All Forum Posts by: Lindsay Denny

Thanks so much to each of you for your input and advice @Russell Gronsky @Ricardo Cortes @Luc Boiron 

I am shying away from #2 as we moved cross-country less than a year ago and the headaches Russell mentioned do sound exhausting and ultimately inefficient. 

Does anyone have any thoughts on #3/potentially getting my real estate license before flipping? Pros/Cons?

Hi all -- as I'm just starting out, I'd love your thoughts on general routes I'm considering for my first fix & sell property. My main question is whether I should live in my first flip? 

Context: My husband launched his own business last year and we've invested much of our savings into his company. I'm researching creative financing options for my first flip as I don't have a large amount cash on hand (FYI I've had a stable job for the past 4 years and have excellent credit if I were to go the traditional route). We moved from Texas to Philadelphia this past year and are currently renting. We plan to purchase our own home in the next 6-12 months. 

These are the 3 scenarios I'm entertaining:

1) Secure financing and do my first flip while continuing to rent our own apartment. Downside would be that it would require more $$ to flip while renting and I'm trying to be as cash conscious as possible short-term. Upside is that I could move forward with my goal sooner (3-6 mo), then purchase our own home following the flip. 

2) Purchase an inhabitable property as our first flip and live in it while rehabbing. The major downside is that I would want to sell ASAP following the rehab and don't want to be penalized with capital gains tax since we wouldn't be in the property for 2 years. The other issue would be timing with selling the property and simultaneously finding our permanent home. Upside would be the $ saved as we would be combining our living expenses with the flip.  

3) Purchase our own home first and flip a property second. Downside would be the delay in completing my first flip. Upside would be more time to save cash, research/network, and potentially get my real estate license sooner (that was something I was planning to do longer term anyway). 

I've received some conflicting advice from other flippers and would appreciate further input. Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer!

Lindsay

Thanks so much to each of you for the warm welcome to BP and for your helpful advice! Excited to be part of this community

Hi BP community,

I'm Lindsay Denny from Philadelphia, PA -- I'm new to Bigger Pockets and am thrilled to be here!

I'm brand spanking new to real estate investing...I'm interested in fix-and-flip opportunities and my current move is to play like a sponge and absorb all of the information, advice and knowledge of experienced investors. I'm also serious about not getting stuck in analysis paralysis and am always focusing on my next action step. My end game is to get out of the corporate world and create my own success! 

So why am I bold about pursuing flipping? Even before I defined this goal, I've always had a weird obsession with searching for properties just for fun (and now there's $$ involved!). I love negotiating. I enjoy working with a team and have experience in project management. I'm creative and believe my design eye can be an asset in rehabbing unique properties. I currently work with enterprise brands in the technology space and help them find solutions on a daily basis, so I'd love to translate that to real estate. And I have a marketing background!

That was a long brag session, but you have to be your own best advocate, right? Plus the guys out there have no problem doing it, so we ladies have to level the playing field! ;)

Now that you know a little bit about me, hopefully you can see that I'm serious about moving forward - I'd love to connect and hear more about what you do! If you're open to networking, PLEASE let me know (especially those in the Philadelphia area)!

Cheers,

Lindsay