Hello,
I’m new here and I’ve been a real estate agent for a couple of years. I’d like to start investing (doing rehabs) myself and have full access to the MLS.
I currently work mainly with regular customers looking for nice residential homes to buy and live in. That’s pretty easy. But what should I look for (using the MLS) when I’m searching properties to flip?
What makes one house better to rehab than an other?
Any particular clues to look for?
Thanks.
when doing your searches look for words like motivated seller, preforeclosure, repairs needed, rehabber, distressed…basically words spelling out a deal…
Motivation, Motivation, Motivation!!!
If the seller is motivated, you can get a deal.
Good Luck
It depends on what you want to do with the house. Buy fix up and sell or buy fix up and rent. I buy fix up and rent. Since you have access to the total MLS I would us that to my advantage. I have purchased access to sold data in my county and neighboring counties so that I can run comps myself. What I do is look at what the house is selling for and what the sold comps are for that same house in that same neighborhood in the last 6 months. That tells me the market price of the house. Ideally you want to find the house that needs the least amount of work required but selling for the deepest discount to retail. I look for houses that retail for around $100k that only need paint and carpet (that runs $6k) and are for sell for around $75k. I search the MLS for 3-2-2 over 1500 sqft in the part of town I am working $75k or under and then I look at them versus sales comps to see if they comp out at $100k or more. I then look at what repairs are needed and decide if there is any money in them or not. In my case that $75k sales price house can’t take more than about $10k in repairs. That allows me to finance the purchase and roll in the repair and acquisition cost. That generates a PITI small enough for me to rent it for $100 to $300 positive cashflow. Lately I have had a hard time finding the deals (out of state investors paying way too much for the properties) so I have slowed down a lot. My last deal only cash flowed $125. Before that they were all over $200 a month.
Thanks for the replies guys. That’s the info I’m looking for.
Today I saw an REO property that has comps around $100K - $105K and is listed for $86,500. It needs about $25K in repairs, though. I talked to the listing agent and he said the bank is not going to move much on the price. I figure the most I could pay for that property would be around $55-60K and even that’s a stretch.
I have another one I’m going to look at tonight which may not need as much repair work. Plus it’s being sold by a regular owner (not a bank) who doesn’t live there now. I’m hoping she’s more desparate to get rid of it.
Thanks again.
hi! i’m also new here. i’ve been reading the posts to get more information. it’s really been helpful to me. thanks! 
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