Back in the Saddle
What's up guys. Back in 2014, I flipped my first house in Richmond, Va. I made $12k, which was good for a 50% cash on cash return on my investment. As first times go, mistakes were made and lessons were learned, and I've taken a couple of years to think about what I can do better next time and if this whole real estate investing is really what I wanted to do.
Since then I've done a lot more reading and homework and I'm ready to jump back in with both feet. I recently moved to Virginia Beach, Va and would love to partner with other investors in the southside Hampton Roads (VB, Norfolk, Chesapeake) region to really learn the market. While one flip doesn't make me a pro, it does give me experience to add a lot of value to a partner in a number of ways.
I'm excited to get back to it and jump back in the BP community.
hey Mr Chris that's great.we all learn from mistakes made I'm in the Hampton roads area. I'm looking into flipping houses myself.there are a great amount of homes in the area ready to make money on. I've found so many in the Hampton, Newport news, Williamsburg area
Welcome to BP and back to investing. Anytime you can make mistakes and still come out with a 12k profit, things aren't all that bad. The Hampton Roads area seems to be pretty hot lately. I know there is a lot of action down that way.
Best of luck and happy investing.
welcome to BP! I am in the Hampton Roads area. Lots of potential. What was one of the biggest mistakes that you made with your first flip?
@Chris Vaught, welcome to BP and the Hampton Roads area. There is a lot going on around here. Hope to interact and see if we can do business together. I echo @Tiffany S.'s question: what do you think were the biggest lessons you learned on your first flip?
@Chris Vaught Welcome to the area. Things are a bit hot but there are still deals if you dig a bit.
My biggest mistake was not forcing the contractor to keep me up to date on budget. I asked a few times how he was doing on budget and he said he was in good shape. He only asked for one draw before the end and since he wasn't asking for money, I wasn't sweating it too much. At the end, he was $8k over budget. If I had insisted on getting more details early on, we could have stayed on budget. He was also a month late on delivery and we were getting close to the holidays, so I wasn't patient on offers because I wanted to move it before people got busy with end of year festivities. I ended up taking one a little lower than I would have if I was more patient.
Overall, I came out profitable, so hard to be mad. But there was plenty of room for improvement!
Welcome to Virginia Beach. The VB market is tough to get into because there is a lot of competition... you can do it, but you have to be ready to move quickly on deals when you see them. Less competition in Portsmouth, Newport News, and Hampton - more lower income neighborhoods in those places but there is money to be made.
I just started wholesaling and have been marketing in Hampton Roads for motivated sellers, I've gotten one deal so far, which I'm keeping as a rental in Portsmouth. If you're interested, let me know and I'll contact you when I get rehab properties. Good luck!