Flipping

Mobile Home Investing: Not What You May Be Thinking

by Brandon · 0 comments

 

This is a post (the second in a three-part series) by John Fedro of MobileHomeInvesting.net. 

In my last post here at RealEstateInYourTwenties.com, I introduced myself, teased you with my simple cash-flow generating secret tool, then KAPOW!! – completely threw you a curve-ball by divulging my money-making strategy is investing in small, individual, easy-to-close mobile homes in and out of mobile home parks. I need to be brutally honest with you for the next minute…

Before we get into the meat of a cash-flow deal (next post) and talk about where all our money is made, you have to understand why sellers will sell you their unwanted mobile homes for such low prices; and conversely, why buyers will pay over retail prices for the same mobile homes. Much like any j.o.b. – you must understand your product, market, and all the players before you may truly thrive.

1. Understand Your Target Homes:

The mobile homes that will make you the most money are often times not the ones you would first believe. In a nutshell 3 bedrooms almost always outsell 2 bedrooms, and clean mobile homes always outsell mobile homes that need repairs. But what else… If you have been in real estate for any length of time you understand that it is not the cleanest or largest homes that make the most money but it is the more motivated sellers that you are truly after. The more motivated the seller, often times the more lucrative the deals end up becoming.

2. Understanding Your Buyers:

Approximately 80% of your end-buyers that call from your “Mobile Home For Sale” advertisements will not have the cash or approved credit to pay you all-cash for your mobile home. Another way to say this is that most mobile home buyers can make you a move-in payment and monthly payments for the sales price of the home. Understand that there is an ocean of buyers looking to buy a home with monthly payments instead of paying with all-cash.

What about buyers with all cash? These buyers are out there but in far less supply than buyers with some cash and great job history. Go where the demand is… payment buyers.

What about bank financing? Bank financing is very hard and restrictive to obtain especially concerning mobile homes on rented land such as inside a mobile home park.

There is a large segment of American society that are credit-conscious, hard-working and honest folks that would love to stop renting and finally own a mobile home of their own. If you choose to sell a home for all cash you are competing with all other sellers looking to sell their properties for all cash; driving home prices lower and lower. If you choose to accept monthly payments for your mobile home you can likely find tenant-buyers eager to pay over retail price for the value/opportunity to own a beautiful home.

3. Understanding Your Sellers:

My real estate investing business changed forever when I began to see my sellers for what they really are; fragile, scared, vulnerable, friendly, and selfish human beings. Let’s step outside the relationship that we typically have with mobile home and traditional real estate sellers and realize that each is a unique soul with his or her own set of skills, ambitions, loves, fears, and wants.

So what does all this mean for you: In a nutshell sellers are real people in real situations. Some sellers need to sell today, and others can wait weeks, months, or even years before becoming desperate to sell. Again some sellers are at the end of their ropes, while others have enough savings/income to ride out whatever situation is requiring/pushing them to sell. By being a mobile home investor in your area you may close deals and generate cash-flow by knowing your market and knowing what buyers will pay.

In my next post here at Realestateinyourtwenties.com you will discover an simple method to help ensure you underpay for every mobile home you purchase.

 

Impact a life daily,

John Fedro

John@mobilehomeinvesting.net

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

How to Flip A House Without Losing Your Shirt

by Brandon · 2 comments

It my last blog post I discussed Five Reasons NOT to Flip a House.   House flipping is a risky venture, but by following these five tips you can decrease your risk and increase your chance of making a sizable amount of money in a short time.

  1. Make Your Profit When You Buy:  Never overpay for a piece of property. I’ll say it again: NEVER overpay for a piece of property. A good friend and great Real Estate Agent Sean once told me, “When I submit an offer and I don’t blush, I offered too much”.  Another way to look at it: If you are getting more than 10% of your offers accepted, you are offering too much.
  2. Get Favorable Loan Terms: If you can’t afford to use 100% of your own cash, make sure any loans you get are favorable to you. Hard money lenders can be excellent tools if used correctly, but make sure your term is at least six months longer than you expect to hold the property for.
  3. Double Your Budget, Double Your Timeline: Don’t underestimate the costs involved or the time it takes to complete a project. If you are not a seasoned flipper or you are going to do the work yourself – double your budget and double your timeline. If the project still makes sense, move forward. Remember, each month that the home doesn’t sell YOU must make all the payments. If you cannot afford to make them yourself, partner with someone who can.
  4. Make a Plan:  Never just buy a property and hope it will sell. Know it will sell. Do your research ahead of time by knowing what other similar properties have sold for, as well as the average length of time it took to sell.  Plan for the worst, hope for the best.
  5. Have Multiple Exit Strategies: Never allow “just sell the home” to be your only plan to unload the property. You need to always be thinking outside the box. Can you refinance the home into a 30 year mortgage if needed? Can you sell to another investor if needed? How about a lease-option? Be flexible and creative and you will find success a much easier task to accomplish.

