Long Island Cash Buyer Reveals How He Finds, Inspects & Wins Profitable Foreclosures
Show summary
In this conversation, Christopher Kolosov discusses his approach to real estate investment, particularly in the auction landscape. He shares insights on the financial dynamics of participating in auctions, the importance of having a solid balance sheet, and the role of general contractors in ensuring profitable investments. Kolosov emphasizes the need for strategic partnerships and understanding the market to succeed in real estate.
Key takeaways
- Kolosov only buys within a 20-30 minute radius of his home in Belmore, NY (Merrick, Baldwin, Hewlett) so he can personally walk through vacant properties before bidding.
- He finds auction properties through classifieds listed in his local area rather than relying solely on online auction sites.
- He bought his first auction house in 2011 for $345,000, funded by proceeds from selling his first home (bought for $300,000 at age 21, sold for ~$450,000).
- Being his own general contractor is central to his profit margin — he says flips have produced $200,000-$300,000 in profit because he doesn't pay out to a GC and personally runs every job.
- On a Merrick auction property, he paid $660,000, partnered 50/50 with an investor but took an extra 20% of profit for structuring the deal, then listed at $999,000; after 110 days on market with offers at $740k-$800k, he pulled it off market rather than sell below his $750,000 breakeven (including a 3.5% agent commission).
- He uses flat-fee MLS services (named Lori Sunshine) for about $500 to list homes himself and offers 2% commission to buyer's agents, avoiding a full listing commission.
- He avoids bank-owned (REO) foreclosures that revert back to the bank after no one buys at auction, because too many bidders compete and banks hold out for top dollar.
- He described a cautionary example: another buyer put 10% down on a ~$1 million two-family auction property in Merrick, tried to pay the original occupants $60,000 to leave, couldn't get them out, and lost $72,000 on the deal.
- His current balance sheet for auction buying is about $2 million in cash, sometimes partnering with an investor who has contributed $500,000 to team up on bigger deals.
About Christopher Kolosov
Christopher Kolosov is a cash home buyer based in Belmore, Long Island, New York, who has been buying foreclosure auction properties for about 12 years, starting with his first auction purchase in 2011. He is a licensed contractor who acts as his own GC on every flip, bought his first house at 21, and previously owned a laundromat. He runs cashhomebuyerli.com and buys, renovates, and resells single-family and multi-family properties on Long Island.
Listen to the audio
“You only need one chief and a bunch of Indians. I know construction.”
Christopher Kolosov
“I had an offer for 800. I wouldn't fucking take that shit. I'm not giving a real, the real estate agents are making money regardless. They don't give a shit.”
Christopher Kolosov
“No one's in the business to lose money.”
Christopher Kolosov
Questions answered in this episode
How does Christopher Kolosov find foreclosure auction properties?
He focuses on properties listed in local classifieds in his own area near Belmore, New York, sticking to a 20-30 minute radius so he can personally visit and walk through vacant houses before the auction.
Why does Kolosov act as his own general contractor on flips?
He says being the GC himself is why his flips produce $200,000-$300,000 in profit, since he doesn't have to pay an outside contractor and he's on every job site managing the work directly, having learned construction hands-on as a kid.
What's the risk of buying occupied foreclosure auction properties?
Kolosov describes a case where another buyer put 10% down on a near $1 million property, offered the original homeowners $60,000 cash-for-keys, couldn't get them to leave, and ended up losing $72,000 because he couldn't close or recover his deposit.
Why does Kolosov avoid bank-owned (REO) foreclosures?
He says once a property reverts back to the bank after no one buys it at auction, too many bidders show up and banks hold out for top dollar, making it harder to get a profitable price.
How does Kolosov list and sell his finished flips?
He often uses a flat-fee MLS service, paying about $500 to get listed on MLS himself, then offers around 2% commission to buyer's agents, rather than paying a full traditional listing commission.
What's a realistic cash reserve needed to compete at Long Island auctions?
Kolosov says he operates with a personal balance sheet of about $2 million and sometimes partners with another investor who contributes $500,000, noting that properties at Long Island auctions often run $400,000-$700,000+ rather than the low prices seen in some other markets.
Resources and links
Full transcript
Christopher Kolosov (00:00)
Okay, so what I do is every property is listed. It’s listed in the, I’m telling, I’m giving you secrets now that took me 12 years to get together. The properties that are listed has to be listed in a classifieds in your local area. So I focus on my area. So I live in a Belmore, New York. So I try to focus on where I don’t have to drive longer than 20 minutes, 30 minutes till. I would rather be able to walk.
