Author Topic: Making 200k in equity in 6mo - Back down the rabbit hole, long distance RE  (Read 31770 times)

sammybiker

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I’ve enjoyed contributing (and learning) in my last couple of threads here at MMM and wanted to start another to capture some on-going adventures in purchasing single family properties, managing the rehab from afar and ultimately renting out the properties.

Goals

1)   Buy (5) single family properties in 2018 and get them cashed out into long term mortgages

2)   Purchase under market and achieve a minimum of $40k in equity per property after all repairs are completed

3)   Cashflow $250-400/mo after expenses & debt service per property

Funding

1)  A single line of credit established on an existing single family property

2)  Private money from existing private money lenders that I've worked with over the years
 
3)  New lines of credit that I'm currently in the process of setting up on existing properties - probably will not be established until late August

Background

I work in oil & gas and I’m currently on assignment in Mexico and will be here for another 10 months.  The area I’m focused on purchasing in is Southeast Texas, where I know the market, rents are strong and rising, housing supply is limited and there is major capital expenditure committed to the area over the next 10 years.

The Team

1)   Project coordinator – my boots on the ground.  This is our first project together but we’ve built a relationship over the last few months and he’s an active investor in the area.  Solid guy, organized, communicative.

2)   Various contractors, some that I’ve worked with before, others only via reference.  Despite not being in a HCOL, contractor prices tend to be higher in Southeast Texas due to labor demand in the area.  A high school graduate that wants to work 60-70 hours a week can make $80k+ and those with further aspirations can make much more in supervision.  So trying to find a decent contractor at a reasonable rate is difficult.  Hurricane Harvey has further compounded this problem as rates have skyrocketed.

Previous Threads

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/anatomy-of-a-mostly-dyi-renovation-on-a-budget/msg1514890/#msg1514890

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/real-estate-and-landlording/my-long-distance-lease-option-flip-project/

Let’s get started.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2018, 11:26:16 AM by sammybiker »

sammybiker

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Property #1
Purchase Price:  $83k
Estimated Rehab:  $52k
Estimated After Repair Value: $230k ($100 sq ft)
Estimated Monthly Rent:  $1800
Source:  MLS
Funding:  Purchasing cash via line of credit, private money
Schedule:  6 weeks (11-June through 23-July)

This 2300 sq ft home is in a premier local neighborhood consisting almost entirely of owner-occupants.  Two level, two car garage on a large lot.  My project coordinator has a flip on-going in the same property that went under contract at $111/sq ft and there are another couple coming on the market at $105/sq ft (expecting over asking), so I feel my comps are conservative at $100/sq ft.

This house flooded during Hurricane Harvey with the lower level being impacted.  The remediation was performed prior to myself purchasing it and I obtained the certificate with the closing documents.  Being that this is my first flood rehab, I did a good bit of research prior to purchasing and also put in a good bit of padding in the scope of work.

Scope of Work Summary:

Insulation and drywall for walls on the first floor.  Doors, door trim, paint, baseboards, flooring, kitchen and downstairs bathroom.  The previous owners were living in the house, upstairs, so I know that HVAC, electrical, plumbing and water heater is probably OK.  The intent is to leave the upstairs as-is, clean the carpet and repair the carpet on the stairway (see photos below).

This is a rental property and I don’t want to over renovate.

Scope of Work Details/Estimate:  (first pass, before getting inside the property or getting contractor bids):

Drywall (Walls) floated & taped all-in @ $7500
Insulation all-in @ 1500
Paint all-in @ 3000
Flooring Install/Carpet Repair all in @ 3500
Floor Baseboard all-in @ 1000   
Door Jam/Trim all-in @ 750   
Kitchen Cabinets all-in @ 5000
Kitchen Countertop all-in @ 1500
Kitchen Sink/Faucet all-in @ 300
Dishwasher all-in @ 600
Used Fridge all-in @ 350
Used Stove all-in @ 350
Bathroom Vanities (x1) all-in @  800
Bathroom Shower (x1) all-in @ 3000
Bathroom Toilets all-in @ 300
HVAC all-in @ 5000 (left in as contingency - HVAC operating OK)
Hot Water Heater all-in @ 800 (left as contingency - Water heater operating OK)
Interior Doors all-in @ 2000
Interior/Exterior Lighting all-in @ 1000
Electrical all-in @ 1000
Plumbing all-in @ 1000
Misc all-in @ 10000 (being my first flood house and limited inspection performed, I'm leaving $10k missed scope/overruns) 
Project Coordinator all-in @ 1800
TOTAL @ 52,000

