First Flip in Phoenix Arizona!

First Flip in Phoenix Arizona!

Flipper/Rehabber · Anthem, AZ · Member since 2015 · 23 posts · 33 votes

Hey BP!  I just wanted to share my experience on my first flip in Phoenix, AZ!  When I say this is my first flip, this isn't counting the previous live-in flips that I had previously done (which was fantastic for learning the whole process btw).  Anyway, here are the details -

Purchase Price $62K

Rehab (including holding costs) $43K

List Price $175K

Sale Price $174K

Net Profit (after all commissions, closing costs, etc) $59K

I had found this deal by doing my own direct mail marketing campaign, which took a few months to get the right deal.  I was very picky on this first one because I wanted a "slam dunk" for my first one, with very little risk of losing money.  Unfortunately, I probably passed up a couple of other deals because of this, but am definitely ready to take on more risky flips in the future. 

The house was a pretty standard flip - 1730 sq feet, 3 bed, 1.5 bath.  Needed all the usual cosmetic upgrades - kitchen, bathroom, flooring, paint, etc.  The only downside was that the house was built in the 1950's with an addition built in the 70's.  So this meant spending $ modernizing the place, including filling in a sunken wetbar in the main living room that was straight out of the 70's! 

The rehab took about 5 months from beginning to end, but I definitely was slowed by my "real job".  Probably should've only taken 2-3 months to finish.  I listed the house myself, through a flat list agent, and got a crazy response in the first weekend - 9 offers, with 7 over asking price!  I never imagined to have that good of a response, but apparently sub $200k houses in Central Phx are selling like hotcakes.  After inspection, we ended up renegotiating for the two 20 year-old air conditioning units on the house, which I was okay with.  I figured comps wouldn't come in much higher anyways, which was right on with my asking price (appraised at $175K).  Nailed it!

There were definitely a few things I did wrong which unfortunately cost me $, but I'll mark it up as"educational expenses".  This post is getting pretty long, so maybe I'll save those tips/lessons I learned for another day.   

Lastly, I want to give a huge shout out to the BP community!  For about a year, I lurked on these forums and listened to countless podcasts that really gave me the confidence to start this journey.  Thanks everyone!  Now it's time to find the next deal!

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Financial Advisor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 21 votes
9y

@Chris Eley Awesome job!  The after photos are gorgeous.  What area of Phoenix did you do this in?  Did you do all the physical repairs yourself? 

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  • Flipper/Rehabber · Anthem, AZ · Member since 2015 · 23 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    Pics or it didn't happen!  Right?  :)  For your viewing pleasure - 

  • Financial Advisor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 21 votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley Awesome job!  The after photos are gorgeous.  What area of Phoenix did you do this in?  Did you do all the physical repairs yourself? 

  • Chandler, AZ · Member since 2017 · 19 posts · 8 votes
    9y

    Nice job! That sounds like an amazing first deal! Did you use hard money to fund the deal or did you have enough cash on hand? 

  • Real Estate Investor · Longmont, CO · Member since 2017 · 19 posts · 16 votes
    9y

    Chris,

    Great job and equally great results. Please let me know if you'd be up for sharing some time and a coffee with me in Scottsdale.

  • Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 43 posts · 11 votes
    9y

    Great job, and congrats! 

  • Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2015 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    9y

    Congratulations Chris! I'm haven't invested yet and am merely in the studying/networking/analyzing stage right now but it's encouraging to see your first official flip be so successful. That's a major win! Looking forward to potentially connecting in the future. 

  • Surveyor · Hemet, CA · Member since 2015 · 797 posts · 112 votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley love those floors. I just another recent remodel with the same ones! Kinda looked your set up. Way to go bud!

  • Investor / Vendor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 949 votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley

    Awesome job Chris. Pictures were nice, but the sexiest part was how sweet your numbers were :)

    How big was your direct mail campaign? Did you hand-write your letters? What was your response rate? What did you do with your other maybe deals you passed up before your slam dunk? I liked that you did significant risk reduction and went for a slam dunk and was cautious with the first one. Never lose money! :)

    Congrats man! The first is always the toughest!

  • Investor · Escondido, CA · Member since 2017 · 55 posts · 15 votes
    9y
    Chris Eley congratulations it looks real good. Keep it going :-)
  • Residential Agent And Investor · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2013 · 212 posts · 83 votes
    9y
    Congrats dude, that's a slam dunk. Keep it going!
  • Investor · Layton, UT · Member since 2016 · 162 posts · 237 votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley, great job on your first flip! Wanted to ask a couple of questions - did you stay within your original budget for labor and materials? Now that you've successfully rehabbed, do you think you'll begin wholesaling as well? Pics looks awesome. Nice work.

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Anthem, AZ · Member since 2015 · 23 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    Thanks for the compliments, guys!  

    @Daniel Lehrman  The house was in Alhambra, off 35th Ave and Indian School Rd...crazy hot area right now with Grand Canyon University really taking off.  I probably did 25% of the repairs, while sub-contracting the rest of the work out myself (versus hiring a GC).  In retrospect, I probably should've hired a GC with this large of a project but it was so hard for me to accept paying an additional $5-10K to use a GC.  For the next flip, I'll definitely take the more passive approach and hire a GC, so that I'm not at the property doing work and can focus on generating more deals.

    @Sawyer Burnett Fortunately, I had enough cash on hand.  I had saved up for a few years and also did pretty well on the previous live-in flips.  

