Nov
29
If I Only Had a Boatload of Money
November 29, 2007 |
The buyers had House #1 inspected yesterday and requested only a few small repairs, didn’t ask for a price reduction, so things thankfully seem to be on track there.
I finally, finally should have electricity at House #2 now, as the electrical work was done yesterday, passed by the city inspection department, and I submitted the paperwork this morning to get power turned on today. The delays here are partially my fault, as I should have straightened all this out long ago, but it didn’t help that I was given conflicting info at pretty much every stage of the process, as far as whether it was passed for temporary service or not in its existing condition when I bought it, etc.
Still no final estimate for the plumbing, which is pretty damn annoying, especially since I paid $35 on Monday for their pseudo-estimate; a supervisor has to give me the final estimate but has been AWOL since Tuesday, despite promises to call me with a final estimate yesterday, then today, etc.
‘Tis obviously a bit soon to be thinking about such things, but I’m not sure what the next step is after House #2 is done. I’d sworn to myself “no more rehabs” for the near future, what with being worn out in general and the uncertainty in the markets, but there is some temptation there, especially after finally finding a dependable, affordable contractor to work with.
I’d been thinking about looking for a rental property but I’m just not sure about where the local market is headed over the next year or two. If you think prices will continue to decline, it’d likely be smarter to continue to flip properties until the market bottoms out, then get serious about picking up rental properties.
But a declining market isn’t exactly the best environment to be flipping houses in, either, at least not in the “traditional” sense. Taking a hard look at the final tallies for House #1 (assuming it gets sold as planned) and likely scenarios for House #2 makes me realize pretty clearly that if I continue to do the flipping thing, I’ve got to do a better job of buying at a deeper discount.
Or, more specifically, finding properties by buying off the MLS is easier but much less profitable. Which isn’t a conclusion that I want to come to, as I have absolutely no desire to be the guy with the “We Buy Houses” signs on my truck and ads in the newspaper, fielding phone calls from all sorts of wackjobs and desperate homeowners, but that’s likely the reality I’m facing, if I want to make more money off these deals.
But yeah, getting way ahead of myself. Get this last one done, take a break, then see what the plan is.
Comments
1 Comment so far
congrats on the sale.Don’t worry about the small profit,you are getting valuable experience.I’m a long time remodel contractor with a small stable of rentals [12] I picked up over last 20 yrs.Love the rental part of it.The other side of the contractor coin is this.Most new-calls are folk pumping for info,who intend to do it themmself.If you have a good contractor ,treat him well and overlook some of the small flaws[fix-em yourself later.]If he likes working for you he’ll treat you well later.i don’t nessaserily mean the money part but stuff like respect and or appreciation..Just be certain he’s drug- free…