Listing Photos:

3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m1xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m14xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m13xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m6xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m4xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m5xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m3xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m2xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr


3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m8xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m9xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr
3c77482868548bf85d70b76261c1f240l-m10xd-w1020_h770_q80 by sam burn, on Flickr

« Last Edit: June 12, 2018, 08:21:45 PM by sammybiker »

Dicey

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Woo-hoo! First to PTF. Cannot wait to see you succeed!

sammybiker

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Good to hear from you Dicey!  And thanks.  Hopefully I'll be done buying houses after this year.  I told myself that after the last one but after a few months break, I got the itch again :P

The interior concept will consist of grey walls, white ceilings, dark floors.  Concept photos below...

Grey Concept 1 by sam burn, on Flickr

Grey Concept 4 by sam burn, on Flickr

Grey Concept 3 by sam burn, on Flickr

Grey Concept 2 by sam burn, on Flickr



Some budget updates based on actual spent...

Drywall (Walls) floated & taped all-in @ $7500 actual $7926 all-in now.  My materials estimate was short.

Insulation all-in @ 1500 actual $1367 all-in now.  My material estimate was a little long.

Paint all-in @ 3000 actual $3950 all-in now.  My materials were based on lower quantities (painting only downstairs).  After feedback from the coordinator and others, I'm going to repaint the upstairs as well as the downstairs for better flow and to eliminate any lingering flood water smell.  Same goes with the carpet, see below.

Flooring Install/Carpet Repair all in @ 3500 actual $6000 all-in now.  The upstairs carpet soaked up the flood smell and will be ripped out.  I'll run the same dark laminate upstairs as I am downstairs.

Floor Baseboard all-in @  1000 actual $1750  all-in now. Updated to include increased quantities per the above.

Insulation and drywall kicked off yesterday. Paint delivered yesterday and will start upstairs today.

The flooring/kitchen/bathroom contractor went through yesterday to assemble his estimate.  Waiting for that to come back and it should be interesting.  This guy is new to me but comes heavily referenced from guys I trust.  Just worried he may be coming in too high......always fun seeing how your estimates mate up to actuals :)

I'll post progress photos tomorrow.
« Last Edit: June 13, 2018, 11:18:03 AM by sammybiker »

sammybiker

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Update 

Drywall started Monday and texture finished today.  The project coordinator will inspect this afternoon and pending his approval, we'll release paint to downstairs on Saturday.

No pricing back yet from the flooring/bathrooms/kitchen guy, still waiting.  Sent a second contractor in to put together another estimate this afternoon.

IMG_20180612_160226801 by sam burn, on Flickr

IMG_20180612_160156054 by sam burn, on Flickr

IMG_20180612_160128714 by sam burn, on Flickr

IMG_20180612_160124545 by sam burn, on Flickr

IMG_20180612_160117358 by sam burn, on Flickr
« Last Edit: June 15, 2018, 12:31:05 PM by sammybiker »

sammybiker

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Need some input from the forum - what to do with this fireplace??

- I was thinking of installing some white brick vaneer or fixing the existing and painting it white?

- Would rather just remove it but I believe the cost of doing so once the roof is repaired, etc. is not efficient.  Plus possible loss on resale/appraisal.

- Frame up a simple mantle around it? 

7ddfdb9b50672cd8bb78d02de0f46074b5b97f57-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

a169a6327290d3cf6c08f40d87d907572c816da3-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

A photoshop representation of option 1...

White by sam burn, on Flickr

sammybiker

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Update

Property #1:  Painting started yesterday, on-going today.  Finalizing quotes for flooring, trim, kitchen, etc.  Pretty happy with my contractor choices and everyone is getting along well.  Hope to have some progress photos of the paint later this weekend.  Received feedback from a neighbor that this house was rented out before at $2,000/mo.  Good news!

Property #2: Under contract but slowly turning into a monster.  4bd/3ba 1800sq ft partial brick in a nice neighborhood, best zip code, good schools @ $84.5k, after repair value being $158k.  Gross rents will be $1600/mo.

