Sold our flip to first buyer, 3 hours on market. COVID strategy!

[Gus Muller]

Hello fellow investors. We completed our rehab in St. Louis Park, MN at 3011 Colorado Avenue South and it sold to the first buyer that walked through at full asking price. It was on market around 3 hours. Wanted to share our experience with a glimmer of hope for any investors currently flipping!!!

We purchased this one direct from seller 6 weeks ago, before the COVID stuff was a real issue. Here are some things we did to try and ensure a quick sale, and maximize return on investment/prepare for possible price reductions, once shelter in place orders began:

1. We switched gears on our budget and started cutting costs wherever we could. For example, we spent less on carpeting, shrunk kitchen cabinet sizes, went with a smaller refrigerator, and many other decisions. I personally took on many of the construction projects we were going to hire out (painting basement laundry room walls, basement laundry floor, concrete repairs, trim and casing installation, kitchen floor installation, hang microwave, install cabinet hardware, final cleaning, etc).

2. We priced the home within the reach of a first time home buyer, and made sure to be the most affordable option in the neighborhood with the nicest updates. There are still professionals looking to buy, and nice affordable inventory is low locally.

3. We banked on an empty and clean rehab having more appeal to a buyer versus a lived in home with potential for contact.

4. We were going to stage the home, but opted to list it quickly in hopes for an offer and had staging lined up as a backup plan. This saved is nearly $2,500 as we were able to cancel the staging.

What are other flippers seeing in their markets? Are properties still selling? What steps have you taken to get your flips SOLD???!!!

We have two more off market projects we are closing on in the next 7 weeks. One in St. Paul off of Lexington Parkway, Como Park neighborhood for $190K+9K assignment fee from a professional wholesaler with ARV of $260K-$280K with light rehab. The other in North Minneapolis off of 46th and Colfax Avenue North for $120K with ARV of $180K-$200K, also with light rehab.

We were nervous about performing on these two deals, but we are going through with the purchases and rehab as we believe there will be buyers at these price points. Our worst case scenario would be to rent them out and become single family home landlords for a period of time, which isn't that bad!!!

[Joe Cassandra]

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Why on earth did you take 1st offer.    Woukdnt you have liked to be an owner on the receiving end of a bidding WAR?

 Your first offer is ALWAYS your best offer...unwritten rule of selling real estate. 

If he says no...what if no one comes along for another 2-4 weeks? What if every lender goes JP Morgan and requires 20% down and top shelf credit scores (he mentioned he's in first-time buyer range). 

He did the right thing for sure.