Single Family Live in Flip

[Sebi Ardelean]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $153,000
Cash invested: $35,000
Sale price: $251,000

My first step into the real estate investment journey! Purchased a SFH that needed tons of cosmetic updates. took advantage of the crazy market value increase in 2021 and sold for massive profit. We are now able to use the profit made from this sale to purchase another investment.

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

Honestly, it was not my first choice for investment. But my wife and I wanted the benefits of a SFH (mainly, not sharing walls with neighbors/tenants). We got into the market at the ideal time in 2020 right before the pandemic hit. With the updates we made, and market value increase, it just made sense to exit quickly and cash out.

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

Listed on the MLS. Used an agent and went through the tradition buying process of inspections and negotiation. We were able to get a few items, including major ticket item, paid for by seller prior to closing.

How did you finance this deal?

Traditional financing with 3.5% down

How did you add value to the deal?

Biggest value add items: updated kitchen, updated bathrooms, added patio for outdoor entertaining.

It was mostly cosmetic work with an eye for detail and modern trends

What was the outcome?

All in all we received a check for around 80K after all closing costs. This means we were able to live rent/mortgage free for almost two years and come out with a profit of around 30K.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Many lessons learned with this one as most of the work was done by myself.

Due diligence is very important. For this deal we ended up finding out there were major sewer issues leading from street to home. We found this out post closing and had no way of proving seller had knowledge or was responsible. A simple sewer inspection would have saved us from having to dig up the entire front yard/driveway and adding a new sewer line.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Our agent was Chris Goff of Access Real Estate Inc. He was super knowledgeable especially within the western suburbs of Chicago. If you are investing out there, especially within the Aurora, IL area I would definitely recommend him.