FLIPPING HOUSES IS A JOB

Before you bug out about the title of this blog…Don’t get me wrong, Flipping Houses is what allowed me to retire in my 30s after 13 years in health care. The large chunks of cash replaced my income. It’s not the worst job in the world to have. You make your own hours. You get to be your own boss. And unlike most days in healthcare…. You get to go to lunch and to the bathroom. I don’t regret getting into it. But as my business grew, I started to realize that I had just created another job for myself.

I don’t know about you… but I didn’t get into this business for another job. Hell, I don’t even like design, or houses, or anything remotely related to the houses aspect, except running the numbers. Real Estate is very black and white to me. It’s an investment that I got into for FREEDOM. Specifically … financial freedom. Unfortunately, From time to time I find myself getting sucked back into aspects of this “job”.

I have a love/hate relationship with flipping. I love it because the large chunks of cash helped to replace my former income. I love it because, to this day, these large chunks of cash sometimes help off-set costs of larger problems we may run into with rental properties. I hate it for a number of reasons which I now share with you in an effort to help you NOT create another job for yourself:

• 1.You have to let go: You make one chunk of cash…. and then its done. It serves a purpose, but it doesn’t help grow wealth. You buy it, fix it, and then … poof.. its gone… and you have to find another. You are fixing a house for a paycheck. People always ask me if they should flip or hold. And my response is always the same: both. If you are just flipping, I recommend you start holding onto some or you are going to look back old, tired & sad one day when your chunk of cash aren’t coming in.
• 2.You ALWAYS have to find another – the marketing never stops. If you are new to this business, put a plan in place to automate the marketing as much as you can and/or let go of it all together. Get an assistant. Get a VA. Get a partner. Get something. Otherwise you are ALWAYS marketing = marketing job. If the marketing stops, so does the deal flow.
• 3.You are always going to look at projects: The deal chase never ends. You are always looking for that next chunk of cash= job. I highly recommend as you grow that you farm this job to someone else as well. Hire an acquisitions manager, hire a friend, team up with another flipper and JV… something.
• 4.You have to work on these houses: This is where my favorite REI swear word comes in: Contractors: I don’t think I have to say anything else to anyone that has even a shred of experience in this business. I REFUSE to lift a finger and do anything at my projects. Why? Because this is a JOB! If you got in this to have a job.. awesome.. if not HIRE someone for EVERYTHING from clean out to clean up at the end. Even if you don’t work on the project you will have to oversee the contractors & coordinate things. You will still have to be in constant contact with your contractors and your project. This can be exhausting until you find a good contractor. And that is like finding a needle in a haystack. We all want that perfect balance of fair pricing, intelligence, skill, responsibility & professionalism. I know… I know… the unicorn. We want the unicorn contractor. This is where I find myself getting sucked in. If I go over budget I am always tempted to jump in and do the little things. And it’s a waste of my time. Extra cost or not, my time is better spent growing my business so I don’t have to keep flipping forever. Work on your business, not in your business.

My true love is hoarding rental properties. Cash flow, passive income, depreciation, equity build up… these are the kind of words that make my heart pitter patter. To the general public & the social media world….. flipping houses is sexy. Holding rental property is not. If you ask me…. they have it backwards. Holding rental property is what is truly allowing me to grow wealth. And while there is still some over-seeing involved, I find that I can distance myself much more then I can when working on a flip project. I am still flipping houses, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and some day, I will stop, as I will no longer have a need to do it. If you love having a “job” flipping houses and running around to check on your projects constantly… kudos to you for finding your love. For me, freedom will not come from flipping and one day, I will let it go.