|
IWP!, flagship product is Chicago's premiere real estate Investment
magazine. Entitled Invest With Passion!, it is the tool for investors and professionals in the
Mid-West. The publication seeks to grow it's market share by providing
powerful information designed to build the reader both as an investor and a
person.
Since it's release in January of 2006, the magazine has been well received and
continues to gain momentum and support. The education, information, and
networking opportunities for the real estate investor has been long neglected.
No More!
The time is now and the momentum is building.
It's Happening!
|
|
MY FIRST REHAB
By Marki Lemons
Proper preparation is often the
key component to success. For three years, my partner and I worked
diligently in preparing for the day that we would become rehabbers, for we
marveled at the possibility of making our first million dollars in
fixer-uppers. Through proper preparation, we had been pre-approved by two
lending institutions. Our resources had been gathered and we deposited
$75,000 into the bank to help build our lending relationship. As a
Realtor®, I had studied the trends and knew the language. We prayed over
our business and tackled the challenge head on.
The address of our first rehab
project was 5731 S. Loomis. The property was a single family residence
with three bedrooms, one bath, a separated living room-dining room, newer
two car garage, basement with a finished family room and an unfinished
attic giving room to grow. To this day, I'm still in love with the
bungalow style because of this property. My partner was a stock broker and
he is a true numbers man. We crunched our numbers until they couldn't be
crunched any more.
Our entrance into rehabbing was to
start small and grow fast. The purchase price of our project was $70,900
and our estimated rehab cost came in at $27,500 with a projected ARV
(after repair value) of $145,000. Our rehab cost included new windows, new
kitchen, new bathroom, gutting the bedrooms, new carpet, painting,
finishing the attic, building a new rear porch and numerous other small
items. We even crunched our turn around time and our intention was to
complete the project in one month.
Everything was going very smooth
until we realized we had no water coming into the property. Envision with
me - no working toilets, sinks, or tubs. What was going on? The City of
Chicago came out twice and they were stumped because everything was
working on their side. After thorough investigation and the removal of a
basement wall, we discovered our problem. The property was acquired
because of a divorce. The husband left the wife and she too had to
evacuate the property because she had no running water. The ex-husband had
taken the paneling off the wall to cut the water inflow valve. Then, he
took sticks and stuffed the water inflow valve. Therefore, water wasn't
able to flow into the property. After delaying our project by three weeks,
we were now prepared to put our gorgeous property back on the market.
Prior to putting the property on
the market, my partner and I decided to do a cash out refinance so we
could keep moving on to our next project and not have our money tied up.
We were successful in completing a cash out refinance on a non-seasoned
property as investors at a 90% LTV (this product is no longer in
existence). To ensure that we wouldn't be stuck, we put the property up
for sale and listed it as a rental. After 106 days on the market, the
property sold for $155,000 with us paying 3% toward the buyer’s closing
cost. Our net on the project, after carrying cost and unforeseen expenses,
netted us $37,500. I stopped rehabbing in 2006 to focus on my family and
other businesses but I tell everyone that there is no check like a rehab
check because a rehab check gets you paid. |
|
|
