Stuck between a rock and a hard place

[William L.]

Hello BP,

I purchased a house to initially flip and my contractor in the middle of the flip kept asking for more money and more money. Eventually, I had to fire him unfortunately the cost has already surpassed my initial cost plan. I don't know anymore contractors and the ones I have called basically told me 20K to finish the rehab. I am running out of luck finding a decent contractor. I don't have 20K more to spend on this house for a flip and it is not rent ready. Still needs work. I don't want to dump more money into it because it puts me over my initial budget. I tried to sell it with no luck. To break even is worth more than what the house is at the moment unless the market miraculously sky rockets. Looking for advice? The property is in Columbus,OH.

[Jeff Ronningen]

Your initial budget is out the window. If running over $20K puts you under water you didn’t have much margin built in even if things went well. After this one you’ll know not to work the numbers this way again. Determine which gets you out of it best - sell now as is or finish rehab and sell. Sounds like you’ll take a loss. Cut your losses and get out. Chalk it up to experience. Lessons aren’t cheap.