Originally thinking this was  $20k cosmetic - ha, no.  Wasn't able to get into the house until well into the inspection period and it looks like I'll be replacing the roof, ceiling, flooring, bathrooms and worst of all the HVAC.  Budget was roughly intact until the HVAC hit.  Current setup is non-functioning, non-confirming and dangerous.  Talking with my guy, we're looking at entire new ducting with mini splits + hacking up the existing upstairs floor to get to it.  Rehab looking at about 55k right now.

HVAC guy is going back in Monday to perform a detailed take-off and inspection package so I can hammer the sellers for 1) lack of disclosure and 2) a lower selling price.  After discussing all this with the project coordinator this morning, I'm going to need a price reduction from $84.5k to $78k to make this work.  If not, I'll walk away.

Another Reader

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Love your work.

I would remove the fireplace if it were feasible.  Looks heavily damaged and it breaks up the space. 


sammybiker

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Thanks AR for your comment!  You gave me some great feedback re: the PHX market three years ago - thanks again for that.

Update

Property #1:  Paint has been completed and it looks good.  Flooring will be delivered next Monday and I'm hoping to start on it by Tues/Wed.

The original contractor that I had high hopes for to finish the house came in sky high on his estimate - $26k for flooring upstairs and down, baseboard, bathroom, doors hung, door trim, kitchen installation, stair repair and dealing with the fireplace.  Labor only (lol).  No doubt this guy will perform top notch work but after respectfully grilling him on prices ($3/sq ft for click lock laminate flooring install - I can install 200q ft per hour myself, 350sq ft per hour with a helper), $3/linear foot for baseboard - man, come on...with a nail gun, you can do a house in a day.  Just nuts prices.

I sent it out to estimate again, my drywaller/painter came back with a decent price and we're moving forward.  I'll update the scope of work prices later this week but in short, we're doing all flooring, baseboard, doors hung, door trim, refreshing upstairs bathroom (paint), total downstairs bathroom rehab for $10.5k.  Kitchen install will be sub'd out to an all-in specialist for a $3k install fee and I've still yet to figure out what the hell to do with the fireplace - received a 3.5k estimate to drywall/stone veneer over it - we'll see.

Property #2:    Per the inspection results and the $20k+ HVAC repair required, I sent the inspection report and requested a reduction in price to partially cover this.
 This offer was refused.  No problem, I requested a termination of contract and my earnest funds returned citing inspection results.

Because the inspection report was not issued until a couple days after the inspection period (inspection was pushed back due to sellers agent not being available to let the inspector into the house), the seller refused.  I requested return of 50% of the earnest funds, to cover my inspection costs.  Seller refused.  Seller started saber rattling about suing due to failure to execute the contract.  Blah.  I issued instruction to the title company to release the earnest funds and let's move on to the next one.

Sellers come back nonetheless, threatening to sue this morning.  Ahhh, fun.  On the phone with my attorney, working on issuing them a nice letter to cease legal suit and hopefully we can move on. 

The sellers are in foreclosure (unknown amount), so I can understand their desire to get the house sold.  Unfortunately, the pre-inspection price won't work.  It's tough that they won't accept my earnest funds alone and move on.  99% chance they are saber rattling w/the lawsuit stuff but incase they aren't, I'm ready to play ball.

The search for property #2 continues.  A couple wholesale deals popped up this week, which I'm taking a look at.  I won't post here unless I'm under contract - obviously, I'm making a lot of offers and most don't go anywhere.  But in real estate, like many things, it may run dry for months and then when it rains, it really pours.  So I need to remain patient
« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 07:05:11 PM by sammybiker »

sammybiker

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Now for some photo updates of the interior paint - poor quality photos but something to document the progress.  The wall gray was a lot lighter than I wanted but I had to make some sacrifices to keep the contractor moving - my first choice was backordered a couple of weeks.

ALSO - I'm looking into painting the exterior and possibly adding some trim to pop like the below - thoughts?  I would leave the brick as-is (just power wash it to remove flood related grime).

Excuse the mess in the progress photos, it's not my contractors fault - I have a 10yd dumpster on the way to clear it all out.

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.23.21 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.22.12 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.21.59 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.21.50 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.21.40 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.21.33 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.21.14 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-06-21 at 7.21.04 PM by sam burn, on Flickr
« Last Edit: June 21, 2018, 06:55:32 PM by sammybiker »

sammybiker

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Budget/scope of work update showing the original 12-June estimate vs where we are today 22-June.

