June 20, 2021

What Is Flipping Houses?

HGTV has definitely piqued interest in flipping houses in recent years. How many of us have spent countless hours slunk in our couches, indulging in our favorite shows, and dreaming of our own future fix-and-flip success story? You can have that success story. Just without a show host and camera crew.

So what does it mean to flip houses?

Simply, it’s buying a house or other property in poor condition or at below-market value, making minor or major improvements, then selling it for a higher net financial gain. You may have also heard it referred to as “fix and flip.” Think of it as a relatively quick way to profit in the real estate market.

You might wonder how it compares with wholesaling real estate, another fast money-making strategy. There are several key differences. With wholesaling, you never actually own the property; you’re the middle person or broker between the seller and end buyer. Plus, there are no improvements or renovations being made. Lastly, you need little or no money out of your pocket. 

With flipping, on the other hand, you do own the property during the time it’s undergoing renovations. This is the part that will require upfront money — for down payment, closing, realtor fees, mortgage payments, property taxes, labor, materials, and any permits required for renovations.

But here’s a caveat to the point about upfront money: You may not need your money to do this. Of course, you can if you want, and if you’re financially solvent enough to do so. But technically, you can still get away with not investing a single dime of your own. Rather, it’s up to you to either line up a potential investor to cover these costs then pay them back with proceeds from selling the renovated house, or secure either a private money loan or a hard money loan. For all the money that goes into the improvements on the front end, though, you can more than make up for that when you sell it. Your profit can vary by the local housing supply vs. demand, the kind of improvements you made, or economic considerations, for example.



How does it work?

The house-flipping shows tend to leave out some key things. While there’s no real set-in-stone process to flipping houses, there are certain things to do to make it a more smooth, profitable experience.

  • Check out the real estate market in your area to see what is available and the general comps. You want to make sure you’re getting a good deal when you’re ready to buy.
  • Figure out what your budget is, not just for purchasing the house and all the associated costs, but for the renovations, too, whether you choose to self-finance them or contract them out.
  • Assemble a business plan — outlining the scope of renovations, the budget to complete it all, and the timeline for completion. 
  • Secure your funding for renovations (again, if you’re not self-financing) from a private money lender or a hard money lender (make sure you’re comfortable with the higher interest rates and possible points). This is where your business plan will come in handy.
  • Research and meet with contractors ahead of time. When you find an ideal property to fix and flip, you can start getting quotes right away for the work you plan to have done. Of course, minor cosmetic updates are simple enough to do on your own. But anything more will likely require the pros, especially if there’s a lot of work to be done or you’re working on a timeline for flipping.
  • Now for the really fun part: Hunt for a house to buy and flip. If you’re just starting out, don’t overextend yourself. Zero in on below-market fixer-uppers — foreclosures, auctions and older homes are popular choices. You don’t have to limit yourself to these obvious targets, though. Look for properties that may require only cosmetic touches that can make your flip ready to move in. A note of caution: The house may look like it only needs minor work; make sure to hire an inspector to go through and to make sure everything is up to code or not in desperate need of repair. 
  • More fun, part 2: Start the transformation. The most common fixes? Fresh paint. New carpet and/or flooring. Modern fixtures. Updated appliances, especially energy-efficient ones. Landscaping in front and back, such as planting flowers and trimming foliage. If you’ve already done this a few times and are comfortable with the process, you could explore houses needing a bit more TLC. More involved work could include structural things like knocking out walls, redoing electrical wiring, replacing windows and doors, building an addition or replacing the roof.
  • The moment you’ve been waiting for: Selling it! You could start this part much earlier, just as you’re buying the house, by finding an investor who is ready and able to purchase your house after the improvements are done, or who can fund the renovations and be paid back for a profit from the house sale. Or, you can wait to sell it until after you’ve made the house move-in-ready for an individual or family who would like to call it “home.”

