Intended to remodel, quick sell & profit. Comedy of errors starting w/the contractor and the agent. Agent no longer working w/the original r.e. company. Plans not finalized w/city for approval. Lots of money spent & now depleted. Desperate to sell & still profit. An expensive learning experience to say the least.
2006-12-23 13:26:45 · 4 answers · asked by PAMELA JW 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
I deal in real estate and have flipped a house before. Unfortunately, you didn't give me specifics so my answer is unfortunately going to have to be general. First, depending on the kind of work that has to be done, I would suggest that you do the work and put sweat equity into it. Leave electrical and plumbing work to professionals. Secondly, try www.fsbo.com and try to sell it yourself. Also, post it on craigslist. That is a very effective way to sell your property. I also don't know what has or hasn't been done to the house or what needs to be done, but I suggest that you "dress up the pig". Do the absolute minimum work that has to be done. Don't put in the expensive marble, etc. Make the home clean, which is all you can ask for. Also, consider finding another agent if you havn't been locked into an agreement with your agent. If you have been locked in, ask them if they would be willing to let you out of that contract. Anyways, you don't have a lot of good options. Consider at least breaking even, and getting the tax deductions with the work you have already done. Good luck with your house and I hope you get paid!
2006-12-23 17:21:41 · answer #1 · answered by Kenneth C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suppose you read all the get rich stuff that was said on TV and other places about flipping properties for profit. Expensive lesson but necessary lesson.
Don't let this small set back keep you from investing in the real estate market.
Stay away from real estate agents with these good deals, if it was so good they would have or should have done the project themselves.
Well the best thing you for you to do is advertise in your local paper "Investor Special" Take over my equity for (Place in a dollar amount). Make sure it is high enough for you to do a little haggling because this is gonna happen with the investor that want to purchase this property from you.
Or you can say "Share Investment 50/50 Need (Place in a dollar amout) to complete the project. Expect a little haggling here also, but make the best deal possible where both of you are pretty pleased.
I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.
"FIGHT ON"
2006-12-27 10:20:41 · answer #2 · answered by Skip 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
see the ending paragraph for a word of advice, but i suggest that you read all of this.
the sales agent did not partner it with you, did she? wasn't it you that signed the contract, and she only filling in the blanks in for you? why is the agent being or not being at the original office of any meaning to you? you may email me if you need to on that.
why did you hire a contractor to do work if plans had not already been approved by the city? your mistake was in not asking a developer or rehabber how they usually remodelled and sold. such as what steps they did first, etc. if you are familiar with computer program flowcharts, there are logical things you do first, then do second, and so on. very successful developers that i work with either know how to flowchart the project out, or else i show them how to do it.
i am really not trying to insult you with any of what i say. but i am wondering how you budgeted the rehab. you apparently had money to put down to get a mortgage, or else you paid cash and had some money somehow to start rehabbing, right?
another thing i think everyone should know is this: in 23 years of this business, i must honestly tell you sellers that almost 100% of the time, the very first offer is the best one to WORK WITH. by that, i don't mean that you must sign it, i mean that it normally is the cleanest and easiest one to change and get to contract and closing. but sellers don't listen to their agents. they think that if one offer came in that was pretty good, all the other offers will be better, but no, that is not true.
in addition, didn't anyone tell you that we were going into a buyer's market big time at the beginning of 2005? price is what is keeping people from buying the real estate that has been going up and up for about 5 years before that.
another thing all of us really need to realize is that refinancing doesn't do a damned thing to help jump start the economy, but sales do: imagine all the things that go into a bare piece of land before it becomes saleable, gets sold, and closes. a whole lot of dominos will fall when sales drop. you are adversely affected when about 25% of our GDP, which is what the wide world of real estate actually is to our budget, takes a nosedive. it's best to get that piece sold, sold, sold.
okay, i promised: if you can pull equity money from your first piece of real estate in order just to finish the project enough to sell it at a SMALL profit, do it. if you must, call you agent to ask to have it temporarily withdrawn from the market now, since a half-finished project just will not sell at a profit: buyers want to walk in and feel they won't have to lift a finger. if that agent was communicative with you in the past, rehire that agent when you put it back on the market, but pay attention to what she tells you about price and about offers. when you counter, counter fairly to make a deal. the buyer's market that exists now should last about 5 more years, bad news for sellers.
i really don't mean any ill will or insult, really, i wish you the very best. but now you know a little more. be ready WELL BEFORE you take on another project. and ask your good agent for comparables, so that you know what similar properties in the surrounding area closed for, how long it took to sell them, if price went down, and so on, before you buy another nightmare.
good luck. write if you want to. dallasent1010@comcast.net
2006-12-23 15:00:11 · answer #3 · answered by Louiegirl_Chicago 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First and foremost is this. How much are the properties worth in your area? How much did you buy it for? How much have you spend on remodeling it?
Did you get convinced into buying it by the agent? (I mean conned) Was the contractor referred to you by the agent?
You might have been duped and everyone was in on it except for you.
2006-12-23 13:54:09 · answer #4 · answered by El_Nimo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