Certainly some growth but nothing insane.  I've applied $5,000 of the misc/unscoped budget line towards some of this growth, namely the fireplace.

If we can keep this on track without going over the remaining $5,000 allowed for misc, we're good.

Below are all-in numbers, including both labor and material.

FloodRehabUpdate by sam burn, on Flickr
« Last Edit: June 22, 2018, 04:57:42 PM by sammybiker »

Grif

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Wow your total estimate was really close! I'm a real estate newb but your posts are very informative and it looks like you are getting work done pretty efficiently. I'm just commenting to say good luck haha!

sammybiker

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Thanks Grif.

My estimate wasn't awful for never personally seeing the inside of the property but I need to improve and get my team to improve.  The fireplace bust should have been something I picked-up on.  But it's always a learning experience and I tend to absorb knowledge by paying for it - harder to forget that way :)
« Last Edit: June 23, 2018, 05:31:22 PM by sammybiker »

sammybiker

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Property #2 is now under contract and we should be closing this week.

Property #2
Purchase Price:  $87.5k
Estimated Rehab:  $40k
Estimated After Repair Value: $157k (1825 sq ft, $86 sq ft)
Estimated Monthly Rent:  $1600
Source:  Wholesaler, off-market
Funding:  Purchasing cash via line of credit, private money, personal loan
Schedule:  2 weeks (8-July through 21-July)

This 1825 sq ft home is in a good area of the best local zip code and elementary school.  Owner occupant mix vs renters @ approx 70/30.

Single level, two car garage on a large lot.  Comps are conservatively $86/sq ft, rents conservatively $1600 (likely closer to $1750+).

No history of flooding, the home is in good condition and requires mostly a cosmetic rehab.  The below rehab goes all-out but I think I can cut the kitchen and cut a large portion of the flooring (leave the wood floors in place, just replace bathroom and kitchen flooring) - kitchen, leave the cabinets, replace hardware, replace the countertop with granite and new sink/faucet. Potential savings there...but we'll keep the budget fat for right now and slim it down as we go.

Scope of Work Summary:

Complete interior paint inside, baseboards, new flooring throughout entire home, brand new kitchen cabinets/countertops.  Bathrooms - cosmetic rehab only, likely paint over tile, new flooring, new vanity, toilet.  HVAC, electrical, plumbing and water heater are OK, shouldn't have to touch much of that.

Scope of Work Details/Estimate:  (first pass, before getting inside the property or getting contractor bids):

Paint all-in @ 4000
Flooring Install all-in @ 5000
Floor Baseboard all-in @ 1700
Kitchen Cabinets + Countertop all-in @ 7000
Kitchen Sink/Faucet all-in @ 300
Bathroom Rehab x2 Cosmetic all-in @ 3200
New Lighting Interior/Exterior all-in @ 3000
Exterior Paint all-in @ 4000
Misc all-in @ 10000
Project Coordinator all-in @ 1800
TOTAL @ 40,000

Listing Photos:

34306083_10209445569295923_3635111198069882880_n by sam burn, on Flickr

34418514_10209445569815936_556823569120624640_n by sam burn, on Flickr

34339188_10209445570295948_8400603603139559424_n by sam burn, on Flickr

34403142_10209445570815961_4810910992735141888_n by sam burn, on Flickr

34322475_10209445571095968_1704458407072759808_n by sam burn, on Flickr

34449068_10209445571335974_8406356621638238208_n by sam burn, on Flickr

34460244_10209445571735984_6163341648160882688_n by sam burn, on Flickr
« Last Edit: July 04, 2018, 06:27:03 AM by sammybiker »

Dicey

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Hey Sammy, here's a crazy idea. I hate desks in kitchens, especially between two doors. Think about ripping out the lower portion of the desk. Remove the uppers, trim the top to make it into an even base, then flip it over and put it where the desk was. Then carefully remove the glass fronted cabinets and hang them where the flipped uppers were. You'll have to remove the glass doors on whichever side goes against the wall, but you won't need to add a backing. Voila, a more functional area where the desk was, and an open kitchen with better sight lines for minimal cost. Assuming those glass door uppers aren't too wide to fit, of course.

Dicey

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More ideas. I don't love the way the kitchen narrows. Could you push the peninsula back a bit and remove part of the wall? Again, not much $$, mostly labor. It will eat into the adjacent living area a bit, but could be a good trade off.

