 90 days because markets are always changing. This list would contain the zip code and corresponding name of the municipality, and a breakdown of the number of SFRs, Townhouses, and Condominiums. This will be my Farming Area. From this data, I utilize a website bestplaces.net that will give me a breakdown of the percentage of homes that sold, in various price ranges, for a given zip code. I identify the two highest retail price ranges, in greatest demand, per zip code where you I list the rehabbed property.

I use the Realtor to help find deals as well as Wholesalers, and other Bird Dogs. If you acquire a property, from a Wholesaler, once the property is rehabbed and ready for the Retail Market, I allow the Realtor that provided me the zip codes, to list the property for sale. This creates a WIN-WIN Situation and gives the Realtor incentive, to work harder on my behalf.

If what I have written interests you, I propose we have a phone conversation. 

Leonardo Moura Welcome to the community, of BiggerPockets! Be sure to check out the forums, the blogs, podcasts as well as other parts of this amazing website and like minded community. The people here have a vast amount of knowledge and are more than willing to share their experience and provide sound insight and advice. Do not hesitate, to post questions and bounce ideas around in applicable forums. I am a Rehabber as well as a Buy and Hold Investor. Please free to reach out, to me, if you feel I may be of assistance, to your Real Estate Endeavors. Much to your success!

Chris Waller Unless I am missing something, your numbers do not add up. I am presuming the $65k is the Acquisition Price. You mentioned $35k, for rehab...$65k + $35k = $100k and not $110k. This leaves $60k, on the table. Then you should project a minimum of six months of Holding Costs (loan payments, utilities, property taxes, and property insurance). You also have back end closing costs of 10% of the ARV (6% Realtor Commissions and 4% Title Company Fees). I will presume you will forego your 3% Realtor Commission. Let's assume you do this which leaves $11.2k (7% of an ARV of $160k). This results in $48.8k on the table and you have not accounted, for the Holding Costs. You stated that the house was build in 1955. What about lead paint and asbestos? Has the home been checked, for these two potential issues? If the home has not been updated, the rehab will include having to replace the fuses, run all new electrical wiring, replacing the electrical outlets, and run all new plumbing to comply with County Code. Then there will be permits that need to be pulled and County Inspections conducted, on the permitted electrical and plumbing work. These are things that you may want to consider before jumping into this project. At least have the electrical and plumbing checked, to see if these systems comply, with Current County Code Requirements, as well as the potential existence of lead paint and asbestos. If not, the $40k plus in potent net net profit will quickly evaporate.

Tyson Hosey From your post, I am presuming you are seeking, financing on a Commercial Property. The majority of Lending Institutions will want the following: the last two years of Personal and Corporate Federal Tax Returns; three months of ALL your Personal Banking Statements; three months of ALL Corporate Bank Statements, three months of ALL your Investment Accounts (401k, Mutual Funds, Stocks, ETFs, CDs, etc.). You will also need to demonstrate that you you have enough Liquid Capital to cover 6-12 months of Mortgage Payments, Property Taxes; and in some states Property Insurance. For Commercial Financing, lenders look for a Debt Service Coverage Ratio (DSCR) at a minimum DSCR of 1.25. The DSCR is the ratio of cash available for debt servicing to interest, principal and lease payments. In general, it is calculated by: DSCR = [Annual Net Income + Amortization/Depreciation + other non-cash and discretionary items (such as non-contractual management bonuses)] / [Principal Repayment + Interest payments + Lease payments]. I hope this information allows you, to make an informed decision.

Michael Cavicchi Since you are interested in fix and flips, I propose the following action plan. The first step would find an Investor Friendly Realtor assuming you do not have access, to the MLS. I would suggest that you interview several Realtors and ask them the following questions, to ascertain if they are truly Investor Friendly, or if they are throwing you a sales pitch. 1. How many investors do you currently work with and how many investors have you worked with, in the past? 2. How many transactions have you closed, with investors? 3. Do you currently own any Investment Properties? If so, what type do you own? 4. Are you a member of any REIAs? The next step would be to work with the Realtor and determine the hot markets, in your County, with the greatest number of sales over the last 90 to 120 days. Personally, I would prefer 90 days because markets are always changing. This list would contain the zip code and corresponding name of the municipality, and a breakdown of the number of SFRs. This will be your Farming Area. From this data, you can utilize a website bestplaces.net that will give you a breakdown of the percentage of homes that sold, in various price ranges, for a given zip code. You can identify the two highest retail price ranges, in greatest demand, per zip code where you can list the rehabbed property. You can use the Realtor to help you find deals and also use Wholesalers. If you acquire a property, from a Wholesaler, once the property is rehabbed and ready for the Retail Market, allow the Realtor that provided you the zip codes, to list the property for sale. This creates a WIN-WIN Situation and gives the Realtor incentive, to work harder on your behalf.

