Howdy,
My sister recommended this site to me the other day, and I’m glad she did…
She is relatively new REI herself, and she is extremely optimistic about her quest for success, and this site was a major tool in opening her eyes to the opportunities in REI.
Your site has been a great source of practical “real-world” experience and I have checked in daily for the past week for articles and advice while trying to learn as much as I can.
My brother and I have owned a successful custom homebuilding business for the past several years and have come to a point where we are simply burned out with the day to day stress of the emotions associated with dealing with impossible homeowners for 6-8 months, and then for years thereafter. The liability is unbelieveable and profits are much less than you might think. In short, the risk and stress don’t = the reward.
Although the potential is there to make a substantial income as a true custom builder, we both have decided that we are not willing to do so at the expense of our famlies or our quality of life. It’s truly not a business that I would recommend to anyone.
My brother and I want to build a business that we can enjoy first and foremost. We want to include our wives in our deals and projects, and we want to have some fun from 8-5. We might even like to take a day off every six months or so…
With our construction experience, we basically have the machine in place for rehabbing, and are interested in beginning there. As a builder, dealing with homeowners, title companies, attorneys and bankers is not that big of a deal. We deal with them every day. Our weakness (or “newbieness” if you will) is that we have dealt stricly with conventional lending and traditional real estate transactions. We would appreciate any suggestions on lenders and deal structuring.
We have already made the decision to wean ourselves off of our most demanding and time consuming projects (custom builds), and have made adjustments that will free me up to scout and learn as much as possible, in the shortest amount of time. We’d like to initiate our first deal within a month, but need to cross a few bridges before we do.
A few questions that we need answered:
1.) Our currrent company is a C Corp and is backed by personal assets. I assume that most would recommend creating a seperate company for our REI? If so, what is recommended…LLC, LLP, C Corp??? Attorney recommendations (those who are familiar with REI)???
2.) Do you recommend one of us obtaining a RE License? Benifits??? Liability??? How do you effectively scout vacant or MLS property if you are not able to access it? Saving commissions on the sale by listing it your self???
3.) Has anyone bought incomplete new homes where a builder has gone broke and the bank owns them? I know of 4 specs that a local builder went broke on and they have been boarded up for 6 months. Values range from $150,000 to $350,000.
I’m sure I will have more questions in the coming weeks. Thanks for letting me introduce myself and I look forward to your responses.
If any of you rehabbers need any assistance in the Austin area for trade contractor recommendations, let me know. I can give you a pretty good idea of who to use and who to stay away from.
Again, Thanks…
Scott