Property Rehab: Fixer-Upper and Construction Talk

Hi,

I have read one and one half of Deans books (I plan on reading them all) and I have already began the search for real estate opportunities. I am brand new at this, a complete newbie, but excited and want to get this going as soon as I can. My wife and I are working together as partners, and decided we wanted to explore real estate investment since we've always had an interest in it. A good advantage we have off the bat, is my wife is a very talented Interior Designer and I feel this could work wonders for flipping properties.

All,

I purchased an "RS Means Residential Repair & Remodeling Costs / 2011 Contractor's Pricing Guide" from Lowe's for $39.95. It is the most comprehensive book of it's kind and is a must-have for those of us who want to have accurate rehab #'s! If you have access to the property, use your tape measure and get accurate Sq. Footage #'s and the book will take care of the rest! It even has a "Location Factor" to determine the Multiple of the specific location (Zip Code) you are in.

I have a property that has cracked sewer line. Roots will plug up the line about every 18 months. The property is a long term hold so I was faced with keeping the sewer line open. I got an estimate to replace the line from the edge of my house to the manhole which is nearly 50 yards away, crosses a city street and because of the topography is very far below ground level. Estimated costs to replace the line was $5,000 plus. Hiring a plumber to auger out the line costs about $150 per year. Figuring a ten percent cost on the replacement investment the decision was pretty easy $500 or $150. That is the type of decision investors must make every day; what will be the best use of your resources.

Information was taken from
http://www.biggerpockets.com/articles/503-what-do-you-need-for-a-success...

Jamel Gibbs

In today's real estate market people everywhere are wondering if the house flipping market is going to the dumps. I mean C'mon they are talking about it everywhere. Well, I have some news for you. Now is the time to get in on the house flipping business. Don't listen to the news and everyone else that don't know the first thing about real estate. Don't follow those "wanna be" investors that started flipping houses when things were good. Now they are running away because they think they will lose their shirt. You have to separate yourself from the crowd

Article Source: http://www.realestateinvestmentarticles.net

When looking for potential houses to flip, it is important to take a look at why they are being sold in the first place. If one was to purchase a house that needed almost no work done, there would be no room for improvement. That house would not make a good profit. House flipping experts like to find a property that will take some amount of time and effort to renovate. At that point, the house will attract more potential buyers and sell for a nice sum.

I know there is no one answer to this question, but I was wandering what is a reasonable time one should expect to complete a project. Im thinking normal and regular items on and in a "fixer upper." If the home is a one story 2-3 beds 1-2 baths, mayber 1100-1500 sq ft. Also assuming the crew is reliable and good.
Thanks in advance for any helpful words.
CCROAD

I wanted to say "Hello" to all of the "DG" family and say thank you to Dean and his team for the opportunity.

I will be working diligently on getting my REI up and running and wanted to thank everyone for all of the tips an strategies I am reading. I have wanted to do this for some time, and I have finally decided that it is time to just take a leap of faith, strap on my helmet and go for it.

I look forward to learning all I can from each of you and offer a lot of construction industry advice should anyone in Alabama (or anywhere else) wish to ask some contracting questions...I'm here to help.

Thank you all and I'll keep the updates coming!

Jon

"We Miss 100% of the Shots We Don't Take" - Wayne Gretsky.

There's a home I'm looking at to invest in my area. The house is selling for only the value of the lot at $9k. The house is deemed for demo because of mold. I remember investors buying moldy homes in the 90s and made a lot of money. If a home is gutted and mold is completely removed. Can it be restored and sold or is it too risky? I want to offer $5k. Give me your opinion.

Would like some input. And please let me say this, I have not done everything yet to decide if this is worth trying. The couple will talk to me tomorrow to see if I want to do anything with it.
But here is the deal!!
This property is 4,000 sq ft. and built in the late 1800's and has pictures of horse and wagons tied up in front. It was a home and the general store in town.
Been in this family for generations. Young couple gets it and decide to make it into a beautiful home.
3 contractors and now in debt and the last contractor took over $30,000 and skipped town. The girl who owns it is a cop and just happen to see this guy, but couldn't arrest him for conflict of interest. She called back up and he is sitting.

Just thought I would post this to ask if any of you that have SFL have used the Hammerpoint Project Estimator with any success. I have attempted to use it for a couple of estimates and found that it is not totally “user friendly” (to coin an old overused phrase). Below are the issues that I have found:

1. It will ONLY allow an estimate for the TOTAL Square Footage (SF) of home on the following items: