Hi everyone

[krlovill]

Hi my name is Kevin and I live in Charlotte, NC. I started my landscaping business about 1 year ago and have been a real estate investor for 3 years (as we all know the market is horrible). I try in diversify myself in my landscaping business offering everything from hardscapes, retaining walls, lawn maintenace, drain solutions,etc. I have been looking for a good site to share ideas and knowledge to better ourselves. There's plenty to learn and I still have alot of questions and things to learn. Hopefully this is a good site to share ideas and to gain knowledge. Hopefully its okay to ask the question here, if not I apoligize. Whats the most effective weed n feed to use (pre emergent)? I prefer to use granular versus chemical sprays. Thanks everyone for the advice in advance and I look forward to using this site.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Kevin, Welcome to our forum. You certainly seem to have a lot of things going on there. What kinds of things did you do with your real estate investments? Did you buy houses, fix them up and sell them? Could someone help him with the pre-emergent?

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[krlovill]

Yeah we buy, rehab and flip. The market is horrible at this point. Great time to buy, but not to sell.

[Steve]

What kind of tips do you have for others reading this that are considering getting into real estate investing?

[krlovill]

If your getting into the market today, the first thing you need is cash. These day's with creative financing and the ability to get a loan with just a SS# are over. The other things are pretty simple. Check comparables, only go back 3-6 months if possible. Drive the neighborhood to see if there's any other houses for sale and if so what are they asking. Plus look around the neighborhood to see if its a place you would not mind to live. In these day's I would not want to have in it more than 50-60 percent of its total value. Most of the time banks want come of their asking price more than 10-15 if its a foreclosure or short sale. I say that with some hesitation. For example on one property I was looking at they were asking 62,000 and the comps were around 80,000 - 90,000. This particular property sold previously for 95,000 (around a year and half before going into foreclosure. The property needed around 15 to 20k of work. Then figure 10 percent for closing (comm, fees, more fees and more fees). I offered them 40,000 knowing that they would not take it. But two months later they came back and offered it back at 42,000. The point of the story is stick to your guns. There's way to many good deals now and a lot less buyers. You want to price point your house near the bottom of the comparables in hopes of moving quickly.

[Steve]

Do you do all the improvements? Is it important to do that or can you sub that work out and still make it worthwhile?