So I have houses right now, Merrick, Baldwin, I’ve got one in Hewlett, I bought it at online auction, but they’re all in like the 20 minute radius. And ⁓ so I’m able to go into them. So if the house is vacant, I will go inside of it. I don’t care. I go inside the house, I take a look at it, I see what’s going on.
Dylan Silver (02:19)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest, Christopher Kolosov, is based in Long Island, New York. He’s a cash buyer and is a very active buyer at the auctions. Chris, welcome to the show.
Christopher Kolosov (02:33)
How you doing? Nice to be here.
Dylan Silver (02:35)
Great to meet you. I always like to start off at the top, Chris, by asking guests how they got into real estate. How’d you get started in real estate?
Christopher Kolosov (02:45)
to be honest, as a kid, you know, we’re all, you know, hustling, doing whatever we’re doing as a kid growing up And then when we see, ⁓ you know, these four, you know, signs in the ground, you know, foreclosed houses. And I’m, and I have a buddy, I’m like, how do you, how do you buy these houses? They’re like, you, you got, you gotta know somebody. And, ⁓ unfortunately I didn’t know anybody. So as, as I’m getting older,
You know, we’re hustling, you know, we’re doing whatever we do to make our money.
We’re doing what we gotta do to make our money. And you know, I graduated Valley Forge Military Academy. From ninth to 12th grade, my parents sent me there, and I got a bachelor’s degree, but going to school only shows you that you, somebody that you can accomplish a task. I’ve never really worked for anybody. I saved, basically I bought my first house when I was 21, I put 20 % down.
I bought a house for 300,000. I lived in that house. I sold that one for about 450 a couple of years later. But in that meantime, I bought an investment property from Sandy, Hurricane Sandy. A lot of properties got destroyed. So I bought that for like 280 because I was showing income. I owned a laundromat. I was showing the income at that, you know, this is that 22. I had a laundromat. I was showing the income.
Dylan Silver (04:08)
Mm-hmm.
Christopher Kolosov (04:13)
I got the investment loan. I bought a house in Freeport on the water. So that house, I was renting out. I, down the line anyway, I sold that house for a lot of money and then I sold the house I was living at. And then I was looking at houses on Zillow that are stale listings. My second and third house, I was looking for stale listings, houses that were sitting on the market.
Dylan Silver (04:31)
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (04:37)
I was able to find two or three of those. And then after that, nobody would, I couldn’t find any properties. Real estate’s getting highest bid. So I jumped to the auction. I used the cash when I sold that first house. You know, I bought for 300, I sold it for like four and a quarter. I had like a hundred thousand there, another hundred. The first house I bought at the auction was about, was 345,000. This was in 2011.
And I worked my way up. was buying one house at a time and each flip I would produce anywhere from 200 to 300,000. Sometimes down the line it would be less. Why do I make that much? I’m the contractor. I’m at every job. You only need one chief and a bunch of Indians. I know construction. As a kid hustling growing up, a good friend of mine took me in and showed me how to swing a hammer. So anything I needed to learn, I went to him.
Dylan Silver (06:20)
I want to ask
you about the auctions. Because you got an interesting background. You mentioned growing up military academy, went and got bachelor’s degree. And so you went a non-conventional route because you’ve always been working for yourself. Right? But when we when we talk about the auction space, auctions can be tricky because you you’re having a lot of different homes. You don’t 100 percent always know exactly what’s going to be happening at the auction. You have an idea you might get some type of list ahead of time. What’s your general
Christopher Kolosov (06:23)
Go for it.
Dylan Silver (06:49)
approach to the auctions. Are you, before you go in out there, know taking a look at these properties online or in person to an extent and then coming up with hey this is my top offer in advance.
Christopher Kolosov (07:02)
Okay, so what I do is every property is listed. I’m giving you secrets now that took me 12 years to get together. The properties that are listed has to be listed in a classifieds in your local area. So I focus on my area. So I live in a Belmore, New York. So I try to focus on where I don’t have to drive longer than 20 minutes, 30 minutes till. I would rather be able to walk.
So I have houses right now, Merrick, Baldwin, I’ve got one in Hewlett, I bought it at online auction, but they’re all in like the 20 minute radius. And ⁓ so I’m able to go into them. So if the house is vacant, I will go inside of it. I don’t care. I go inside the house, I take a look at it, I see what’s going on.
