My first (accidental) fix and flip

[Kevin Pavao]

Investment Info:

Condo fix & flip investment in Casa Grande.

Purchase price: $140,000
Cash invested: $14,000
Sale price: $170,000

This was my first home purchase. It was in pretty decent shape when I signed for it, all that it needed was a new roof and new A/C. I held this property for almost 2 years while I was stationed in TX.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I am more interested in getting into buy & hold investing, this purchase was made due to an upcoming deployment and my ex-wife wanting to move closer to family.

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

It took a little house hunting through zillow and using a local real estate agent. The previous owner had it listed for 150k and it had been on the market for a little over a month. I offered 140k and he took it.

How did you finance this deal?

I used an FHA loan for this deal because it did not qualify for VA.

How did you add value to the deal?

I cleaned up the landscaping in the front of the property, re-painted the carport, installed new roof, and installed a new A/C.

What was the outcome?

The house sold quickly as soon as I put it on the market. I wish I had held on to this house longer as I believe I could have put more value into it, but I thought it was best to sell the house before the divorce. 

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I had to redo the roof twice in this house. The first contractor I hired based on a recommendation from my ex-wife's boss. This guy turned out to be absolutely terrible. He half-@$$'ed the job and within a week it was leaking again. I was overseas so it was an even bigger pain to try to sort this out. In the end, after returning to my house 4 times to fix his mistakes, I fired him and the second contractor did a great job.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Agent: Josh Bernal @ Yost Homes