Dicey

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@sammybiker, I can't help myself, I keep coming back for more. I now see you have a budget for replacing the cabinets. Your layout (with the changes I noted, of course, lol) looks solid. What about just replacing the doors, hinges and hardware but keeping the boxes? Faster and probably cheaper. Also, do you know the website 99centknobs.com?

sammybiker

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Thanks Dicey for the feedback.

- Agreed, I hate the desk in the kitchen too and will have it removed along with the upper cabinets. Interesting idea on swapping out the glass with that area.  I'll look into that.

-  I'll check out opening that kitchen a bit, as you mentioned.  Drywall & paint are cheap...the kitchen as-is feels small and constricted.

- Right there with you on keeping the boxes and just refreshing or replacing the faces, hardware, etc.  And I didn't know about 99centknobs.com but have it up now, great resource, thank you!

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it! :D

tralfamadorian

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+1 Dicey's kitchen feedback.

Also, I don't know how good it is in TX but where I am, I can consistently find high quality full kitchen sets of cabinets for $800-$1200 at the habitat store. Typically they are stained wood and everyone wants white nowadays so I paint them and add new hardware but the quality on the old cabinets is much better than the newer particle board.

sammybiker

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Thanks @ tralfamadorian

Habitat here is hit and miss but that's something that I'll see if I can do once I'm in town in a couple of weeks.

I've done the painted cabinets gig before and love it - definitely a cost effective way to transform a kitchen.  Thanks for the feedback.

Dicey

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I've done three houses with 99 Cent Knobs and they have been of excellent quality. I'm sad to see they have now broken their 99 cent ceiling,  but I guess I'm happy they're doing what it takes to survive. I was also pleased with the bathroom hardware I purchased from them. Good prices, superior quality.  Heavy metal and no plastic parts, including the TP roller.

I, too, find Habitat's ReStore to be very hit or miss, alas. There's an awesome one we visit when were driving through Glenwood Springs, CO, but it's too far from home to be much help to us. We did find a beautiful Oak front door for DH's daughter's place, which we happily paid $100 for. They were thrilled.

sammybiker

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Update

Property #1  Flooring is underway, a little behind due to a slow plumber who was required to cut and cap a couple water lines come up in the living room (previously a wet bar?) and kitchen (previously a kitchen island).  Lines were capped today and we're going full on tomorrow for the downstairs flooring.  Upstairs is mostly complete.

Kitchen installation will start next Monday.

Flooring looks OK, both in the bathrooms and the living areas.  However, we can see the doors and bathtub are off color white, almost yellow - requiring a paint over for the tub and possible replacement of the doors.

I'll fly into town this Sunday to see for myself.  No other major budget changes except for installing a water heater (+$800) and finalizing the fireplace estimate, which was reduced from $3500 to $2100 (-$1400).

A couple progress photos below - you can see how the tub and doors look like crap vs the brand new trim/flooring. 

Kitchen Layout (will be white shaker)

8d75ab001ef6ea2ba618be490fda2928a6a1c602-2 by sam burn, on Flickr

8d75ab001ef6ea2ba618be490fda2928a6a1c602-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

Granite

9ebd9ab861947bbe6ff1c66bce01325ccee7decc-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

Bathroom flooring

339d9a48d214ac8fd97a5c169479e2f4132e1832-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

257b763d08586525343ba124ef87052be430804b-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

47cc1c01b55b49d15acdbb9f356c1d053d8f6cad-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

13e0f9b466604c4a45d211a5cd659bceb780010a-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

Main house flooring

350b745146c9f43b4dcfb3e8f0b58b625aba0de1-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

e07eef00b3e1a5666222c8d85d50f9ff7ea8eeb4-1 by sam burn, on Flickr

Property #2

No major changes here, closing was pushed out until next Monday when I'm in town.  The final HUD came through today, funds go to escrow tomorrow and I'll walk this with my contractor next Monday to firm up my numbers. 

Focus will be on cost savings here - really hoping to cut the kitchen rehab down and keep the $8k of misc/uncaptured scope to a minimum.

Looking forward to posting some solid updates and pictures next week as I get my boots on the ground. 

Dicey

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Can't wait!