⁓ People who buy these house, we’re in a business to make money. So if you’re gonna overpay for the house,
you could take it, you won’t come back to the auction. So we try to, if the house needs a full gut reno, you got people, the average person to look at it, ⁓ that’s gonna cost 200,000, roofs, side and kitchen, bathrooms, the whole, you know, permits. Permits is a big thing. People don’t understand any of this shit. This is shit I always deal with. Every auction house, you have a neighbor that complains. If it’s an auction online, it’s already,
known by Nassau County, by the town here. So you’re get a stop work order as soon as you start, no matter what you do. They’re gonna slap a sticker on it. Now you have to get licensed architects. You have to get licensed plumbers, licensed electricians, licensed contractors, which I’m the owner. I have my guys, they sign off. I’ve been in the business for a while. I’m also, I was a licensed contractor, but I don’t do work for people, for customers. So I don’t need to be.
Dylan Silver (08:43)
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (08:52)
I was sitting here back in the day when I was slow doing one to two houses during the full time, was trying to, I had a couple of guys who throw up siding or try to do a roof or something. But it’s a lot of work to work for somebody and I hate working for people. The last 10 % will give you a heart attack because today I don’t get it.
Dylan Silver (09:08)
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
I want to ask you specifically about your exit strategy with these auction properties. How they all fix and flip? Do you hold on to any of them? Do you put short-term rentals on them?
Christopher Kolosov (09:23)
Okay, so I’ll give you an example right now. I got one property. It was an auction house. I bought it in April. I got the people out automatically. Usually you have to go through eviction. This guy was a nice guy. He lived his life. Probably didn’t pay his mortgage for like 10 years. I gave him not much, 4,000 and they walked away happy. On good terms, they cleaned up the house.
Dylan Silver (09:49)
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (10:24)
So I thought this was a million dollar house because of the area. I paid 660 for it. I actually partnered up with somebody where we both put in the same amount 50-50, but I get an extra 20 % of the profit because I make it all, I put it all together. Okay? So this house, we listed it for 999,000. It was sitting on a market. I sometimes sell a property on my own.
Dylan Silver (10:41)
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (10:51)
where I would pay 500 to a third party on MLS and they would list it. And then I would offer 2 % to all the agents in the area and they would show the house. But I bought four houses at one shot in the year 24. I’m just almost selling everything right now. You know, going through the whole process of permits, eviction, it takes time. But one of these houses, I dropped, it was from 999, the real estate agent was like, I’m gonna sell the shit out of it. It’s a million dollar house. I’m like, okay.
Let’s see what you got. All right, I put a 999, it’s sitting, sitting, sitting for a month. All right, now I’m gonna drop the price. 989, it went to 899, then down to 879,000 on the market for 110, 10 days. So I dropped it to 879,000. It was on the market for about 110 days. I’m like, fuck, it’s a stale listing. I had a person call me up.
They put an 800,000 offer. I had a 740 offer. Because it was a stale listing, I didn’t put it up at the right price. So now I just took it off. You ask about the exit strategy. All right. So now I took the market. I took the house off the market. I’m gonna repost it in 30 days. I’m gonna say, I fucking rented it out, short-term rental, whatever, some shit fell through. It’s gonna go back on the market. I’ll put it back on the market.
Dylan Silver (12:02)
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (12:18)
I’ll put it back for 849,000 because I’m all into that house with 720. right, 720, that’s what I’m into it with 720. But now the real estate agent is another fucking dirt, know, let’s say it’s a three and a half, I give them a three and a half percent, cause they have to move houses. So we’re already at, let’s say 750, 720, we’re at 750. So my break even point.
Dylan Silver (12:33)
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (12:46)
with insurance, the, everything is 750. I had an offer for 800. I wouldn’t fucking take that shit. I’m not giving a real, the real estate agents are making money regardless. They don’t give a shit. They gotta get that money. So I took it off. You’re not getting paid. You didn’t do your job. I didn’t get a million dollars. And I’m gonna list it up to $500 through the third party, how I always do it, for 849. And I’m gonna get it. Or if I get 820, I don’t care. You know, I’ll get, why it’s,
Dylan Silver (12:58)
Yep.
So
you mentioned the third party. Have you had success with like these flat fee listing services?
Christopher Kolosov (13:20)
Yes, yes, Lori sunshine from flat flee, flat fee MLS. like, um, she takes care from, she did, she did my first house to me, you know, I gave her 500 bucks. She listed, she listed on MLS. It gets on MLS. I’m at the house anyway, working, right? I’m the contractor. I’m there working. So they got to call, Hey, I want to come look at your house. Yeah. Come on over. Come on over. They’re going to see the house.