@Jared THomas I would strongly suggest you establishing a Corporate Entity such as a S Corp or a LLC. This is a relatively inexpensive process. I invite you to Google "Creating a LLC or S Corp in _____," "Division of Corporations in _____," or another phrase. You can go to http://www.sunbiz.org and see how Florida does things, to give you and idea what to look for, in a website. I invite you to please consider the following, from a Federal Income Tax Filing Perspective. I cannot stress the importance of finding a very good Investor Friendly CPA. Below are some things you may wish to consider, as to which Corporate Enity is best, for your Business Model as well as your REI Goals and objectives.

Flipping Properties

If the primary objective of your real estate business, or one of your real estate businesses, is to buy, potentially fix up an existing property and resell it within one year, the Internal Revenue Service can consider that to be an active trade or business. Unlike passive rental income, the income from an active trade or business is subject to self employment tax (a nasty 15% tax commonly referred to a "social security and medicare" by working folks). If your goal is to reduce that self-employment tax to a minimum, an S Corporation is the best entity to use. Why?

It is the only entity structure whose rules allow the business owner to take a "reasonable salary" (subject to social security and medicare) and then take the remaining profit (often as much as 50% of the remaining income) out as distributions not subject to self-employment taxes. Correspondingly, all business income taken from an LLC under similar circumstances is subject to self-employment taxes. For a business owner with $100,000 taxable annual income, the net tax savings for using an S Corporation instead of an LLC in taxes paid every year can be as high as $7,500.

Holding Properties

When holding properties as a cash flow investor, the LLC (or LP) is generally the better choice because an LLC has more liberal distribution rules. The key here is flexibility. LLC distributions come out of the LLC at cost basis. The members of an LLC are issued K-1 Form and have to pay taxes on all profits as though it were income, which could expose the owners to high employment taxes. Also, an LLC can elect to be taxed like an S Corporation.

While there is never only one answer that is correct for all circumstances, there is a general rule that is almost always the correct choice. So remember, for legal and tax planning, a good CPA will recommend that clients hold their properties in an LLC or Limited Partnership and run their businesses as S Corporations to avoid self-employment taxes.

Jared THomas Since you are interested in purchasing Residential Multifamily Properties such as a Duplex, TriPlex, or a Four Plex, please consider the following. Many Realtors will suggest purchasing a property using a Conventional Loan, to reduce your out of pocket money. If the property requires rehab, the Realtor and/ or Mortgage Broker will suggest applying, for a 203k Loan. A 203k Loan is where the purchase price and rehab costs are rolled into a single loan. Assuming you have a respectable FICO you can buy, with a Conventional Loan (20% down, a 30 year amortization schedule, and a residential loan rate). Because you closed personally, you will not have Asset Protection, in the form of closing in the name of a LLC. What happens if one of your tenants has a slip and fall, on your property, or something else happens to them? You are on the hook and can be personally sued, for everything you own. Some people will say, "Take out a quality Insurance Policy and you will be protected." Ambulance chasing attorneys know their way around and can legally navigate around Insurance Policies. Another downside is you loose on the advantages, of the Federal Tax Code, by not closing in the name of a LLC. If you want to close in the name of a LLC, Mortgage Lenders will offer you Commercial Loan Terms (25-30% down, a 15-25 year amortization, and a ballon due in 5-7 years). This is what I am encountering, in the current Mortgage Industry. If you think you will go Conventional, 203k, etc. and then Quit Claim the property, to a LLC, or a Land Trust you run the risk of the lender discovering a Title Transfer occurred and activating the "Acceleration Clause" or "Due on Sale Clause" that requires the loan to be paid in full, within 'x' number of days. These clauses are contained, in all Promissory Notes nowadays. Many Realtors and/ or Mortgage Brokers will not tell you this information. Many, but not ALL are only focused on the commissions he/ she will earn and not focused, on your best interests. You may be asking yourself what can I do? Locate a Motivated Seller that will consider Seller Financing. You may have to put more money down (10-15%), but you can close, in a LLC, with no worries about banks. I have a lengthy Legal Opinion, from my seasoned Legal Team regarding this matter.