Adam Zapple

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This is a great resource.  When you are evaluating a property, how to you calculate your expenses outside of the obvious debt servicing, property taxes and water etc?  What do you figure for long term capital expenditures, vacancy and management?  Also, do you have any tips on finding good investment areas long distance?

MayDay

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Honestly I'd leave the tub yellow vs. painting. If you are renting it out I seriously doubt anyone would care.

In the kitchen can you extend the upper cabinets to the walls on both sides,or are the windows to close to the corners? It looks odd with them floating.

If there is a lighter granite available at the same price I'd encourage it. That medium brownish creamish granite looks like a home Depot special that was popular 15 years ago. Go light or go dark.

patchyfacialhair

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Posting to follow. Great stuff!

midwesterner1982

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Love your ideas.  Rebuilding America one house at a time.

Stachetastic

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PTF I love all the pictures, they really help illustrate your vision and progress.

Are you allocating any funds to revamping the landscaping? House #2 especially could use a refresh to really help the curb appeal. Both houses look like great investments!

sammybiker

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@Adam Zapple  Calculating those numbers will vary market to market.  My single family properties in Ohio suffer a higher vacancy/capex/management fees than these properties in Texas, due to difference in market (higher demand here, higher rents, lower management costs).  I can give a breakdown of these expenses later based on a couple properties that have been purchased during this thread.

Re: long distance markets, the biggerpockets forum is probably the best place.  You can read all day about the better US cashflow markets, then read about the sub areas of those markets that are desirable and then you can reach out to investors that buy in those areas and talk to them.  When you get serious, buy a plane ticket and go check the area out.

@MayDay Thanks - I'll leave the tub for now and reevaluate after the cabinets are painted.  I'll post photos of the kitchen later today, it's installed and looks OK.  Agreed w/your suggestion and the granite that went in was quite a bit lighter.  Pics to follow later today.

@patchyfacialhair Sounds good.

@midwesterner1982 Thanks!

@Stachetastic  Thanks!  House #2 landscaping, agreed.  And it looks far worse, just saw the house Monday night.  Got my landscape guys going in tomorrow to clean it up, just to make it presentable.  Not sure what I'm going to do about the bushes up front - girlfriend loves them and thinks they add privacy.  I hate them and prefer a clean look to the house.

Thanks all for the feedback.  I'll put together some photo updates later today as home #1 is really coming along as well as some updates to the estimates of both #1 and #2. 

LiseE

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Awesome thread!  Thanks for sharing!  How did you find/build your team since you are remote?

Dicey

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Oh, boy...waiting for more pictures. Pictures!

sammybiker

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Property #1 Update

Kitchen is in, floors finished, baseboard going in along with electrical.

I've decided to paint the exterior and while this will bust the budget, it needs to be done now and I really think it's money well spent.

Screen Shot 2018-07-11 at 3.26.09 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-11 at 3.25.59 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-11 at 10.03.02 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-11 at 9.32.36 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-11 at 9.32.57 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

MaybeBabyMustache

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    • My Wild Ride to FI
Love this thread. Keep the updates coming! :-)

Swish

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Awesome work. Thanks for sharing.

Dicey

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Wow, that kitchen space us tricky! Nice job!

sammybiker

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Thanks @Dicey, @Swish and @MaybeBabyMustache.

Update

Property 2


 Dumpster delivered, demo on-going - living room to the kitchen opened up as of this morning, on track to start interior paint next week.

I'm probably going to keep the kitchen as-is, just upgrade the hardware, probably install granite countertop and a new sink.

Significant room to keep this rehab around $25k if not surprises pop-up.

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 3.57.39 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 3.57.33 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 3.36.37 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 3.37.27 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 3.37.20 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 3.36.46 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-14 at 3.37.44 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Dicey

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Nice work sammyb! Yesterday afternoon a dumpster just like yours was delivered to our flip house. This morning, there was an old television and a pizza box inside that were not there when the box was delivered. We removed the gifts* and proceeded to fill the entire dumpster. In one day. Crap! It's the fifth one that size, not counting the 10 CY concrete dumpster. I am so tired, but not resorting to takeout...