Advantages of flipping houses

There’s definitely money to be made in the fix-and-flip market — and quickly. Even if you do use your own money for improvements and repairs, you’ll be able to recoup much more than what you put in. There’s no limit to what you can earn. It all depends on how ambitious you are — and how patient. Even cosmetic upgrades don’t happen overnight. But you can make a decent profit with a few months of renovations.

You don’t have to flip houses for a full-time living, but you can do it part-time whether you have another job or not. It could fund your vacations, your kids’ (or your own) college tuition, a new home, your retirement. 

As with wholesaling, you don’t need any required formal education or training of any kind to get into this. “Required” is the key word there. Just because it’s not mandated doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from taking a class (or a few) from a seasoned expert. 

At Clever Investor, we’ve been doing the fix-and-flip thing for years and have taught and coached others to do the same. We’d like to share in-depth details about flipping houses with you for free. Find out if it’s for you. When you’re ready, we’re happy to talk with you and help you get started in this profitable niche market. 

The post What Is Flipping Houses? appeared first on Clever Investor: Real Estate Investing Educational Training.



* This article was originally published here

Costs of Selling Your Las Vegas House With an Agent vs. to an Investor

The decision to sell your home is a big one. Now that you’re ready to sell, you must consider the method you select to sell your home. While most homeowners first thought is to call a licensed real estate agent, why not consider the alternative of selling to a professional investor, like those at RjRebel Buys Houses. 

Real estate all comes down to the numbers, so it is helpful to understand the differences in the costs between selling your Las Vegas house with an agent versus to an investor.

Agent –

Marketing expenses for selling your Las Vegas house with an agent are part of the listing contract. They outline all of the steps that the agent will take towards selling the home, which can vary significantly by property.

Listing costs will include anything you must do to prepare to sell your Las Vegas house with an agent. These listing costs could consist of simple cleaning so that it is in ready condition for showings, to significant updates to the home’s interior, appliances, or more. Often, an agent will recommend sellers invest in renovations modernizing the features of a home to meet the demands of technology. Other amenities they may suggest space for two home offices or even the addition of a study area for school-aged children. 

Repairs for any issues with the house will come out of pocket before closing. If the inspection revealed problems with your home that you were previously unaware of, you would also have to pay to complete these repairs. Otherwise, the lender will not approve the loan in many cases. Alternatively, you can expect the buyers to respond with their estimated costs for these repairs deducted from the offer. Avoiding this surprise can be achieved by hiring an inspector.

Staging expenses cover the cost to depersonalize the space, which enhances selling your Las Vegas house with an agent. Buyers who tour the home can easily imagine themselves occupying a home free of personal items or showing a distinct personal taste in decor. You may also encounter storage costs to clear your home of excess belongings.

Advertising expenses should be discussed and agreed to before signing the contract when selling your Las Vegas house with an agent. These costs include professional photography for the high-quality images buyers have come to expect as they search listings online and professional drone pilots to provide 360-degree virtual tours.

Commissions are paid for professional services provided, including marketing, paperwork, arranging for inspections, appraisals, and doing all of the footwork to bring a buyer to the door and finally the closing table when selling your Las Vegas house with an agent. You can expect to pay a total of around 6 percent of the sales price in commission. 

Holding costs for the duration you have listed your Las Vegas house with an agent can quickly add up, especially if you have had to relocate. Suppose your reasons for selling are financial. In that case, the longer that the listing lingers on the market, the more monthly payments for the mortgage, insurance, and taxes, and all of the utilities you will continue to carry. The strain of this situation can cause restless nights and extreme stress for your entire family.

Investor –

An investor has none of these expenses! And because investors pay cash and buy your house as-is in most cases, you can close fast, sometimes in a matter of days!

With little closing time to worry about, it is easy to see how selling your Las Vegas house to an investor like the professionals at RjRebel Buys Houses saves you time and money! Ready to sell your Las Vegas house? Call RjRebel Buys Houses at (702) 572-6293 or send us a message today!



