Advice for a live in flip?

[Lacee Beitler]

Hi! For those of you brave enough to do a live-in flip with kids, give me your best advice! Preparing as we are set to close on this in less than a month - we have a 1 year old and 3 year old. Planning to do the major renovations (kitchen/1 of the full bathrooms/ refinishing floors, etc) prior to moving in, and the rest of the “smaller” stuff while we live there. Thanks!

[Darren Lenick]

I’ve done it 3 times but since it’s your primary residence I would hesitate to call it a flip. Reason being is that it always takes much longer when you live in it and costs much more because you tend to put personal touches in that you wouldn’t do if you it was just a true flip.

Having very young kids at home just makes it harder.

That being said, it can still be a good investment too. I’ve made more money on the houses I lived in then on any pure investment property but that’s time playing a bigger part more then anything else even though I always bought the ugliest house in the nicest neighborhood.

Think of this; once you are done, are you willing to pack up and uproot your kids to the next property? People who hack it don’t always consider the cost of moving. Plus, you’ll be in a potentially stressful position to find a new house once yours sells.