All Forum Posts by: Andy M.

@Aaron Mazzrillo is amazing! He is one of the most unique wholesalers that you will ever meet, and I consider him a good friend. I really enjoyed doing the "interview", I put interview in quotations because it didn't really feel like an interview, it was just a conversation. I was super interested in his story.

Anyone who wants to be a better real estate investor should definitely check out what Aaron had to say in the interview.

(Aaron: Next time you are in Utah we are going to ping pong it up!!)

@Phyllis E. That is so funny that you mention those HGTV shows, I watch them too and I think the same thing. Yet, I still can't look away. 

It probably doesn't come through as much, but real world flips have just as much drama, just not as extreme. Sewer line collapses, foundation leaks, people stealing materials, city permit/inspection process taking forever, etc. I'll try to keep it as real as possible. :)

@Jose Urena Opportunity is everywhere, you just need to be prepared for it so you recognize it when it comes. Frequently it will look a lot like hard work! :) South Carolina is full of flipping opportunities, I want to see your success story!!

I do all of the time. Get a contract on it, then have someone on the ground go inspect it for you. Agents and inspectors will do it for sure. You can also pay someone to go do a walk through video and email it to you.

If you are wholesaling (like the majority of houses I do) it is more important that your buyer inspect it, not you. Get them through it and let them do the detailed inspecting. :)

@Phyllis E. You're totally right, the sellers really wanted to see their family home "have new life" though a nice renovation. The one seller you see in the video cried (a lot), she was so grateful. Walking through it with her she would talk about all of the memories that she had in that house over the years. I can't express enough how delighted she was with the finished product. One of my favorite parts of the video is when she is taking pictures with her old school, disposable, click and wind cameras. That really sums her up.

I appreciate you subscribing to the channel. We (my brother, the camera guy/editor) are always hard at work on videos. It is a lot harder than you think to capture the stories. Every week he is editing a new video of a project, tip, or interview, all the while we are capturing content for future videos. I am currently capturing content at 3 different renovation projects I'm doing. One was a house I bought at trustee's sale (I have audio and video of the sellers and what the experience was like for them), another one is a fire damaged house I'm renovating (literally half of the roof was gone and you could see daylight through), and another is a deal I bought from a wholesaler.

I started the I Love Real Estate Stories project because no one really gets to see all of the interesting stories behind the flips. People just see some before and after photos but the details get missed. I'm going to keep putting out quality videos that hopefully people care enough to watch.

I can't express enough how much it means to my brother to have "his art" appreciated. He is a total artist/musician and great documentary video guy. He loves nothing more than people appreciating a video he has done.

Thank you again! :)

@George P. I love that interview. I was thinking about posting it on BP somewhere so people could check it out. I think I will at some point. Aaron is a rockstar! :)

@Charmaine M. You're absolutely right, plus it can be better than just taking a wholesale fee. It reduced the risk for both of us and we both profited more. I'm always a fan of win win partnerships.

@Peggy Liu Thanks! That video about me losing money is in production right now. If you go to my youtube page and watch Roy part 1 and part 2 you will see the project. The house is supposed to sell tomorrow so I'll have final numbers and pictures for part 3. The project ended up looking good, but because of some blunders (see Roy videos) I'm not going to make anything. :( That's just the truth sometimes as a real estate investor. 

@Will Barnard I can see where that would be a benefit to both you and your investors. People don't realize that on bigger projects a certain expertise is required. To do a starter home you can't really mess up the remodel too bad, but when you get into step up homes and beyond the buyers get pickier. I know you do upper end stuff in CA and have some huge profits. I have a lot of respect for people who can flip upper end homes. It is definitely a different game.

@George P. My buddy Matt didn't do any of the actual work, it was his crew and he oversaw the whole thing. Both Matt and I made decisions as it went along, but honestly he made 80% of the decisions and just brought me in for a second opinion. The remodel was really his work of art.

This was the first "scrapbook" I made of a flip, and I only did it to give him a copy as well as a remembrance of an awesome project. My wife makes these shutter fly scrap books every year for each of my kids and they are really cool. I actually have a bunch of them on the bookshelf in my library at home. Thanks for the comment!

@Angela Merritt I love hearing that! That was the purpose of the video. That is actually the main purpose of most of the videos on my blog, I really want to inspire others to see what is possible. Sometimes on the house flipping TV shows they make it look easy, and that definitely isn't always the case.

I really do appreciate the encouragement. 

@Vicki K. Right? I think they are the cutest kids on the planet, but then again I'm biased. :) Thanks for checking out the video. My older brother is the magic video editor and I've told him that people like the video. It makes him REALLY happy.

@Will Barnard Good question. "We" as it pertains to this project was my partner Matt and I. We used our own money for the whole thing and we split the profits down the middle. So I had a total of $131,500 ish invested in the project and he did as well. We split the total net so we each walked away with $93,930 net profit. Then of course we paid taxes. :)

We (Matt and I) have both been investing for awhile so this wasn't our first rodeo, I just knew that the remodel scope was beyond what I wanted to tackle on my own so I brought Matt in. Like I mentioned earlier Matt is very talented at remodels and has an eye for colors and how to configure things to add the most value. It turned out really nice.

@Jay Hinrichs True, different comfort levels for everyone in doing this business. My favorite thing is working with private sellers, building relationships, finding out what they need, and creating  win-win. I've had lots of sellers crying at closing. If you check out the testimonials on sellmyutahhousefast.com you will see some of them. I even have a video with one seller who was really an advocate for me. If you knew me personally you would know that I really do enjoy helping people and sellers. It's not all about the quick buck. Thanks again! :)

@Sami Ibrahim  My buddy Matt and I have been friends for awhile, how we met was a long story. He currently does about 40 flips a year (mostly starter stuff) and we talk and hang out all of the time but we maintain our own businesses. I'm mostly a wholesaler (I did 90 wholesales last year and 15 retail flips) and Matt is mostly a retail flipper. Matt just has a knack and eye for knowing what will look good on a property.