Do you have other tips for successfully flipping a home without losing your shirt? Post them here!

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.

To Flip or Not to Flip: 5 Reasons NOT to Flip a House

by Brandon · 2 comments

We love the flipping reality tv shows. Shows like Flip That House, Flip This House, Property Ladder, and a dozen other television shows have been popular over the past several years (remember Armando Montelongo?)  The abundance of these shows has made “flipping” properties appear to be the only real estate method worth talking about these days.  However, is flipping really better than a long term “buy and hold” strategy?

For those new to the business, “flipping” a home is the process of quickly selling a property for quick profit.  These homes are sold within days, weeks, or several months.  Many times the home is quickly remodeled with new paint, flooring, appliances, and more. On these television show, the “flippers” often make tens of thousands of dollars over the course of several weeks.

In contrast, the “Buy and Hold” method of real estate investing involves purchasing a home (hopefully at a low price) and holding that property for a long number of years, collecting both monthly cashflow and future profit.

While both methods can produce income for investors (and I have done both over the past five years,) I am a firm believer in having as many “buy and hold” properties as possible.

Here are five reasons why buying homes for the long-term is more beneficial than flipping:

  1. Residual Income: When you “buy and hold”, you create monthly income versus a one-time payment.  When you stop “flipping”, the income stops. When you stop acquiring homes to “buy and hold”, the income on the properties you already own continue to come in.  True wealth is only found when your money is earning you money, rather than your labor earning you money.
  2. Tax Benefits: House “flippers” pay a much higher tax rate than long-term investors. Additionally, “flippers” can become classified by the IRS as “dealers” of real estate, thus subjecting their income to regular tax rates and self-employment tax (Social Security, Medicare, etc). Long-term investors pay only long-term capital gains tax (or often not using a 1031 Tax Exchange) and income tax on the monthly cashflow (which is generally largely or completely written-off with deductions.)
  3. Agendas: A house flipper is subject to numerous outside agendas that affect if and how success is found. Hard-money-lenders, private investors, future buyers, partners, and others all have an agenda and their best interest at heart. When you buy-and-hold, the main agenda is your own.
  4. Whims of the Market: When flipping a home, you are hoping that you can sell the home quickly, which is largely based on how the market is functioning in your town. Are there far too many homes being sold, causing yours to sit for months or years? When you hold a property long term you are not dependent on the whims of the market. You are able to sell only when it is advantageous to sell.
  5. Risk: When you flip a home, you have monthly carrying costs such as the loan payment, taxes, insurance that will add up each and every month until the home is sold. Additionally, there is the chance that there will be unforeseen costs that arise when repairs are being performed.  Both these items can blow the budget and eliminate any chance of making a profit. When you buy a home for the long term (and manage effectively), you can balance out your risks over a long period of time, lowering the chance of losing money and maximizing your probability of building serious wealth.

With that said, I do want to emphasize that flipping a home is not always bad.  Often times flipping a home, when done properly, can add a sizable amount of cash to your wallet – which can be added back into future buy-and-hold investments.  As the phrase goes, “it takes money to make money”. While I am a firm believer in the concept of using “other people’s money”, it is always easier to use your own.  I believe in flipping a home only when you lower your risks considerable. Blindly purchasing a home in hopes of selling it quickly for mass profit is not only stupid, but dangerous to your financial future.  Next time I am going to talk about how to lower your risk when flipping a home.

P.S. looking for hard money loans in California? Be sure to check out my friends over at northcoastfinancialinc.com. They have very competitive rates, can fund within a week and specialize in fix and flip loans and other hard money loans.