first 'accidental' flip turned out very well
While a rather long story, Ill try to keep it short as possible. Last fall my mother-in-law passed and she had been the primary caregiver to her mother (my wife's grandmother), whom at 98 was still living independently in a condo she purchased some 20 years ago. Many of the care responsibilities fall on my wife and through a series of events her grandmother ended up relocating to an assisted living home. Her condo had been transferred to her daughter (wife's mom) over a decade ago. The net is my father-in-law didnt realize he owned this property and it suddenly became an issue that he did not want to address.
The short version of the story is I really hadnt given ANY consideration to getting involved, but figured "WTF", make an offer and see what happens (I SHOULD have kept my trap shut and asked what he wanted for it, however I still more than doubled my investment - so I didnt do too bad)... he accepted and had a deed produced in a matter of days. (I told him Id write a check when he could deliver a deed, I had already checked on liens and it was clear).
I had my painters in the day after getting possession to remove anything that wasnt nailed in place, pull the carpet, strip wallpaper, and of course paint. I put in ceramic tile in bathrooms, entry, and the kitchen, had crews install granite in the kitchen and bathrooms, new carpeting, replaced lighting and plumbing fixtures, and generally readied the place for retail. I didnt expect a friend (also an investor) to make me essentially a full price offer (minus commissions of course) before it was completed - two weeks into the project. He has already rented the unit and were closing (officially) tomorrow morning.
All told, I spent 3 weeks in total on the flip and more than doubled my investment in ROI.