All Forum Posts by: Travis Bouchonville

I would like to offer my help with a rehab project for free, in exchange for teaching me how to rehab a property.

I live in Aiea, on the island of Oahu and I don't mind driving to the worksite. I am driven and I have a good work ethic. I have a lot of availability, however it is inconsistent due to my profession. I prefer to help someone with rehabbing experience, and who is willing to take a little time to answer questions.

Please send me a message if you're interested.

Thanks.

Thank you Michael Borger, I appreciate the advice.  Right now I'm driving for dollars to build my sellers' list and deciding what CRM software to use. My plan is to find a motivated seller and pay a flipper or contractor, like you suggested, to estimate the rehab costs and then negotiate the price and financing options, then get the property under contract to partner with or assign to a flipper. 

Thanks for the suggestion and please critique my strategy if needed. Also, I'm trying to find what constitutes a good deal such as the areas investors buy in, owner finance vs. cash etc. 
 

One more thing.

I understand wholesaling, depending on the state, can be illegal or violate the law if done wrong.  I plan on reaching out to an investing attorney soon, but if anyone has an attorney they can suggest I'd be grateful.

Thanks

Hi all! Is anyone flipping or rehabbing on Oahu? I'm definitely a newbie and I'd like to understand what investors are looking for as far as ROI, CoCROI, or whatever metric you use to value a property. What does a good deal look like to you? That way I can set that as my criteria and find you a great deal.

I also am very interested in accurately estimating rehab costs, or finding an affordable method of doing so. I really don't want to waist anyone's time with properties that don't accurately account for rehab costs and therefore are not a great deal.

It's difficult to do anything during the quarantine, but I want to start networking now so I can hit the ground running when the quarantine lifts.

If anyone can point me in the right direction, maybe there's something I can do for you. Thanks in advance!

Hi Mitchell, thanks for your reply.  

To answer your question I naively went to a local real estate agent and thought they could find me something that needed a little work.  Once I discovered real estate agents, at least the ones I met, weren't interested in showing me distressed properties, I settled for a property that was in a good area. It just so happened that the seller was motivated because he was in the military and transferred to another duty station but still owned the property in my area.  

From the readings I've done, I understand the best way to find a motivated sellers is to go to your local courthouse and pull probate, pre foreclosure, divorce filings etc.  Talking to a wholesaler, Realtors, attorneys (divorce), property managers (landlords that are sick of having tenants and want to sell) etc. at your local meetup might do it too. Those are my plans once this terrible virus passes. Also, hope everyone is safe and healthy 

I wish you luck Mitchell!

Investment Info:

Townhouse buy & hold investment in Aiea.

Purchase price: $485,000
Cash invested: $30,000
Sale price: $515,000

3 bed 2 bath townhouse. 1191 square feet. built in 1975

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

I was eager to start my investment career.

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

I used a VA home loan and therefore a little restricted in the negotiation process since the VA goes off the appraisal. In hindsight I wish I would've attended meetups before jumping in headfirst. The seller moved out of state and was probably pressured to sell and I could've negotiated a better deal. That being said I definitely came away with some good lessons and I don't regret it since taking action is better than not taking action.

How did you finance this deal?

VA home loan

How did you add value to the deal?

It was move in ready. I looked into adding a bedroom but restrictions due to inadequate parking did not allow the permit to be pulled.

What was the outcome?

I am currently renting out the master and single bedroom. This is a great experience and I am using a lot of the recommendations and documents from BP. My tenants have been in the house almost 6 mo and so far it's going well.

Planning on taking a HELOC once I have more equity built up so I can fund more deals. Also, I'm chunking with a Credit Card to pay down principle. Wasn't sure about this process until I did the math with an amortization calculator and truly understood how to do it.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Don't buy something with an HOA fee, it sucks the cashflow out of the deal. Market rent is about 2350/mo for comps, and my mortgage + HOA runs 2900/mo. House hacking now, but planning to replace myself with another tenant which should allow the place to cashflow $100-200/mo

Keep a professional demeanor among tenants and don't get too comfortable. It's difficult living in the same residence as them and enforcing house rules. But luckily I've identified it and am better for it.

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

Yes! Lisa Onishi with Locations was my agent. She worked very hard to make the buying process for me less difficult. She responded back very fast, and knew the market very well. Thanks Lisa!