    @Account Closed  Thanks Ray!  I had bounced around a little on the first mailing campaign, going from probates to different absentee owner lists to see what worked the best.  I probably sent out total 3000 pieces before landing this deal, both postcards and professional letters (typed).  Response rate was pretty low overall (1-2%), but I think this is just due to all of the competition in the Phoenix market.  I just passed on the other deals, and other investors bought them up.  Next time, I will definitely look to wholesale some deals. 

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Anthem, AZ · Member since 2015 · 23 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    @Caleb Rigby  Thanks!  I ended up going $3K over budget, so nothing too crazy.  I definitely over-improved the house for the area, so that probably was the difference right there (that was one of my lessons learned from this flip).  And I definitely will begin wholesaling, as I probably only want a maximum of 2 to 3 flips going at one time.  

  • Chandler, AZ · Member since 2017 · 19 posts · 8 votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley I'm confused. I thought you said this was your first flip? I guess you don't consider live-in flips to be flips?  I'd love to hear more from you about your live-in flips as I'm pursuing that strategy at the moment. Tired of renting but also don't want to be stuck with an expensive house for years.

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Anthem, AZ · Member since 2015 · 23 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    Sorry, I meant my first flip that I didn't live in...the wife was getting sick of moving every two years haha. The other houses weren't really meant to be flips, they just ended up being "accidental flips". Being the deal finder that I am (i.e. cheapskate), the first house we bought was a foreclosure and the 2nd and 3rd were both rentals (absentee owners). And we like contemporary finishes in our homes, so we always preferred beat up houses that we could renovate anyways. On our first house, we had to get creative with financing since we didn't have the cash. So we used an FHA 203K loan to finance the repairs/remodel for the property. Live-in flips are a great way to get started, and you don't pay tax on the gains after 2 years of living there, which is amazing!

  • Surveyor · Hemet, CA · Member since 2015 · 797 posts · 112 votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley do you always use a real estate attorney when you buy or sell?  I am helping sell my moms commercial property in Corona California we are listing it at over a million dollars so I wanna make some good moves on the basketball court!

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Anthem, AZ · Member since 2015 · 23 posts · 33 votes
    9y

    @Robin Boyer I usually do not use an attorney, but I am very familiar with all of the contracts and paperwork involved in buying and selling houses.  I'm sure as the deals get more complex, I will have to reach out to my attorney more often.  

  • Investor / Vendor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 949 votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Chris Eley:

    Thanks for the compliments, guys!  

    @Daniel Lehrman  The house was in Alhambra, off 35th Ave and Indian School Rd...crazy hot area right now with Grand Canyon University really taking off.  I probably did 25% of the repairs, while sub-contracting the rest of the work out myself (versus hiring a GC).  In retrospect, I probably should've hired a GC with this large of a project but it was so hard for me to accept paying an additional $5-10K to use a GC.  For the next flip, I'll definitely take the more passive approach and hire a GC, so that I'm not at the property doing work and can focus on generating more deals.

    @Sawyer Burnett Fortunately, I had enough cash on hand.  I had saved up for a few years and also did pretty well on the previous live-in flips.  

    @Account Closed  Thanks Ray!  I had bounced around a little on the first mailing campaign, going from probates to different absentee owner lists to see what worked the best.  I probably sent out total 3000 pieces before landing this deal, both postcards and professional letters (typed).  Response rate was pretty low overall (1-2%), but I think this is just due to all of the competition in the Phoenix market.  I just passed on the other deals, and other investors bought them up.  Next time, I will definitely look to wholesale some deals. 

    Actually 1-2% response rate is pretty solid for a competitive market like Phoenix. Good on you to churn out that kinda volume. If you're looking to do wholesaling, let's connect. With your kinda volume, can easily get you a hookup with fulfillment (postcards/yellow-letters) if you're into saving money and scaling up :)

  • Surveyor · Hemet, CA · Member since 2015 · 797 posts · 112 votes
    9y

    @Ray Lai we should connect I am considering a multiple family in San Diego.

  • Robert E BoginoPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Alpharetta, GA · Member since 2017 · 151 posts · 76 votes
    9y

    Love those floors, I was just looking at the same thing for one of my rentals.  Awesome job on the rehab!

  • Investor · Champaign-Urbana, IL · Member since 2014 · 84 posts · 49 votes
    9y
    Chris Eley great job on your first non live in flip. The rehab looks fantastic, but the profit looks even better.
  • Investor · Sask, Sk · Member since 2017 · 85 posts · 25 votes
    9y
    Great work! Your numbers are amazing!
  • Tony WooldridgePro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Walla Walla, WA · Member since 2016 · 480 posts · 346 votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley, Awesome job Chris congrats on your first flip. Do you have your next one lined up yet? I will be looking forward to your lessons learned update! Best of luck in the future. Here is to wishing you a successful 2017 REI ventures!

  • Investor · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2016 · 11 posts · 4 votes
    9y

    Well done, Chris!  I've spent a lot of time in PHX on business and I've often thought of investing there.  Thanks for sharing details of your story here.  Nothing says retro like a 70's wet bar!

    Curious how much the marketing cost to find this deal?

    Sounds like you have a good marketing process for yourself.  If you ever want to wholesale, let me know!

  • Shiloh LundahlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9y

    @Chris Eley, Nice job.  Simple, clean, classy kitchen.  

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