Affluent Savvy
Affluent Savvy
Photo: Liza Summer
Flipping homes is hard work. It is risky and stressful business. If you don't have significant real estate and construction experience, do not try to flip a home that you can't drive to in 30 minutes or so.
We use was/were born when we talk about when or where someone started their life: I was born in 1988. Not: I am born in 1988. or I born in 1988....
Read More »
The best plants for the front door in feng shui are those with soft, rounded, heart-shaped, or broad leaves that will draw in positive, auspicious...
Read More »
The simple yet scientifically proven Wealth DNA method laid out in the report allows you to effortlessly start attracting the wealth and abundance you deserve.
Learn More »I can’t count the numbers of times I’ve been told that the D.C. market is too expensive. Then I’m asked whether I think out-of-state investing is a good option. Well, when it comes to flipping houses, the answer is almost always, no, that’s not a good idea. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight I’ve done a lot of flips and new builds. I’ve done a lot of those projects out of state. I’ve certainly done enough to know it’s a tough trick to pull off. I typically discourage people from attempting to do a long-distance home flip, and I had no intentions of trying to do another long-distance flip myself any time soon. Sometime deals seem to come looking for you. Last year, a real estate agent I work with in North Carolina told me about a home that she said would make a great flip. It was a 1,700-square-foot rambler with three bedrooms and two bathrooms on a three-quarter acre lot. Reluctantly, I sat down and ran the numbers. The purchase price was $100,000. She projected $35,000 in renovations, and she believed we could get about $175,000 for the home after the renovation. The house did have some potential. It was on a large lot overlooking a small lake. It had good curb appeal, and I could see in my mind’s eye how we could really make that place shine. That’s always very enticing to me. But there were a couple negatives. The road it was on was a little dirt road that came off a busy highway. That road was in really bad shape, and there was nothing I could do to correct that. The location was pretty rural, and the comparable sales were a bit sporadic. Estimating the sales price was more art than science. Like every flip, it had its positives and negatives. Twenty-thousand dollars profit is not much of a cushion. It’s common to find expensive surprises when you start getting into renovation projects. Then, if you’re a little off on your projected sales price in the wrong direction, you can quickly find yourself in the red. I liked the home; I liked the idea of making it shine again. But I really didn’t want to take on another huge distraction for a fairly small potential payday. By this point, however, this agent had worked well with one of my contractors to fix up four of my new rentals with relatively little input from me. Those projects weren’t as intensive as this flip would be, but maybe this ground team was ready to step up their game. I rationalized that even if I didn’t make much money on the deal, this project could prove to me that I have a ground team in place that’s ready to take on bigger projects. If that is the case, that opens up more opportunities. With that, I got sucked in a little deeper. We got an estimate from the contractor, and the bid came in at something like $38,000, close to budget. Everything was lining up, so we proceeded to make the offer. The offer was accepted and we were committed. The home was a short sale, so it took us several long months to officially close the deal.
Better Than Hopscotch: Ants will not cross a chalk line. Draw a chalk line in front of exterior doors, to prevent ants from coming into the house....
Read More »
While you don't want your wallet to weigh down your purse or pocket, you should make sure to carry what you need — like credit cards, forms of ID...
Read More »
The simple yet scientifically proven Wealth DNA method laid out in the report allows you to effortlessly start attracting the wealth and abundance you deserve.
