The Lesson of The White Elephant

[Joshua Poitras]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Dedham.

Purchase price: $450,000
Cash invested: $113,000

Contributors:
Mo Maruping

The darkest day in my real estate career, I learned many many lessons on this deal. This day I lived the story of the "white elephant". Basically, we purchased the wrong house, which was a custom built house, built by a french architect (french style). It was sitting on the market so long, we decided to go with it but It ended up being a nightmare. As few lessons were learned from that deal. one, under any and all circumstances you will always have a well written contract with the contractors. Second, never ever buy the oddball house on the street, especially in a higher class neighborhood. Regardless, we got through it, it was was ugly but it's over!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

Attemping to get into the buisness.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Was sitting on the Market.

How did you finance this deal?

Personal Investor combined with Hard Money lender

How did you add value to the deal?

Renovating

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always Have Contractor Agreements in Writing, Don't buy the Oddball Houe on these street. Make sure to estimate contruction costs accurately.