*We're thinking of putting the TV at our curb with a sign. Not sure what to say. Something along the lines of "Thanks for the TV, but we don't have time to watch it. Please take it home, it misses you." I'm up for any and all other suggestions.

robartsd

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Nice work sammyb! Yesterday afternoon a dumpster just like yours was delivered to our flip house. This morning, there was an old television and a pizza box inside that were not there when the box was delivered. We removed the gifts* and proceeded to fill the entire dumpster. In one day. Crap! It's the fifth one that size, not counting the 10 CY concrete dumpster. I am so tired, but not resorting to takeout...

*We're thinking of putting the TV at our curb with a sign. Not sure what to say. Something along the lines of "Thanks for the TV, but we don't have time to watch it. Please take it home, it misses you." I'm up for any and all other suggestions.
While your sign is funny, it isn't likely to be effective. In California the screen tax pays for TV recycling. Often you can find a non-profit that collects TV's for recycling getting a bit of the screen tax for each one. To collect the fee the non-profit needs the donor's name and address - I think there is a limit to the number of TV's each resident can dispose of each year under the program (to prevent importing used TVs from out-of-state for profit) but that shouldn't be a problem for a mustachian.

tcnjay

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Never thought about buying in flood areas....seems like a pretty good idea where you can get good ROI and resale value. Where else has some high returns like what is going on here? I am in Orlando and the market is crazy. Property values have sky rocketed and I can't find any good deals like I used to. Looking to expand into new territories now!

sammybiker

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@Dicey   That's too bad Dicey but I know you're not the only one.  It would be an interesting play to setup a gopro to track the neighbor's contributions, ha.

@tcnjay I should qualify that when I'm purchasing a flooded house, it must meet the following requirements:

1)  Only flooded during Harvey

2) Not in a FEMA flood zone (X zone)

3)  My insurance provider will underwrite affordable flood insurance, just in-case (premium for property #1 is $300/annual - cheap peace of mind).

There are plenty flooded properties that are in good school districts that you can buy for cheap - but they flooded 3x in the last two decades and will surely flood again.  So you have to be careful.

Dicey

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We got an e-waste recycling notice at our other house. We loaded the TV up in the truck and brought it home. It's currently loafing on the curb between a dead printer and a dead microwave, both of which resisted multiple attempts to repair, boo-hiss. By tomorrow, it will be like it never happened.

sammybiker

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Update

Property 1:
Floors, trim, doors, kitchen, bathroom complete, except for a couple of hookups.  Stairs were more expensive and more labor than estimated but came out great.  I decided to build them all out, stain them as close as I could to the laminate vs installing the laminate and having corner joints (that didn't match exactly) all the way up. 

Interior house should be complete by this weekend except for the replacement of the rear doors.  Exterior paint to start next week.

Some before/after progress photos shown below:

Screen Shot 2018-07-19 at 7.47.11 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-19 at 7.45.45 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-19 at 7.44.23 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-19 at 7.43.04 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-19 at 7.42.11 PM by sam burn, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2018-07-19 at 7.49.43 PM by sam burn, on Flickr


patchyfacialhair

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How much did it cost you to re-do those stairs?

Just curious as we're planning on getting rid of some carpet and laying down wood floors in our main living room and doing the stairs at the same time, so that there would be no carpet except upstairs.

sammybiker

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@patchyfacialhair Sure thing, see below...

Stair Tread 14 ea *$30 = $420  product link:  https://www.lowes.com/pd/RetroTread-11-5-in-x-42-in-Raw-Red-Oak-Stair-Tread/1000445871

Stair Risers 14 ea *$10 = $140  product link:  https://www.lowes.com/pd/RetroRiser-7-5-in-x-42-in-Primed-Poplar-Stair-Riser/4363477

Staining sherwin williams 1ea *$40 = $40 (no product link, this was a custom mix by Sherwin Williams to match the laminate - we just brought in a piece of scrap as a sample for the match)

Labor to cut to fit, stain and install = $500

All-in $1100

Not a difficult DYI and my labor was a little high but that's what I paid.  It looks good and I'm happy with the price - about $800 more than just laying the standard laminate and using a nose cap to bridge the tread to the riser but this looks far better.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2018, 04:55:28 PM by sammybiker »

Another Reader

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Love the staircase.  Hadn't seen those products before.  Adding them to my database.

patchyfacialhair

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Much less expensive than I expected. Thanks!

sammybiker

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sammybiker

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Traveling the globe, poker pros and real estate.

I'm back on assignment in Mexico now after two weeks in the states, babysitting the rehabs, looking at more deals, meeting with bankers and flying up to Chicago for a couple of days to hangout with a few cool folks.

