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Posted about 11 years ago

Green Transformations - A Step by Step Guide - Part 1

I have been flipping successfully now since early  2011. 


With early successes realized It was only one month ago when I found myself literally sitting fat, rich, and stupid - my flip formula was fine tuned, my systems and processes were continually being streamlined and evaluated, my marketing was starting to bring in multiple leads a day.


I was on the fast track to a real estate empire - until I decided to fudge it all up and start all over!


Green Colored Glasses and the BIG why


If you know me, I am never happy doing the same thing for too long and I have a character flaw in that I am always looking for the next big thing, a leg up on my competitors. Last month while at my local magazine stand, I found that next BIG thing. An article on a green retro-fitter in Seattle convinced me in under 10 minutes that following the green trend will inevitably lead to more 'green' in my life. These were the conclusions that convinced me that green was the route I needed to pursue:


1. Demand for green properties far exceeds supply

2. With strategic rehab techniques, green rehabs generally cost the same as a normal rehab.

3. Maximal leverage of available federal and state rebates, incentives, and grants further decreases rehab costs.

4. The impetus of green companies focus on new development and very few focus on retrofitting existing homes.

5. Properly positioned and marketed green homes sell faster.

6. It's just the cool thing to do, Man!


So, like anything I do in life I committed to a route and followed it up with MASSIVE action. Less than 5 minutes after reading the magazine article I was on the phone with my partners and with a lot of convincing (more like a barrage of pretty pleases and hundreds of promises) we collectively decided to commit one of our new acquisitions to become our flagship green project! Profit or no profit, we were jumping into this head first and earning our hard knock education sooner than later.


Not so Fast Speed Racer!   


Fast forward two weeks and after the honeymoon phase with my new found real estate love - and specifically after we tore down all of the drywall that we had originally planned to keep to the tune of $4,000 in extra costs - I quickly found myself in a state of regret, doubt, and ironically green in the face. 


Did we move to quick? Will a green retrofit even sell in my local market? No one else has done it before, why do I think I can? Aren't my costs going to skyrocket! 


Stay tuned as I outline the steps my company has taken, what mistakes we've already made, and how we are mitigating the barriers of entry into the green real estate landscape!


Feel free to ask any questions you might have. And if you liked this post, please share it.




Comments (3)

  1. Well . . . there you have it!


  2. Thanks Josh! I already beat you to it, though. Jim's actually helping us out a lot with our first project.


  3. Glenn - Make sure to read through the library of articles by Jim Simcoe on the BiggerPockets Blog: <a href="http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/author/jimsimcoe/">Jim's Articles</a> He's a SoCal guy that focuses on the green space and has offered some great tips. Good luck and thanks for sharing this new spark in your business. Josh