* This article was originally published here

June 19, 2021

Rookie Podcast 88: Rookie Reply: Analyzing a Short-Term Rental Market

Rookie Podcast 88: Rookie Reply: Analyzing a Short-Term Rental Market
Today, we have a question from Ashley to Tony, on a subject he has a lot of experience in. Ashley wants to know: How do you analyze a market for […]

* This article was originally published here

June 17, 2021

478: From Pro Snowboarder to Full-Time Flipper & Investor w/ Chris Naugle


The path of a wealthy real estate investor is never a straight line. Often we’ll set up goals we deem worth chasing, then somewhere along the way, we’ll pivot to a more refined goal. Without knowing where we want to go, we can’t get the proper footing to start the journey. This is exactly what snowboarder, skater, real estate investor, and lender, Chris Naugle, talks about with us today.

Chris grew up in chilly Buffalo, New York and knew he wasn’t the employment type of guy. So, after quitting his first job, he decided to start a clothing company in his basement. Then, with some of the profits from his clothing venture, paired with a loan from his mom’s equity line, he opened up a skateboard shop. Everything was going well, until the dot com crash, prompting him to become an advisor on Wall Street.

As an advisor, Chris found that more and more of his wealthy clients were investing in real estate. This prompted him to take the leap and start flipping, buying commercial real estate, and investing in rentals. But, Chris wasn’t borrowing the right way, leading him to have to get rid of his 37 unit portfolio or go bankrupt.

After losing years' worth of work and a massive amount of equity, Chris started to draw up systems and procedures that could work as a safety net for his investments. Now with a smaller portfolio of around 23 units, he works mostly as the bank that lends other investors their money. All of this was made possible when Chris stopped and thought about what his “perfect day” was and what he needed to do to make it a reality.

In This Episode We Cover:

Using flipping as an entry point to get into real estate investing

Buying commercial buildings like strip malls

Keeping your debt-to-income (DTI) low so you can keep borrowing

Conventional financing vs. commercial financing for real estate investing

The “rules of engagement” when it comes to investing

Trading money for money instead of time for money

Knowing what your “perfect day” is

And SO much more!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Forums

BiggerPockets Youtube Channel

BiggerPockets Membership

HGTV's Risky Builders

Eharmony

BiggerPockets Podcast 477: Discomfort & Uncertainty Lead To Victory with BJJ Black Belt Ryron Gracie

BiggerPockets Podcast 471: What Michael Jordan and Kobe Taught Tim Grover about “Winning”

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/show478



* This article was originally published here

June 16, 2021

New Landlords: Set Your Expectation by Understanding the Tenant Lifecycle

The concept of being a landlord sounds simple enough: Purchase a property, find trustworthy tenants, sign a lease agreement, and sit back and watch the rent come in. Unfortunately, the […]

* This article was originally published here

5 Ways to Buy Investment Property in Las Vegas When You Have Bad Credit

Bad credit doesn’t have to derail efforts towards building passive retirement for your income through real estate investments. While conventional lenders may turn you away over your past transgressions, they are not the only option available for funding investment property. While the perfect scenario would be to repair your credit issues and then gain financing on your own at lower interest through conventional methods, this could take years. The sooner you invest, the sooner you can increase your current cash flow and the more your long-term returns will be. 

Read on to discover five ways to buy investment property in Las Vegas when you have bad credit.

Partner Up 

Networking, gathering with like-minded Real Estate Investors allows you to begin building Connections in the real estate industry. Having a support team around you that you can rely on is imperative to success as an investor. By spending time getting to know other investors, you can find someone you click with and offer a partnership, bringing the skills you have to contribute to the table, with their financial backing to buy investment property in Las Vegas when you have bad credit. 

Private Loan 

A private loan is a secured contract or a mortgage created by a private individual that may be a friend or family member or by an investment firm that will allow you to buy investment property in Las Vegas when you have bad credit. Because of the risk, they can charge you a higher interest rate, though there are limits in place setting a maximum amount allowed. The lender will benefit from helping you through the passive income they will earn on your repayment of the principle and the interest over the life of the loan. 