Matt and Craig.  I first started communicating with Matt in 2014 via an online poker forum where I had posted about what I was doing in the real estate investing world.  It turned out that Matt had sprung into real estate about the same time as I had and was buying in the same city in Ohio.  He was looking for some new property management and I passed him onto my guy.

Matt's story is very interesting to me as he was an online poker pro in the late 2000s, building his capital up and then eventually diversifying that capital into cashflowing, less variance instruments such as real estate. 

Craig has a similar story, from Australia originally, playing online poker and building a substantial bankroll and then diversifying this into real estate.  Matt put his friend Craig in touch with me for similar reasons - he was looking for a new project manager to help get a couple rehabs over the line and then get some new property management lined up.  I got him going with a couple of my guys and we stayed in touch over the years via e-mail, pinging questions off each other, sharing success stories and less-than-successful stories. 

These guys, along with their poker peers, were my introduction to the concept of a location independent lifestyle.  This was about a decade ago, before the location independent lifestyle as we know it today existed and they left me inspired.  These guys in their early to late 20's would have wild summers in Budapest, long stays in Buenos Aires, stints in Southeast Asia and of course trips back stateside to make key sports games, spring training in Scottsdale and the occasional hometown buddy's wedding.  The really smart ones would diversify into other assets and grow a more sustainable business, maintaining a lifestyle freedom that was dream worthy to most.

Another key strength that I came to know and admire was their understanding and coping with risk. Being a professional poker player, understanding and most importantly accepting the risk of each play while maintaining emotional stability and focus on the data that produced their edge.  Not jumping ship or going on tilt during hardships/losses and likewise suppressing the natural feeling of euphoria during massive wins - this is not natural and is an incredibly difficult skill to develop.

They've transferred these skills effortlessly into their real estate business and when I finally got to meet them face to face for coffee a couple of weeks ago, I was blown away with their organization, breakdown of priorities, market specificity and drive to take down big deals and find and/or create value where others couldn't.

Matt has fully retired from online poker and is focused on real estate and of course travel.  Craig still plays but on a reduced schedule, also focused more on real estate and also, of course, travel.  Both partner together on taking down small multi-family value add deals in Chicago along with a few single family flips, focused on deals that smaller investors can't reach or see and that the larger investors overlook.
« Last Edit: July 28, 2018, 01:56:27 PM by sammybiker »

sammybiker

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Update

Property 1:
Interior is essentially complete.  Made a couple of HVAC repairs and I need to install new rear and side entry french doors - these are backordered due to demand from Harvey.  About two weeks out, so we're probably looking at mid-August for being done-done.  Kicked off the refinance process this week and it's going smoothly so far.  This is my first time using any sort of bank financing and I'm a bit apprehensive as I prepare for this financial colonoscopy. 

Exterior paint started and finished this week.  I picked out the paint while I was stateside, used the sample on the side of the house and was confident with my choice.  The concept was a deeper blue with white trim.

A bit of stress set in as the paint started going on - the blue was quite a bit darker and before the white trim was done, the house looked dark and drab.  Fortunately, as the trim was painted, the colors came together and I'm reasonable satisfied with the outcome.

If I could do it all over again, I'd probably go a shade or two lighter.  All-in, this was about a $4.5k scope growth.

Photos below.

The original before and concept, side by side

Exterior Paint Concept by sam burn, on Flickr

Picking the paint

IMG_7570 by sam burn, on Flickr

Testing out the sample

IMG_7623 by sam burn, on Flickr

Cleaning prep begins

Paint in Process by sam burn, on Flickr

And about here I began to sweat a bit, the product looking a lot darker when applied en masse

Paint in Process 2 by sam burn, on Flickr

Paint in Process 4 by sam burn, on Flickr

I had some white trim photoshopped and felt a little better. Photoshop photos shown below

Edited Photo Pro 2 by sam burn, on Flickr

Edited Photo Pro by sam burn, on Flickr

And finally the end product -  not bad.  Gotta love the bouncy ball that was left in the shot.

Paint Final 4 by sam burn, on Flickr

Paint Final 3 by sam burn, on Flickr

« Last Edit: July 28, 2018, 01:01:40 PM by sammybiker »

MayDay

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I like the color.yourtrim isn't as wide as the inspiration picture but it looks nice.