Dylan Silver (13:28)
Okay.
Hey, then.
Yep.
on it.
I want to ask you and pivoting a bit here Chris, I want to ask you specifically about flippers and folks in the space in the Long Island area. I mean it’s tough. No way to beat around the bush. It’s tough to invest in single family in any of the boroughs of New York, right? And so when we’re talking about
Buying distress property. It’s not like by you mentioned before hopping on here It’s not like buying a $50,000 distress property maybe at an auction somewhere in the south You’re looking at you know, four five six hundred thousand dollars at the auction So when people are coming into this space Is it the same types of buyers you might see at auctions in other areas of the country or is it like private equity funds that you’re competing with?
Christopher Kolosov (15:16)
Okay, so from what I’ve gathered, there’s a lot of heavy hitters at the auction. I don’t consider myself a heavy hitter because people have deep pockets. I’m rolling with a balance sheet of $2 million. That’s what I, my own cash, I have a partner, he has made 500,000, I could team up, we go fit. But mostly, I…
the houses that I find, I know I’m gonna make money, because I’m the GC. All these guys, they’re a jeweler, they have a different side hustle on the side, and they’re just investing their money, hiring a general contractor, you know? So do they have bigger pockets? They got bigger pockets, and they come and they can scoop stuff up, but they’re only gonna do that a couple times, because no one’s in the business to lose money. ⁓ I’ve been showing up at the auctions just to see, because I’m…
I have the next auction, I’m going up for December 10th. It’s a vacant property, it’s a full gut. I already know I’m gonna get it because not many people wanna deal with that shit. Because it’s a vacant, really distressed house.
Yeah, so most of the people, you’re the same group of people that come. A lot of people try to do wholesale deals. I’m not a wholesaler. What they try to do, and I’ve seen people lose a lot of money, but they have the big pockets, They’re like, you know, I gotta pay Uncle Sam some money at the end of the year anyway, so I’m gonna show fucking loss, you know? So what they do is they put the 10 % down on the house, okay?
You have 30 days, like I told you to come up with the final remainder, or you could try to stall them a little bit. So some people try to get these people, he has to cash the keys, get out of the house. I know this one guy offered the person $60,000. He offered him six zero, $60,000. I was bidding the guy against his house. He bought the house at 720. This was during the COVID, during the end.
Dylan Silver (17:00)
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (17:18)
He paid, it’s a million, listen, it’s a million dollar house finished up. It’s actually a two family with a fucking basement in the town of Merritt, the same area where I bought this house that was sitting that I just took off. So they put the 10 % down, they couldn’t get the people out. They lost $72,000. I speak, I’m like, bro, that’s fucking crazy. You lost $72,000?
Dylan Silver (17:36)
Mmm.
Buying a home with squatters is a huge, especially up there.
Christopher Kolosov (17:46)
They’re
not squatters. These are the original owners. These people are the people that have been living. These aren’t squatters. These are the homeowners, the original homeowners. So I’m buying these houses before the banks get them. If no one buys the house at the auction, it gets reverted back to the bank. When it gets reverted back to the bank, that’s what you usually see online.
Dylan Silver (18:03)
I got it.
Yep.
Christopher Kolosov (18:14)
Bank foreclosures, foreclosure, you know? That’s what you see. I stay the fuck away from those. Too many people. Too many people are bidding and banks want top dollar when they get it.
Dylan Silver (18:23)
too many problems. ⁓
and that’s when
you lose your shirt. Chris, we are coming up on time here. Where can folks go to reach out to you? Maybe they have a deal that they’d like you to take a look at, or maybe they’d like some feedback on a deal that they’re working in that area.
Christopher Kolosov (18:33)
Yeah.
All right, so right now I got my website, cashhomebuyerli.com. And then you can find me on Facebook, Chris Kolosov. I’m new to this whole Facebook thing. I’m trying to just all cash home buyer, LI. You I’m trying to average. You’re gonna see me on Facebook. I’m gonna try to, you know, you’re gonna see my auctions, the court steps. I’m gonna put everything on there. I want people to come look at me and I’m gonna give them advice about foreclosures.
Dylan Silver (19:16)
Chris, thank you so much for coming on the show here today.
Christopher Kolosov (19:19)
All right, brother. Thank you very much. You have a nice day.
