Author Topic: First Flip  (Read 2655 times)

sunshine

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First Flip
« on: October 02, 2016, 06:54:20 AM »
 I just wanted to share my excitement with you all. We just got our first flip sale under contract.  We had a handful of offers within a week of listing. There was a nice bidding war and it went over asking. With what we paid, put into it and realtor commission we will make over $42,000 for 6 weeks of hard work.

SwordGuy

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2016, 09:33:41 AM »
Excellent!

You realize that six weeks of hard work is 2/3rds the median family income in the USA?

And people say our system is broken.

KarefulKactus15

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2016, 01:53:36 PM »
I would love to hear more about your experience. Maybe your story would give me some motivation.   


I keep stalling mentally, I honestly think I'm scared to start even though I've done alot of reading and my finances are where they need to be....

I keep finding excuses to stall for a  little longer before starting.  "Ill just read one more book"  or "Let me research this first" type stuff.

I'm currently reading a book about how to start large projects that you are having trouble starting.. (Another stall...)


Edit:

Also thats awesome!    Kinda jealous... lol

arebelspy

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #3 on: October 03, 2016, 06:10:40 AM »
Cool!  Keep us updated with how it goes.  :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

sammybiker

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #4 on: October 03, 2016, 08:06:40 AM »
Congrats.

Would love to see some photos.

sunshine

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2016, 07:47:03 PM »
Excellent!

You realize that six weeks of hard work is 2/3rds the median family income in the USA?

And people say our system is broken.

Well for us it is a huge chunk. We generally range $55,000 to $65,000 from employment. We make some more on top of that from the rentals. We haven't had our rentals but a year. So far I'm letting the profits roll into a fund for any extreme things that could happen like the roofs all collapse at once. Once there's a big enough cushion we will count is as income.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2016, 08:26:29 PM by sunshine »

sunshine

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2016, 08:17:43 PM »
As far as how we did it it we hit a badly advertised property auction. I'm glad it was badly advertised! There were 3 of us bidding. It was buy as is.  We have always been very frugal despite never having a big income so we were in a position to do cash.  It was not an absolute auction and the seller did have the right to refuse the offer. They didn't simply because it was cash and a fast closing.

We have purchased enough property to know the basics of what to look for. All looked sound. It's a very hot neighbor hood with young home buyers. Great schools. Great rentals for landlords. We knew the area was a win for a rental or a flip.

It was a disaster as far as stuff to get rid of. Craigs list FREE section was my best friend. I took home enough scrap lumber from the garage for everyone's bonfire. Many trips to pay for dumping at the landfill. It was a horrifying amount of garbage.

We put in New entry doors. I sold the gorgeous original doors. We took off some horrid stuff they did to the foundation and used a heat gun to get enough glue for 10 houses off. Repainted the aged shutters. Ripped carpet off the deck. Used a heat gun again for a whole day to get more darn glue off. Used a gorgeous solid stain. We actually found gorgeous railings for the patio in the garage attic. A few coats of paint and they were great. I cleaned up the yard and remulched. Lots of great perennials once the weeds were out. Trimmed the shrubs that hadn't been done in years. Power washed the house and garage.

We primarily did one side as the smaller unit is occupied. Great at that paid to keep the utilities on and the taxes etc. We did a few things in the occupied unit that were not up to snuff. New entry's, fan, one floor. OH and door knobs. Most of the works was the 3 levels of the larger unit. Fresh paint everywhere after taking of layers of wallpaper. Lots of cracked plaster fixed. All new flooring throughout including a bathroom that had carpet. Ceramic tile looked awe s one with the claw foot tub. New bathroom fixtures, New lighting and ceiling fans. A bit of plumbing. We replaced stove, fridge, washer, dryer. Refinished the cupboards. Shingles. One other bizarre thing was there were no bedroom doors!

So nothing major on the list. Really it was a house with great bones that had just been neglected. Frankly I'm shocked investors were not flocking to the auction. Guess I'm glad it was poorly advertised. Ironically we had 15 showings in a bit over a week. Mostly investors. A couple offers were from  property management companies. Lots of labor and time but not a ton of cash to get it back to being a great home. 

I couldn't share before pics sadly. I managed to accidentally delete 6 months of pictures!  I'm not going to say it was easy. Frankly it was exhausting and ate up summer. I actually sat on the stairs crying one day as I was so overwhelmed trying to d o most of this alone since I was the one with time to do it. But hey I was free labor.

I really think I'd like to do it again if we could get another   diamond in the rough. I think I've found one but the timing is bad. I am going fulltime after working 10 to 15 hours a week the last 21 years. However a flip a year with those numbers would be more $ than I'll make fulltime. So now the decision us another rental , flip or invest.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2016, 08:23:58 PM by sunshine »

KarefulKactus15

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2016, 09:43:31 AM »
Thanks for sharing!

CareCPA

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #8 on: October 04, 2016, 10:07:05 AM »
Thanks for sharing your experience.

I found this especially helpful:

... I'm not going to say it was easy. Frankly it was exhausting and ate up summer. I actually sat on the stairs crying one day as I was so overwhelmed trying to d o most of this alone since I was the one with time to do it. But hey I was free labor.
...

I remember having a similar experience with the house we intended to flip last year that turned into a rental. I spent most of an evening (after a full day of my regular job) just sitting on the floor of the house wondering if it would ever get done. People often underestimate how much effort it is to do quality work.

Enigma

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2016, 10:25:34 AM »
I hated when my father had houses that he flipped.  As a teenager I was a low waged (almost free labor) hauling all the trash to the dumpers, shingles to the roof, putting tools away, and countless other remedial labor intensive tasks.  He made a ton of his wealth on flipping houses.

Telecaster

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2016, 10:31:49 AM »
I'm not going to say it was easy. Frankly it was exhausting and ate up summer. I actually sat on the stairs crying one day as I was so overwhelmed trying to d o most of this alone since I was the one with time to do it. But hey I was free labor.


It sure didn't sound easy!   You earned every penny of that $42,000.   

sunshine

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Re: First Flip
« Reply #11 on: October 04, 2016, 06:18:14 PM »
Thanks for sharing your experience.

I found this especially helpful:

... I'm not going to say it was easy. Frankly it was exhausting and ate up summer. I actually sat on the stairs crying one day as I was so overwhelmed trying to d o most of this alone since I was the one with time to do it. But hey I was free labor.
...

I remember having a similar experience with the house we intended to flip last year that turned into a rental. I spent most of an evening (after a full day of my regular job) just sitting on the floor of the house wondering if it would ever get done. People often underestimate how much effort it is to do quality work.

It is overwhelming for sure. I did track all labor hours and I should add them up. I learned a lot so I'm more prepared if we do it again. Also as a woman I found I could do a lot more labor than I thought I ever could even as a shortly. One nice thing though besides the cash is looking at the place and feeling pretty darn proud. It looks great.

I hope your rental is going well!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!