First time flipper looking for some advice.

[Gerard D.]

Hello all, I've perused this site on a few occasions and it seems full of friendly and knowledgeable users, so I decided to create an account and get some info about my situation.

To make a long story short, I come from meager beginnings and had just quit my dead-end job to invest my life-savings into buying a house in disrepair with my father. Aside from the roof, my father, his friend, and I fixed up the whole place. This house is technically my primary residence, so I'm assuming we were allowed to complete most of the repairs without any of us being a GC or licensed?

Lacking other options for funding, we put all expenses we lacked cash for on 0% credit cards. My initial plan was to keep the house (since I don't have a place of my own), get a heloc, pay off the cards, and get into another project, but sadly the numbers didn't work out, so I'll have to sell it to afford the next house. That brings me to my main concern.

I enjoyed doing this house and look forward to trying to make this a career. Of course, to do this, I want to legitimize our operations, as I don't think I can keep saying each house I do is my primary residence. So, can my father and I work on houses that aren't our primary residence if we own them? Is there any reason a newbie like myself shouldn't form an LLC? If the LLC buys a house, can I still work on the house as if it were my own, or would a GC/licensed workers then be mandatory?

Please answer these under the assumption that I want to maximize early earnings and grow my bank. Also, I estimate that my little team will do at least 3-4 houses the first year, if it makes a difference. Let me know if you need any further info. Other than that, thank you for your time and I'm glad to be a BP member!