Borrow from Family 

Family is often ready to help you buy investment property in Las Vegas when you have bad credit because they understand that an investment for a more extended period allows it to earn higher passive income. Providing for a better life quality during your retirement years is their desire on your behalf. 

While handshake agreements among families are often acceptable, it is wise in such a financial matter of import to have the loan secured by a promissory note to avoid any possible issues down the road. Typically these loans carry a much lower interest rate than you would otherwise be able to qualify for, with a poor credit score. The IRS has set a minimum on the amount of interest that The IRS will impute upon the lender if they do not charge interest to you on loan.

Sell Other Assets

It may be time to trade in your treasured collection of baseball cards to buy investment property in Las Vegas when you have bad credit. If you don’t happen to have a valuable collection or a vintage car to trade in for investment property, you would be amazed at the gems you can find when raising funds. Necessity often forces people to discover just what they have in all those boxes. You may be surprised at the value hidden within what they consider dust collectors sitting in the corner of an attic or basement.

Work with RjRebel Real Estate Investments LLC

The experienced professionals at RjRebel Real Estate Investments LLC make it easy to buy investment property in Las Vegas when you have bad credit. RjRebel Real Estate Investments LLC has inventory available, and private lenders are looking to work with people who can find deals with high returns. Working with RjRebel Real Estate Investments LLC means you can still purchase investment property no matter your credit score. At RjRebel Real Estate Investments LLC, we are happy to answer any questions or concerns you have with no obligation. Just call RjRebel Real Estate Investments LLC at (702) 572-6293 or send us a message today! 



* This article was originally published here

June 15, 2021

How to Buy and Manage Rental Properties in 2021

You want to replace your 9-5 with rental property income, but do you have a plan? In order to successfully achieve this goal, you need a clear set of actionable steps to get you started.

Develop a Real Estate Business Plan

Before jumping into real estate investing for the first time, an excellent exercise for aspiring real estate investors is to draft a business plan. Knowing what you want to achieve with real estate is key to being successful. 

How many properties would you need in order to replace your 9-5 income? You might not have a concrete number yet, but at least have an overall idea of the minimal amount of money you’d like to make from real estate investing.

Another question to ask yourself is if you’ll hire a property manager right away or manage your properties yourself.

Pro Tip: As soon as you can afford to, investing in professional rental property management is the quickest way to scale your business. You’d be surprised how much of your time can be eaten up by tending to properties, and this valuable time could be spent on growing your business and acquiring new properties.

If you are going to manage your own rentals in the beginning, using software such as a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to keep track of current tenants, their leases, and new tenants your interview will keep you organized. You should also be prepared to create files on your rental properties, keeping notes on repairs and future maintenance projects.

To learn more about managing your own rental properties, check out this article: Property Management Tips and Tricks  

Curate Your Rental Team

Following your business planning, you’ll want to start pulling together your rental property team. 

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of professional help to seek:

  • A real estate agent
  • An accountant
  • An attorney
  • A private lender
  • Professional property management
  • A contractor and plumber for property maintenance
  • Cleaning services (especially for short term rentals)

Of course, it is possible to use different lenders, agents, etc each time you make an investment property purchase and as you need help growing your business. However, making strong connections with individuals and having a team to rely on will streamline your real estate investment efforts. It’s also worth noting that you might not need a big team right away. You can always grow your real estate team as you need help with certain aspects of your business.

Research Target Markets

Knowing the best markets to purchase an investment property in is a critical aspect of running a successful real estate investment business, and it is especially important for rental property owners. Why? Because you won’t see the kind of cash flow you are looking for if you choose the wrong market.

