OfflineI decided to start an investing journal after reading many of the great journals here. I plan to give weekly (or mo re often) updates on my progress. I hope to make this an entertaining journal filled with stories of profitable deals. I recently attended a 3 day insiders edge workshop.
I am about to turn 30, and I am excited to get going in RE investing. I really like it is something that I am cut out for and will truly enjoy. I'm located in the Portland/Vancouver area in the Pacific northwest.
I've worked in the RE appraisal business in the past, and while it was a good job it just wasn't what I wanted to do for my whole life. I have bigger plans and bigger dreams.
I plan to wholesale and rehab property to start. I will only be ready to handle one rehab at a time, but hopefully I will have enough deals that will be able to wholesale most and keep/rehab the best deals my self. I come from a real estate family, and am lucky to have some good connections in the industry. Finding buyers for good wholesale deals shouldn't take me more than a few emails. I feel my biggest challenge will be finding motivated sellers. There is currently a lot of competition in my area for the good REO and short sale deals.
I have already bought 100 bandit signs and put out 20 of them. I also post craigslist ads daily and have an agent looking for properties on my behalf. I search the MLS every morning myself as well. So far the bandits signs have not produced much. Only 2 calls, one from another wholesaler and one from a FSBO who wanted 20k more than his house would retail for. I have placed the sign in the ideal locations that Matt recommended. I have gotten several calls from craigslist ads. One was for a great house that needed a lot of work and the owner started a remodel and ran out of money. Unfortunately a neighbor decided to make an offer that was much more than I was willing to make. It would've been a great deal otherwise.
I am not discouraged by the slow start, I still believe in my self and plan to make it as an RE investor. Thanks to everyone who read this ridiculously long intro. I look forward to interacting with you all and contributing all that I can to this great community.
I've made 2 offers since the last post. Both REO's. I found out today that I didn't get the first house I made an offer on. The house was listed at 153k, and it's ARV is 210k. The repairs required were around 7.5k, and it had a brand new kitchen that was very well done. It just need paint/carpet/landscaping. It also needed some new siding on the back of the garage. I made a full price offer, but someone made a bigger offer. Unless their deal falls through, I won't get. Disappointing because it would have been a quick rehab, and the house in a great area and figures to sell fast. No surprise I was outbid.
House 2 is also in a good area and isn't as old. The bank is asking 145k + 12k in additional fees to cover bankruptcy costs. The ARV is 190k. Repairs are minimal. I needs interior paint, landscaping, and new laminate floors in the kitchen/dining room. I would budget approx- 5k to get the house looking great. I offered 135k, which will make the final sales price 147k. There won't be a giant profit margin after closing costs, but it should be a quick easy rehab, and I need a project right now. I'll let you know if I get this one.
Good luck on the second house.
I'm thrilled to say that I finally got a deal to work out. My partner and I closed on a REO yesterday and we will be rehabbing it. We paid 142,500 and the house was a steal. The listing agent didn't even have a for sale sign up, didn't put it on MLS and he was impossible to get on the phone. I never even spoke to him, it was his assistant or he'd email me. His awful job marketing the property allowed us to get an amazing deal.
The house is assesed at 251k, and it is actually in very good shape and even clean, All appliances are there and no more than 5 years old. The yard is over grown and needs some serious work. The laundry room in the basement had a water leak which created a small amount of mold, but we are going to re sheet-rock the entire room and remove the mold. We have a contractor doing the laundry room, painting the exterior trim (House is all brick), and a few other small tasks for 6k. We are planning on doing as much ourselves as we can, this will include the yard and some minor interior painting.
We paid for an inspection and everything else looked great. The house is a 2800sf, 4 bed/3 bath 2 story. A house right down the street that is pending for 214k, and the house isn't as nice and is 300sf smaller.
My ultimate goal is to keep rehab costs under 12.5k which shouldn't be an issue. This will put us into it for 155k. I plan to list it ASAP for 219k, and I feel that price will sell the house extremely fast. Hopefully we get multiple offers and maybe exceed list price, houses in that price are turning into bidding wars a lot in this particular area, and no one will find this much house for that price anywhere close to this area. We'd gross 64k, and probably net just under 50 after closing costs/realtor fees.
I'm hoping it all goes smooth and my first deal is a huge success. Thanks for all of the great things that I have read on this site and forum over the past few months, it's help start what I hope is a long/successful investing career.
I love your journal entries. It is motivating even for me to see new investors doing amazing deals that profit that kind of income. Way to go. My bread and butter are the deals that make 10K over and over, but I love it when you get those that bring in 40K + those just feel so good and gets you hungry to do another deal.
Great job
Mikessler
Advisor
I always say Keep Moving Forward! Never Give Up On Your Dreams!
As Matt Larsen says "Feed the Need" - Edge 2013
Follow my daily investing journal and read about the deals I've done and am working on at:
http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/investing-journals/117493...
Thanks a lot Mike. I hope to have many more deals to share with everyone in the future.
Congratulations on your new deal. What state/city are you in?
Barb from Indiana/ Illinois
Thank you Barb.
I'm located in Portland, OR. This particular rehab is located in Vancouver, WA which is a suburb about 15 minutes from downtown Portland.
The rehab is coming along, hopefully this week it will be done. I've done a lot of exterior work myself, and it's been very rewarding to see the transformation. The interior work has taken longer than anticipated. My partner hired a contractor that she knows and trusts, but he was a slow getting started because of a previous job that went over schedule. In the future I hope to have things done more quick/efficiently, but we're still figuring to do well on this one. It's been fun, and I feel like I am learning a lot in the process.
Today my partner are putting in an offer on another REO that I found. It is a smoking deal, but we're not the only people interested, so the price will be going above list price I'm assuming. However, the house isn't on MLS and needs no work, we could truly turn and burn this one and put it right back on the market. It's in a great area and there is a big profit margin potential.
I hope everyone is out there having success.
DJF
The rehab has been going great this week, and will be complete by weeks end. I'm super excited to get this house on the market. I plan on pricing it to sell, so hopefully it moves fast.