009: Rental Property, Fix and Flip, and Real Estate Team Update
Welcome to the first solo edition of the InvestFourMore podcast. Mark Ferguson the host of the InvestFourMore Podcast is an active real estate broker and investor and his purpose in building the InvestFourMore platform is to teach you what he’s doing and how he’s doing it. This episode is a full-scoop episode, giving you the details on what properties Mark has in his portfolio, what he’s doing with them, and how he’s actively working to buy even more. His goal is to increase his monthly cash flow, so you won’t want to miss the insights you’ll gain from this transparent look into Mark’s business deals.
How can you buy properties when your market has an all time low inventory?
That’s the exact situation Mark finds himself in at this stage in the game. His area has record low properties available, and prices are climbing. That makes for a difficult time first of all, finding properties that are priced well enough to turn into an investment property. Secondly, there’s simply not enough property available to purchase. If a property that seems like a possibility becomes available, it’s gobbled up by someone immediately. What do you do in that situation if you want to expand your real estate investments? You start looking at other options. In this episode Mark’s going to fill you in on a turn-key deal he just purchased that is across the country, and how he plans on managing and using that property as part of his cash flow formula.
Why turn-key deals are becoming increasingly more attractive.
First off, let’s be sure you get what a turnkey deal is. A turn-key property is one that is being sold as a rental and already has tenants in the property. Most of the time these are single family homes, but some will be a duplex, triplex, or an even larger multi-family home. Buying a turn-key property gives you immediate cash flow if the property is set up right, but the turn-key provider. Turn-key deals are more and more popular in markets where property values are going up and it is hard to cash flow.
A rental property opportunity Mark couldn’t pass up!
In the area of the country where Mark does business the property inventory is at an all time low. What is available is typically priced at levels that make them unprofitable from a fix and flip standpoint. That’s why it was surprising when Mark came across a property that was priced about $30,000 under the market value and also had a good deal of recent improvements already done. Mark rushed out that day and looked at the property and made a cash offer on it right away. He made an offer without asking for an inspection, confident that if any issues did arise, he had enough financial margin to take care of them.
Mark’s solution to dealing with flaky, unreliable contractors.
If you’re in the fix and flip world you know the headache and hassle it can be to work with contractors. It seems that more and more people are getting into the contracting business without having the right skills, training, or integrity to create a business that is truly worthwhile. Mark’s come up with a novel solution that is working beautifully. A trustworthy contractor who worked for him in the past but had gone into another career field recently approached Mark, telling how he hated the new career and wanted to come back into construction work. He wanted Mark to let him work on a few jobs, but Mark had a better plan. He hired the guy to be his fix and flip administrator, responsible for hiring contractors, overseeing the work, and making sure jobs get done on time. It’s taken a load off Mark’s plate and provided a great opportunity for his friend at the same time. And to top it off, fix and flip projects are getting done on time and with quality work. Find out more about how Mark arranged this situation in this episode.