Real Estate Business and Investing

Flipping property is rising in popularity as a form of real estate investing. The truth of the matter is that this is one of the more entertaining methods for many investors that are simply ‘itching’ to get their hands a little dirty. The sweat equity involved in these transactions, while attractive, can also be daunting when skills are inadequate and out and out dangerous in some situations. If you are one of the many around the world who consider the appeal of flipping property with huge dollar signs in your eyes, you should take care to avoid the following things in order to minimize your risks while maximizing your potential for success.

1) Do not fail to have a qualified inspection of the property before any money changes hands. If you do not have any idea of the types of work that needs to be done then you cannot possibly make an educated estimate of the costs involved in rehabbing the property.
2) Do not underestimate the budget for repairs on the flip. This is one of the most common mistakes that even seasoned professionals make and it can mean the difference between a profit and a loss on the property if you aren’t careful and do not stick to the planned budget.
3) Do not overestimate your abilities. This is another common mistake. The fact that you’ve seen something done on television doesn’t mean that it is something you can do on your own. It costs more money and time to have someone come in and repair your mistakes than to have had a professional do the work from the beginning. This doesn’t mean that you can’t learn how to do some of the work or that doing so would be cost effective. The trick lies in determining where your skills and abilities can really take you rather than where you hope they will take you. Plumbing, electrical, and structural work are generally best left to the professionals unless you have specific experience or training in these fields.
4) Do not fail to hold yourself accountable to your timetable and your budget. Real estate investing puts you in the bosses seat and while that is often simple when it comes to driving others, we often have a bit of difficulty when it comes to holding ourselves accountable for time and money along the way. Unfortunately, failing to do so can be a very costly blunder.
5) Do not forget to keep up with receipts, bills, etc. and reconcile the facts and figures daily. It is far too simple to allow a couple of trips to the local home improvement center escape careful scrutiny. Add a couple of these trips per day and you could easily find thousands of dollars missing from your budget with no paper trail to explain the transactions. You could also find that some tools will not work or be needed for the project. Those items cannot typically be returned without the original receipts.
6) Avoid having too many chiefs on the project. If this is your ball game then you need to run with it rather than having 10 people giving contradictory orders. Schedule meetings regularly to discuss progress and any adjustments or changes that may need to be made.
7) Avoid poor planning. This is one step that is the difference for many would be house flippers between success and failure. Plan out every step of the project in an order that makes sense. You do not want to paint the ceilings or walls after you’ve installed new floors. Nor do you want to rip out walls in order to replace plumbing after you’ve painted them. Plan things out in the proper order and allow a day or two between subsequent projects in case extra time is needed. The last thing you want to do is pay a group of contractors to stand around waiting for the paint to dry so they can begin the next step in the process.

There are risks involved in any type of investment. While real estate is one of the greatest things in the world in which people can invest, there are still risks involved. Following the advice above however can significantly lower those risks and give investors the opportunity to have great expectations when all is said and done. Whether this will be your first flip or your fortieth flip there is much that can be reviewed in the steps above that will reaffirm many of the things you’ve learned along the way.

3 Reasons Why Marketing Should Be Your #1 Priority as a Beginning Real Estate Investor:

1. You don’t have to be able to finance a deal to make money in real estate!

That’s where wholesaling comes into play. What better way to get started in real estate than getting your marketing going, learning how to qualify a seller lead, contract a property, wholesale it to another investor, and make several thousand dollars with little to no risk.

When wholesaling, you do not have to actually close on the property yourself. You can simply assign the contract to another investor for your wholesale fee. Typically, wholesale fees can range anywhere from $3K to $10K but could be any amount as long as the deal justifies it.

2. Give Yourself an Out in the Contract

By having an out in your contract, you have an opportunity to close a deal with little to no recourse if you don’t.

The classic out that we used when getting started as a real estate investor was “This agreement is subject to partner’s approval.” Doesn’t matter if you really have an actual partner or not. If you don’t like anything what so ever about the deal or you can’t get it financed, your partner says “NO DEAL.”

You could also write that the contract is contingent on acquiring financing for the deal. If you are unable to get it squared away, you’re out of the deal clean (accept possibly the earnest money you put in the deal and your time). This is well worth it though compared to the tens of thousands of dollars you can make on one deal.

3. Great Deals Get Financed

If you have an awesome deal under contract, chances are, you’re going to take action like you never have before. This could be just the motivation you need to find someone to finance deals for you. There’s nothing like having a killer deal under contract attached to a deadline to close on it.

That’s how you are going to get started in real estate investing!

Realtor

A Realtor is one of the first team members you will want on board. To evaluate any deal, you have to know what a property is worth. Realtors are a great source to help determine a property’s value. When we first got started, we found a Realtor that agreed to pull comps for us if we would list our properties with him once we eventually sold them. A win win relationship.

Realtors are a dime a dozen so be picky. If you can find a Realtor that invests, that’s best. Anywhere in the business that we can delegate, we usually do. When we go to sell a property, we want a professional to handle it for us so we hire a Realtor.

Mortgage Broker

Often times, when you find a good Realtor, you will also find a good mortgage broker. Every Realtor typically has a primary mortgage broker that they use and vice versa.

If you can find a mortgage broker that does what he or she says, you’ve struck gold! I have found that way too often, when I have approached a new mortgage broker, they tell me that they can do a loan before I even open my mouth. That’s not who you want on board.

We have two primary mortgage brokers on our team. One helps more with refinances and the other to get our lease option tenants qualified to buy from us.

As a side note, on the sell side of the business, we always suggest our mortgage broker to any buyers. They can choose whoever they want, but it’s nice when you know the person doing their loan. Then, you actually know where things are at during the loan process.

Attorney or Title Company

Depending on what state you are in, you will either close on properties through an attorney or title company. In South Carolina, where I’m from, attorneys are used to close real estate transactions.

As a creative real estate investor, you may have to search a little bit to find the right one. You want to find someone that is willing to learn. Most attorneys and title companys are used to doing things the traditional way. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you need someone that is willing to look at nontraditional ways of buying and selling real estate.

Asking for a good referral at your local REIA (real estate investor’s association) is a good place to start looking.

Cash Buyer

This is a valuable asset to the team. Once you find a serious cash investor or investors, you have the ability to turn a contract into cash quickly. This can provide useful in many instances.

Whether your cash buyer uses their own cash or someone elses, doesn’t matter. You just want someone who is a serious investor and has the resources and experience to close a deal fast with cash. This will be the person you will wholesale or assign properties.

Look for cash buyers once again at your local REIA, classified ads in the real estate wanted section of your newspaper, or just call any investor that markets to buy properties in your area and find out what constitutes a good deal for them.

Contractor

This can be one of the more frustrating team members to acquire. We have gone through many a contractor over the years. Many of the ones that we have worked with failed in one of the three important areas: price, quality, and reliability. If the contractor did great work at a great price, we could never rely on them. If they were reliable and did quality work, their price was through the roof. And if they were reliable and priced well, their work sucked. You get the point.

Eventually, you are bound to find a good one though so keep at it until you do. We have a couple on our team now that I have 100% faith and trust. That’s exactly what you want.