1st Fix and Flip in the books. Hard lessons...

1st Fix and Flip in the books. Hard lessons...

Real Estate Broker · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2019 · 21 posts · 16 votes

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Colorado Springs.

Purchase price: $285,000
Cash invested: $5,000
Sale price: $445,000

My team and I started to look for distressed properties in Colorado Springs. We found this one after our ISA called in about it. Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon...

UPDATE: We sold it $450000... Didn't make any money on the actual profits outside of the commission though... What went wrong was that we ran into a ton of unexpected repairs that we had to make after we already already completed the house. The GC that our investor partner brought in turned out to be unskilled, unreliable and really messed up the entire project. We ended up having unresolved mold issues, sewer line holes, possible structural issues that ended up costing us at the end. I can honestly say that we were lucky to not take a bigger loss than we did ($4,000 in total). I am grateful for this experience however, because I learned what NOT to do when flipping a home.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Cold calling foreclosures. Showed up as a listing appointment and presented a cash buy opportunity. Seller took it and we were off to the races.

How did you finance this deal?

Hard money. Outside investors brought in the downpayment.

How did you add value to the deal?

Brokered the deal, managed the contractors, picked out the materials.

What was the outcome?

4k net loss for all parties. Made some of that back on the commission. Definitely could have turned a profit if we were smarter on the initial inspection and chose a better GC.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

1. The cheapest GC isn't always the best one... You really have to vet them and see what they've done in the past and how the numbers on their end panned out vs what they promised. 2. Before getting into any kind of arrangement with other investors please make sure that you have a Joint Venture agreement that outlines who is putting in what kind of work and money BEFORE going under contract. 3. Don't be afraid to walk away during the inspection period. You make money on the buy, not the sell.

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Real Estate Agent · Puyallup, WA · Member since 2022 · 551 posts · 378 votes
3y

Solid advice Brandon!

My favorite part of your whole post was that you are now more prepared for your NEXT deal. This is a live and learn game and I love that you are willing to get right back on the horse when most people would tuck their tail and run.

Win or Learn!

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  • Lender · Greenwood Village, CO · Member since 2016 · 40 posts · 20 votes
    3y

    All great advice, Brandon.  Thanks for sharing.  

  • Homeowner · CA · Member since 2014 · 125 posts · 33 votes
    3y

    @Brandon Espino Wisdom comes from experience.

    Thank you for sharing yours.

  • Investor · Member since 2020 · 67 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brandon Espino:

    Investment Info:

    Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Colorado Springs.

    Purchase price: $285,000
    Cash invested: $5,000
    Sale price: $445,000

    My team and I started to look for distressed properties in Colorado Springs. We found this one after our ISA called in about it. Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon...

    UPDATE: We sold it $450000... Didn't make any money on the actual profits outside of the commission though... What went wrong was that we ran into a ton of unexpected repairs that we had to make after we already already completed the house. The GC that our investor partner brought in turned out to be unskilled, unreliable and really messed up the entire project. We ended up having unresolved mold issues, sewer line holes, possible structural issues that ended up costing us at the end. I can honestly say that we were lucky to not take a bigger loss than we did ($4,000 in total). I am grateful for this experience however, because I learned what NOT to do when flipping a home.

    How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

    Cold calling foreclosures. Showed up as a listing appointment and presented a cash buy opportunity. Seller took it and we were off to the races.

    How did you finance this deal?

    Hard money. Outside investors brought in the downpayment.

    How did you add value to the deal?

    Brokered the deal, managed the contractors, picked out the materials.

    What was the outcome?

    4k net loss for all parties. Made some of that back on the commission. Definitely could have turned a profit if we were smarter on the initial inspection and chose a better GC.

    Lessons learned? Challenges?

    1. The cheapest GC isn't always the best one... You really have to vet them and see what they've done in the past and how the numbers on their end panned out vs what they promised. 2. Before getting into any kind of arrangement with other investors please make sure that you have a Joint Venture agreement that outlines who is putting in what kind of work and money BEFORE going under contract. 3. Don't be afraid to walk away during the inspection period. You make money on the buy, not the sell.

    What do you attribute the most to going in thinking ARV was as high as $500K, but only got $445K? What sort of specifics did you run into, and how much did these things cost you in the end?
  • Real Estate Broker · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2019 · 21 posts · 16 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Branden Jordan:
    Quote from @Brandon Espino:

    Investment Info:

    Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Colorado Springs.

    Purchase price: $285,000
    Cash invested: $5,000
    Sale price: $445,000

    My team and I started to look for distressed properties in Colorado Springs. We found this one after our ISA called in about it. Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon...

    UPDATE: We sold it $450000... Didn't make any money on the actual profits outside of the commission though... What went wrong was that we ran into a ton of unexpected repairs that we had to make after we already already completed the house. The GC that our investor partner brought in turned out to be unskilled, unreliable and really messed up the entire project. We ended up having unresolved mold issues, sewer line holes, possible structural issues that ended up costing us at the end. I can honestly say that we were lucky to not take a bigger loss than we did ($4,000 in total). I am grateful for this experience however, because I learned what NOT to do when flipping a home.

    How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

    Cold calling foreclosures. Showed up as a listing appointment and presented a cash buy opportunity. Seller took it and we were off to the races.

    How did you finance this deal?

    Hard money. Outside investors brought in the downpayment.

    How did you add value to the deal?

