Selling our Slow to Move Rehab and Holding a Note

Selling our Slow to Move Rehab and Holding a Note

Investor · Seminole, FL · Member since 2015 · 21 posts · 8 votes

Rehabbing can be profitable, fun, stressful, costly and so many other things. We purchased a rehab property from a wholesaler and after close the "fun" began. This was our 8th rehab, but our first in a new town near us.

A 6 week rehab turned into 3 months. We went over budget, over time, had permit delays and ultimately fired our crew. We finally listed the house on the market, had an open house with over 30 people through and then it sat and sat. We dropped the price several times even though we were getting positive feedback from showings. 

We were at the house one day when a lady riding her bike with a parrot on the handlebars stopped by. We invited her to take a look. She offered us $150k cash. We told her it was too low. We knew our break even was $160k. She said how about $160k. We told her we would have to think about it. We went home ran some numbers. We needed to get our investment back to move on.

So here was our plan to move this house, pay off our lender, recoup our investment and make some money.

We offered to sell her the house for $175k. She pays $160k cash and we would hold a mortgage for $15k payable over 5 years at 7%. Her response was YES, can we meet tomorrow to sign the contract and give you the EMD check.

This was a win, win for all. She is getting a house she loves, we recoup our investment and created a passive income stream for the next 5 years. The $15k note will be $18k when paid in full and if she defaults, we foreclose on our profit amount that is secured by a property worth $200k.

Lesson learned, never shut any door, but challenge your mind to think differently to make deals happen!

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  • Specialist · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 564 posts · 425 votes
    10y

    Congrats! Not all deals work out the way we want (most have some issues at least), but you were able to get out of a bad position and still make some money. Sounds like a great win to me!

  • Investor · Murphy, TX · Member since 2011 · 189 posts · 86 votes
    10y

    Great solution and one that I will keep in mind. You talked about being over budget and over time... were you right about the market? I'm trying to understand the biggest contributor to the situation you ultimately ended up in. Either way, congrats on finding a way out that allowed you to keep moving forward with your business.

  • Investor · Seminole, FL · Member since 2015 · 21 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    Hi Bill,

    We were right about the market, but just had to wait for the right buyer. Even though we did not get negative feedback, the home has a bit of a quirky layout. We took what we had and made it the best it could be. 

    Right after going under contract, we had another interested buyer. If we had not already gone so far over our time limit and with the carrying costs eating into our profit every month, we could have held our for more. But with a cash buyer and closing in two weeks, it was a good deal for all!

  • Investor · Bethel, AK · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 852 votes
    10y
    Julia Breheny Great job of thinking out of the box!! I think there is another lesson here. Never judge a book from the cover. You just sold a house to a lady riding a bike with a parrot on the handle bars. Many people might not have taken some one like that seriously. They may have brushed her off and missed the sale. One time my dad had 200k to invest. He wore a beat up T shirt and old blue jeans. 2 or3 stock brokers brushed him off when he went into their offices. He invested with the one who took time to speak/deal with him. I am reminded of this lesson daily as I live in bush Alaska where most millionaires wear blue jeans or carheart overalls! RR
  • Real Estate Investor · Littleton, CO · Member since 2013 · 197 posts · 77 votes
    10y

    Nice way to turn lemons into lemonade!  Or cashflowade.  Great job.

  • Solo 401k Expert · Anaheim Hills, CA · Member since 2012 · 18k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    10y

    @Julia Breheny

    That's an excellent way to handle it. This what creative finance is all about, and congratulations on creating a passive income stream!

    Good luck for future deals!

  • Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 531 posts · 266 votes
    10y

    Nice creative thinking!

    But... I'm curious. Was the parrot real???  

  • Investor · Seminole, FL · Member since 2015 · 21 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    Yes, the parrot is real. He is 16 years old and his name is Upup! 

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