Learn More »For financing, I presented the deal to one of my investors, who put up most of the purchase price. I committed to bring the renovation money. I told my investor that we expected the renovations to take about two months, and I anticipated having the home easily sold in six months. Not long after closing, there were signs of trouble. The construction market had changed significantly in the few months it took to close the deal. When the flip was ready for work to start, the contractor was already working on a rental I had purchased a couple months before. That project was supposed to be done long before but was dragging on, and the quality of the work was becoming a concern. I’d seen this many times before. We had just entered this red-hot construction market. Material prices were soaring. It was hard to find labor. This contractor was trying to juggle too many jobs. The people on the job site were faces we hadn’t seen before. My flip project sat for a month without the contractor ever getting me the final commitment and initial draw amount. When I finally started to complain, the contractor took no responsibility, another red flag. Instead, they did the old “admit nothing and make a counteraccusation.” If they would have said, “Hey, Justin, here’s the situation and here’s what we need to get you back on track,” I would have been very happy to work with them. But their reaction to my very legitimate complaint told me this situation wasn’t going to get any better. My instincts were right. Another couple of weeks went by with zero progress on the flip project and the quality of the contractor’s work on my rental home was not improving. Nearly two months after closing on the flip, I parted ways with that contractor. So now we had to go back and start from scratch to find another contractor. When I say we, I mean, me because it was clear that the real estate agent who brought me the deal and whom I’d expected to manage the project was not going to be the point person I’d hoped for. So now I personally had to go beat the bushes to find contractors to bid the project. Finding new contractors is a complete nightmare. It’s even worse when you have a big project sitting and racking up holding costs. I found a guy and hired him to do the drywall. The plan was to then award him the next phase of work if he performed well. He did not perform well at all. He was taking three times longer than he should, and the work was ugly. I didn’t have anyone there to watch constantly, so they went ahead and hung drywall without insulating an exterior wall. He was making excuses and demanding more money. That turned into a huge battle. He started making physical threats against me and my agent. I had to call the police to have them physically removed from my home. I limped the project along using a couple handyman types and a couple different tradesman until we were able to find a main contractor to handle the bulk of the project. But their bid was much more than the original estimate from the first contractor.
Here's what Richard had to say about how to attract good luck: Maximize Opportunities: Keep trying new things. Listen To Hunches: Especially if...
Read More »
Feng Shui Coins must be placed near the entrance of a home to capture the positive energy. The coins have a certain spiritual magnetic capacity...
Read More »
The simple yet scientifically proven Wealth DNA method laid out in the report allows you to effortlessly start attracting the wealth and abundance you deserve.
Learn More »When the dust settled on the project, the renovation costs came in very close to $60,000, and it took us about 10 months from purchase day to sell day. Luckily for us, the value of the property went up as well. I’m usually conservative on my sales projection, so that’s probably part of the difference. But instead of selling for $175,000, the home sold for $210,000. We put some extras in the home to make it more appealing, but in the end, the hot market was the big reason for the increased home value. But the hot market was also the reason for my renovation problems. In the end, I made the money that I projected I would make. The time this project required was the real expense. The profit I made on this deal was not worth the time and distraction it cost me. However, I can’t say I regret the deal. I learn something new with every flip, and I’m proud about how the home came out. Flipping homes is hard work. It is risky and stressful business. If you don’t have significant real estate and construction experience, do not try to flip a home that you can’t drive to in 30 minutes or so. If you do have the experience, money and a good ground team in place and you want to take a shot at long-distance home flipping, just know that you aren’t going to have as much control of the project. Your fate relies heavily on the performance of others. You’re going to need to have a financial cushion to cope with additional holding and renovation costs, and you’re going to need to have a good tolerance for stress. You might consider taking up some yoga and meditation before you jump into this kind of project. Justin Pierce is a real estate investor and real estate agent who regularly writes about his experiences buying, renovating and selling houses in the Washington area. He can be reached at justin@snowgoosehomes.com.
An analysis from 2020 found that supplementing with at least 2 g of cinnamon per day could significantly lower both systolic and diastolic blood...
Read More »
Fear of failure. Perfectionists often equate failure to achieve their goals with a lack of personal worth or value. Fear of making mistakes....
Read More »
The simple yet scientifically proven Wealth DNA method laid out in the report allows you to effortlessly start attracting the wealth and abundance you deserve.
Learn More »
popular from india. Shanti is repeated thrice since it is chanted for peace in the body, mind and spirit. It is also chanted thrice to make the...
Read More »
The simple yet scientifically proven Wealth DNA method laid out in the report allows you to effortlessly start attracting the wealth and abundance you deserve.
Learn More »
Popular Euphemisms for Death Passed, passed on, or passed away. Resting in peace, eternal rest, asleep. Demise. Deceased. Departed, gone, lost,...
Read More »