Invest Success: Flip, Hold Or BRRRR
For the last few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of attending the Invest Success Real Estate course. Invest Success is a class/mentorship program to help students on their investment journey. Whether you’re looking to flip, hold, or BRRRR, Invest Success has you covered.
The hands-on approach of Invest Success makes for the perfect learning environment no matter your experience level. Every two weeks we meet up at an in-progress rehab project. Having the opportunity to see the current state of a project, talking through issues, ideas, and goals, which makes for the perfect real-life “classroom” experience.
Learn From Experienced Real Estate Investors
The instructors, Tim Emery and Jim Edenfield, are experienced real estate investors who not only run a business as successful investors, but they genuinely want to see each student succeed, and it shows in how they engage with each individual. Along with the in-person classes, you have the opportunity to talk with them on a weekly basis, and they will take the time to look at a deal with you, from its infancy, to be sure it’s a viable option to move forward with.
The two classes I have attended so far have gone over comping properties and creative financing, so here’s a more in depth look at that:
Comping Properties
Comping properties is definitely an art form. It’s not as simple as putting a search in Zillow, and accepting what Zillow shows as comparable properties. You have to narrow the search down compared to what Zillow and other web based real estate sites use as comparables. For example, using comps that are nearby and the same or similar neighborhoods to the subject property being evaluated. Zillow, and the like, can pull similar houses that are in completely different neighborhoods even though they are close by, disqualifying them from being a true comp. Not getting this right can prove very costly to your bottom line if not done correctly.
Creative Financing
I was excited about this topic, as I am a loan officer here for Pine Financial Group and this was a great opportunity to further expand my knowledge of financing options.
In this class we discuss the options you have to finance your deal. More often than not, a conventional lender won’t lend on a rehab project. Conventional lenders don’t like distressed properties, nor will they help with rehab funding for the project. For these types of projects, we discussed using Hard Money, Private Money, and lines of credit such as a Home Equity Line of Credit, otherwise known as a HELOC. Hard money and private money get confused as the same thing. Hard money takes in private money, then lends it to investors for their projects. Private money comes straight from the source, i.e., family and friends.
A HELOC is using the equity from your home to get a loan to fund your projects.
Hands-On Mentorship Is Key To Your Investor Success
Overall, I am extremely pleased with how this class is going so far. I’ve learned more about the process of budgeting a rehab project, what to look for when touring a property to make sure things like foundation, roofing, and layout are suitable for making an offer. The only thing we do differently at Pine Financial Group is when to move on a deal. When crunching numbers, a deal that has your purchase and repairs equal to 80% of the after-repair value (ARV) is one they will move forward on. We believe that is too aggressive and would want to see our clients be more conservative. Here at Pine, we like to see the deal at 70-75% of the ARV or less. That being said, each deal is different and has specific carrying costs that can make a deal work. We’re always happy here at Pine to help run the numbers on your specific deal to see if it will be a profitable one.
These immersive types of learning opportunities are great, having this hands-on mentorship can save you time and money in the long run. I’d recommend reaching out to Invest Success if this is something you think could help your real estate investing career. Normally they will allow you to attend a class free of charge to see if it’s a fit, you have nothing to lose, check them out!