Rob Swanson’s Real Estate Investing Blog

It seems that I run into real estate investors almost daily that are shocked at the approach our investment company takes when it comes to fixing up distressed real estate. Let me tell you what I mean. I had a conversation with a gentleman late last week regarding a property that he was going to fix up and sell.

As we were discussing the property, it became apparent that my plans for the property and his were very different. He took the stance that he was going to do as little to the property as he could, clean it up, spend less than $18,000 and sell it. I suggested that given the ‘competition’, i.e. the large number of other homes for sale, he would be better off putting a little extra money into the fix-up in order to create unique value for future prospective buyers. I suggested a budget around $25,000.

His approach was to put as little up front as possible. Mine was to maximize the speed potential for selling.

Our conversation continued and I asked him how his approach has worked in the past. Here’s what he said: “Well, I’ve held onto many of my properties for over 9 months, a couple for nearly a year. I’m now under-contract to sell three and I’m only holding two so I’m ready to buy again.” His answer was really helping my point.

If you want to sell properties quicker, make your fix-up the nicest house for the lowest price in the neighborhood. When buyers are ready to buy, you’ll give yourself a huge edge over the non-fixed up properties and other investors that are taking the cheaper road up front.

The difference: You’ll sell your properties and they’ll become landlords.

To help people better understand what I mean by this, we are creating a ‘Rehab Video Diary’ educational series so that you can follow a real life rehab project from start to finish, see what we do to properties and get real life ‘on-the-job-training’ right from your computer. Watch the videos and enjoy!

–>> Click here to go to Video #1 (Exterior Property Rehab Overview)

–>> Click here to go to Video #2 (Interior Property Rehab Overview)

–>> Click here to go to Video #3 (The Start of Demolition, Day 2)

Check back again as there is more to come as we follow this project from start to finish.