First solo fix and flip

[Arleigh Campeau]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment.

Purchase price: $27,000
Cash invested: $110,000
Sale price: $229,000

Turned a wrecked and rundown house into a beautiful modern home. Mostly all of the work was done by my wife and me. It took a long time because of this along with Covid caused supply chain issues.

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

I saw an opportunity to use what little money I had along with my skill set to grow my money independently

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

It popped up as a foreclosure and the day it was listed we were lucky enough to be the first ones to offer on it. The bank would not negotiate.

How did you finance this deal?

Paid cash from a 401k loan

How did you add value to the deal?

The home is in a lower class area so we gave it high end finishes and and high quality work. We changed some of the layout to make it more modern and open feeling all to draw a higher class buyer and it worked. Most of the credit goes to my wife Candice for her thoughtful design ideas.

What was the outcome?

We asked a price that was higher than any comparable house ever sold in that community with much criticism. We got just less than asking price and the home appraised for 10k more than we listed it for! This was mostly due to timing with the post Covid market inflation. Overall the project was a success.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I definitely will utilize more contractors in the future. I can do almost all of the work myself, but the time spent is more valuable than a dollar saved. The next project will be planned out better as to avoid rework and afterthoughts that caused re work. I would also like to use a partner or investor to reduce the amount of cash and or debt I have to put into the project next time.

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

Desert mountain realty Sonja Almberg and Kenna Almberg were very helpful. The only real estate agents I would use in this area.