Flip With Us: Finally Under Contract

Under Contract, we are.

It’s been a few days since I last blogged. And that’s not due to inactivity! We are under contract as of today with our first property! It’s absolutely terrifying and equally exciting!

It all started Tuesday as Kyle and I headed out to tour a property he liked. As we pulled up I noticed it was on a main road and sandwiched between a sketchy house to the left and a treatment facility of some sort to its right. In my mind I immediately docked the ARV 25% from the surrounding comps. I don’t like road noise and I don’t like commercial as its neighbor. Corey met up with us and viewed the property and then we headed to the bank to work on locking in some more capital.

After our meeting with the bank, I told Kyle I wanted to go see a property that was emailed to me from our automatic alerts and we headed out. The comps were promising. Some in the 200’s within driver distance (pardon my golf reference) and the lower end comps were going for $130-$150k. As we walked up to the property I stopped my partners and told them how I wanted this to go. I wanted us to evaluate this property truly as if we were going to do the rehab. I know this sounds like something you should normally do but to this point we had been doing quick estimates. I wanted us to evaluate it to the nickel and then make an offer even if it was so low they wouldn’t think to consider it. So, we went room by room and listed everything that needed to be done. From foundational to outlet covers, we did it all. We quickly realized this property was a deal. There didn’t appear to be any major structural issues and the inside just needed to be gutted and remodeled but nothing was too weird about the property. I could tell we were getting excited. I was definitely excited but also concerned as to why this property hadn’t been bought up by an investor yet. As it turns out, we just caught the owner at the right time. Many investors had made offers right around our offer but the owners weren’t…how do I put it… ready to face reality?

So we went back to the car and finalized our initial scope of work and ran the numbers and worked backwards and came up with a $40,000 offer. They countered to $41,700 and we accepted. That’s the short version of the negotiation haha.

So, now we are under contract. And the most exciting news is that we are applying to be on the show first time flippers! Wish us luck! Three lower too mid twenty year olds hoping to get some publicity and help on our first flip!

On a more general lifestyle note I have to say that life is going pretty well. There are some hard times when starting a business. The hardest thing to deal with is the doubt that inevitably creeps in. But we are sticking to the process and making sure that we stay healthy physically and spiritually. Every day I notice more and more good entering my life and I’m attributing that to the writing that I do each day as it allows me to release the negativity that is floating around in my head. From there I do the positive work which consists of things I’m thankful for and writing about what’s positive in my life. Release and replace is what I call it and I swear there is something to it. The more I recognize and thank the Lord for what He is doing in my life the more I see Him working positively in my life. It’s a beautiful thing. Okay, spiritual tirade over.

Back to real estate. I was really close to snagging a straight up steel of a deal on a duplex that I wanted to house hack. I had a verbal offer with the owner for $30k less than market value. The place was completely remodeled from top to bottom including foundation, electrical and plumbing. Not only that, it’s in an up and coming area that many investors are flipping houses in. And to top that off the area has been green lit for a 10-million-dollar grant to investors wanting to refurbishthe commercial areas immediately surrounding it. So, obviously I was pretty pumped. The place rented for $1500 month (reported, so more likely $1300) and I was going to pick it up for $100k. So the owner and I were talking and he said he would sell it to me for $100k he just needed to run everything by his realtor. Well, as it turns out, that same day they had an offer come in and they accepted it. So bummed. I am still so bummed. But I know that if God wanted me to have that property I would have been in that property. I did all I could on my end and let Him take care of the rest. As much as it sucks I know the right door will open at the right time. That’s the beauty of walking with the Lord.

The next few days are going to be super stressful as we quickly inspect and finalize our scope of work and make sure all the contractors are in place at the right time and all the materials are ordered that need to be ordered. It’s going to be structured chaos and probably one of the most stressful, exciting, and educational experiences of my life. I can’t really ask for anything more! So pumped!

More to come stay tuned mis amigos.