    Brokered the deal, managed the contractors, picked out the materials.

    What was the outcome?

    4k net loss for all parties. Made some of that back on the commission. Definitely could have turned a profit if we were smarter on the initial inspection and chose a better GC.

    Lessons learned? Challenges?

    1. The cheapest GC isn't always the best one... You really have to vet them and see what they've done in the past and how the numbers on their end panned out vs what they promised. 2. Before getting into any kind of arrangement with other investors please make sure that you have a Joint Venture agreement that outlines who is putting in what kind of work and money BEFORE going under contract. 3. Don't be afraid to walk away during the inspection period. You make money on the buy, not the sell.

    What do you attribute the most to going in thinking ARV was as high as $500K, but only got $445K? What sort of specifics did you run into, and how much did these things cost you in the end?

     At the time that we started the rehab our projected time to finish the deal was in early July/ late August of 2022. Because of the delays (including our GC going mia for a month on some kind of drunken binge) we ended up not finished the work until November of 2022... Then while on the market we had tons of issues happen including a break in and 2 buyers that fell out of contract due to inspection and loan respectively. By the time we were able to actually sell it, it was a completely different market with different comps. 

  • Real Estate Broker · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2019 · 21 posts · 16 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Patty C.:

    @Brandon Espino Wisdom comes from experience.

    Thank you for sharing yours.


     Thank you! I've got a couple of other projects in the works right now that seem to be going a lot smoother. Hope to share a success story next time.

  • Real Estate Broker · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2019 · 21 posts · 16 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Jason Richards:

    All great advice, Brandon.  Thanks for sharing.  


     Thanks Jason

  • Real Estate Agent · Puyallup, WA · Member since 2022 · 551 posts · 378 votes
    3y

    Solid advice Brandon!

    My favorite part of your whole post was that you are now more prepared for your NEXT deal. This is a live and learn game and I love that you are willing to get right back on the horse when most people would tuck their tail and run.

    Win or Learn!

  • Investor · Member since 2020 · 67 posts · 28 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Brandon Espino:
    Quote from @Branden Jordan:
    Quote from @Brandon Espino:

    Investment Info:

    Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Colorado Springs.

    Purchase price: $285,000
    Cash invested: $5,000
    Sale price: $445,000

    My team and I started to look for distressed properties in Colorado Springs. We found this one after our ISA called in about it. Purchase price is 285k with a 65k rehab estimate from 2 different General Contractors. It's ARV is between 470k and 500k. We had plenty of issues getting funded (including getting scammed by a fake hard money lender for wire fraud...), but eventually was able to partner with a highly experienced local investor to help fund and partner on the deal. Learning plenty of lessons along the way, and I'm certainly more prepared for our next deal which should be coming up very soon...

    UPDATE: We sold it $450000... Didn't make any money on the actual profits outside of the commission though... What went wrong was that we ran into a ton of unexpected repairs that we had to make after we already already completed the house. The GC that our investor partner brought in turned out to be unskilled, unreliable and really messed up the entire project. We ended up having unresolved mold issues, sewer line holes, possible structural issues that ended up costing us at the end. I can honestly say that we were lucky to not take a bigger loss than we did ($4,000 in total). I am grateful for this experience however, because I learned what NOT to do when flipping a home.

    How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

    Cold calling foreclosures. Showed up as a listing appointment and presented a cash buy opportunity. Seller took it and we were off to the races.

    How did you finance this deal?

    Hard money. Outside investors brought in the downpayment.

    How did you add value to the deal?

    Brokered the deal, managed the contractors, picked out the materials.

    What was the outcome?

    4k net loss for all parties. Made some of that back on the commission. Definitely could have turned a profit if we were smarter on the initial inspection and chose a better GC.

    Lessons learned? Challenges?

    1. The cheapest GC isn't always the best one... You really have to vet them and see what they've done in the past and how the numbers on their end panned out vs what they promised. 2. Before getting into any kind of arrangement with other investors please make sure that you have a Joint Venture agreement that outlines who is putting in what kind of work and money BEFORE going under contract. 3. Don't be afraid to walk away during the inspection period. You make money on the buy, not the sell.

    What do you attribute the most to going in thinking ARV was as high as $500K, but only got $445K? What sort of specifics did you run into, and how much did these things cost you in the end?

     At the time that we started the rehab our projected time to finish the deal was in early July/ late August of 2022. Because of the delays (including our GC going mia for a month on some kind of drunken binge) we ended up not finished the work until November of 2022... Then while on the market we had tons of issues happen including a break in and 2 buyers that fell out of contract due to inspection and loan respectively. By the time we were able to actually sell it, it was a completely different market with different comps. 


     Ouch. Definitely want vetted GCs. This usually always causes issues, when a GC goes MIA for a month.

  • Real Estate Broker · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2019 · 21 posts · 16 votes
    3y
    Quote from @Nathan Harden:

    Solid advice Brandon!

    My favorite part of your whole post was that you are now more prepared for your NEXT deal. This is a live and learn game and I love that you are willing to get right back on the horse when most people would tuck their tail and run.

    Win or Learn!


     Definitely keeping it moving. Almost done with another project... This one looks like it's going to be very profitable when everything is said and done. If I had just given up when all of this stuff went down then I would have missed this other opportunity. 

    Also, I see you are a real estate agent up in Washington. DM if you can and let me know what the market is looking like over there. I'm gearing up to start expanding this fall to different locations.

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