Renovation on hold. Ran out of money

Renovation on hold. Ran out of money

Real Estate Agent · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2021 · 19 posts · 10 votes

Early in the year I came across a great deal for duplex in a high in area of Cleveland Ohio. I took all the tools I learned from BiggerPockets, did my research and bought an amazing 4360 sq ft 8 bedroom 5 bath duplex that has amazing potential to be a cash cow but that needed a lot of work. HOWEVER, while under contract, the lender I was working with pulled out at the last minute. I had already paid my earnest money to the title company and the reason the lender backed out because I was asking for too much renovation money. The comps they used didn’t come close to the square footage of my duplex but I was a very unique property in a great neighborhood.

The point of this post is I made my rookie mistake, I’m out of money and the bills are still coming in from little work I put into it so far. The city have my money in escrow and it’s a pain getting reimbursed for the amount of work I put into it. Now I’m at the point of either selling it or open to bringing in a partner if anyone is open it that.

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Investor · Olathe, KS · Member since 2017 · 123 posts · 99 votes
4y

@Brian Evans

Cut your losses. Sell it and move on. Learn from this. Consider it expensive education to get better. Good luck.

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  • Bruce WoodruffPro Member
    Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
    4y

    Tough breaks.....I'd bring in a partner (if the Bank won't give you any more $$)

  • Investor · Olathe, KS · Member since 2017 · 123 posts · 99 votes
    4y

    @Brian Evans

    Cut your losses. Sell it and move on. Learn from this. Consider it expensive education to get better. Good luck.

  • Lender · Columbus, OH · Member since 2020 · 202 posts · 214 votes
    4y

    I agree with @Brendon Pishny Sell it asap

  • FL · Member since 2020 · 12 posts · 8 votes
    4y

    I don't have anything new to add, but I'll tell you why selling it and moving on is very likely to be a great way to live another day. There is something called "target fixation". It is very easy to get so focused on achieving a goal that your mind will literally ignore anything counter to that. 

    Lets say your goal is to sell lemonade for a profit. Lets say you recognize that while people will pay 50 cents for a cup, you recognize you need to move more product. If you get stuck in "target fixation" mode, you might ignore labor costs. You might not count how much you spent to buy the lemons. You might drop the "for a profit" and claim it is better to make 5 cents on a cup of lemonade instead of nothing, because this way you are moving products. None of these shifts will happen quickly but they will add up fast. Next thing you know to your mind got locked onto "moving product" not "making a profit". In order do that you lower your prices and sell at a loss, while advertising more. 

    This might sound silly, and that is because it is.... but us human beings do it all the time. 

    Could the situation be salvaged? Maybe. Do you have the experience necessary to keep yourself on track while your emotions are running high because this entire situation is new to you? I don't know, but if you are honest with yourself I bet you can answer that one. 

    In the long run it may be better to take a known loss. It sounds like you are about to double down/go double or nothing. Are you attempting to win at all costs or do you want to setup policies and procedures in your life that will yield success over the long run, even if there are some early failures. Failures which, if we are being honest will yield you far more knowledge then you could obtain at that price from anywhere.... 

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