In order to get a good sense of profitable locations, do some research to find out which markets are heating up. Good indicators of a strong market are:

  • Strong economy
  • Job growth
  • In-migration
  • Steady real estate appreciation
  • High price to rent ratio

These factors represent a real estate market that will thrive long term, and hopefully provide a positive cash flow and high occupancy rates.

To calculate the price-to-rent ratio, divide the median home price by the median annual rent. If the number is between 1 and 15, you’re looking at a market in which it is likely more affordable for residents to buy than rent. This is an indicator that you may have a harder time keeping rental units full. If the price-to-rent ratio is above 20, however, you should not have trouble finding plenty of tenants for your investment property.

Get Connected with Private Lenders

If you’ve tried getting a mortgage through your bank and they’ve declined you, and you don’t know where to turn for capital, Connected Investor’s platform is a great place to kick start your real estate investing business. 

Here are a few good reasons to use our private lenders:

  • Instantly connect with private lenders that meet your criteria
  • Find loans for investment properties that don’t require a credit check
  • Have lenders compete against each other to earn your business
  • Score deals that often require little to no money down
  • Beat the slow-moving pace of banks and get the money you need fast

When it comes to starting and growing your rental property business, being held back by obstacles like the time it takes to get a traditional mortgage is just not an option. Especially in a market with low inventory, you need financing fast in order to grab the best deals before they’re gone.

If you have:

  • Poor credit
  • A small down payment (or no down payment)
  • A poor debt to income ratio

…don’t let any of these factors stop you from making real estate investments. Check out Connected Investors’ private lender platform here for a quick match to the property investment loans you need.

PinPoint Potential Investments

Once you’ve nailed down the perfect business plan, know your target market, have a team complete with a lender ready to go, you’ll need to pick up your first investment property.

A big mistake first-time real estate investors make is relying on real estate agents to find them property leads. Though you will need a real estate agent to help you close the property transaction, you don’t need to lean on them for getting property information. In fact, you shouldn’t.

Real estate agents get their information from the MLS, along with brokers, home buyers, and pretty much everyone else. While it’s a great resource, it certainly isn’t the only one, and limiting yourself to the MLS means giving up a ton of potential deals.

Experts will tell you that some of their best real estate investments were:

  • Probate properties
  • Vacant properties
  • Pre-foreclosures
  • Courthouse auction properties
  • Bank owned homes
  • Zombie properties (in pre-foreclosure and vacant)
  • Properties that are for sale by motivated sellers
  • Shadow inventory (bank-owned property that is not listed)
  • Wholesale deals
  • Online auction properties

Typically, these properties are more challenging to find, especially for real estate investors just starting out. At Connected Investors, we built software to find these kinds of “off-market” properties so investors can quickly find the best deals on their own terms, with no experience required. 

To get started looking for properties for sale in your target market, try a free demo of our PiN 5 software, here.

Build a Portfolio with Cash Flow and Equity

After you’ve closed on your first property, your real estate investment business has only gotten started. You’ll need to get your property rented, collect the cash flow, and plan for your next investment.

There are a few different strategies investors in real estate use to quickly fund their next property, even with outstanding loans.

 

  • Reinvest Cash Flow. Instead of pocketing your monthly cash flow or using it to pay down debt, you can use it to quickly compile savings that will make up your next down payment on a property.

 

  • Reinvest Equity. Many real estate investors take out home equity to fund a new investment property. This is especially effective if you buy a property for less than it’s worth.

 

 

As soon as you can, by whatever means you can, invest in your second rental property. Before long, you will build a steady stream of cash flow that allows you to pay off loans, invest in more rental properties, and eventually quit your 9-5.

The post How to Buy and Manage Rental Properties in 2021 appeared first on Connected Investors Blog.



* This article was originally published here

June 13, 2021

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 205: From $50k in Debt to Financially Free in 2 Years w/ Lots of Ups & Downs

There are lots of twists and turns throughout every investor’s journey, but maybe not as many as Zeona McIntyre’s. Growing up with the words of Suze Orman in her ear, […]

* This article was originally published here

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