Shingle Springs, CA · Member since 2017 · 24 posts · 119 votes
Hello investing friends! My very first "flip" went live on MLS today. What a great learning experience and it was definitely very different than what I've seen on HGTV. :) Nonetheless I LOVED the process.
Before/after pics attached. It was A LOT of work but the home cleaned up real nice. Now I'm hopeful for a quick sale!
A shout out to Brandon Turner for his book on REI that inspired me to understand the seller's motivations and concerns and then put together a creative offer to address them. That piece of advice helped me to land this deal despite several higher cash offers that were submitted.
Here are some pics along w/my before & after collage.
Happy to share! For some reason I think many folks here are hung up on scouring the MLS or going out and driving for dollars, instead of learning how to get motivated sellers coming to them. And I mean the right sellers. The ones with no mortgage so they CAN quickly, easily make the decision and sell. (Or whatever meets your criteria.)
A few tips for you:
1. Get top notch assessor data. (Not a scaled down version or second hand "list" from somewhere.) The right source will get you access to EVERY detail you want ahead of time so you don't waste time & money on a property that does not meet your criteria. Here is only a snapshot of the kind of data we pull:
There are 100-200 more options I could add here.
As you can see it is almost like I am cheating. I can instantly download this data of 877 owners, with no liens, 100% equity...etc. I can get down to as detailed as to the "view" the lot has along with some pretty amazing information.
2. Use data to create SOLID (not crazy cheap) REAL offers to mail to the owners.
3. Pay cash, close fast, and make it crazy easy to sell/move just like @Craig Drummond did here.
4. Mark up a small amount, sell FAST to a flipper, watch them do the hard work & let them make a good return.
5. Be ready with more because now that flipper loves you.
You can do as many a month as you wish. We typically have ours sold before our initial transaction is complete. Building up an A List of buyers goes fast when you have undervalued property.
Good luck on the sale . Do you plan to do more flips in the area ?
Thanks! I live in El Dorado County and love the area so I would like to pursue additional flips here. I've been reading up on out of state REI and am becoming more enamoured with the idea and at some point in the not too distant future I'd like to try an out of state project. Most likely a BRRRR.
I was born and raised in CA and live in CA but not familar with that area... amazing how big CA is. It looks like a beautiful area.
I was just wondering , maybe you already mentioned it . But how much did you put up of your own cash, or were you able to get your lender to finance the whole purchase price and rehab?
@Craig Drummond Congratulations! Of course the pictures, and numbers are impressive, however, the negotiation/creativity in your offer is what is most impressive!!! Good luck for a speedy sale!
Hell of a job for a first timer. I think you really knocked it out of the park - I will be keeping tabs here to see how you make out on this. Please do keep us updated on how you make out and the numbers after the sale!
Craig, awesome job, especially for your first flip. Thank you very much for the details as I agree that those details generally aren't provided by others here, but are extremely helpful to a newbie like me. You mentioned that you found it easy to find people with money "laying around" to invest in Real Estate, did you ultimately get the money from a family member or a friend? Also, did they fund the buy AND the rehab? Thanks again Craig. Maybe we can meet some time and talk "shop".